That's enough rum for a man of your age in one drinking session.

Only two? Hookers that is.

RIP John Mahoney

Don't go putting ideas in the players' heads now. Lest the complacency returns after such a sound victory last time out. Plus I think they will thump Ostersunds, adding to their over-confidence

Özil resigning? I get what you mean now but would you mind not giving me the willies like that? Alternatively consider not posting after the fourth rum.

So long as he gives himself a breather before the game.

On an entirely unrelated note: what a player Virat Kohli is.

I actually disagree with the wise Kiwi on this one. I think he might be overoptimistic, not just in his overall outlook, but in thinking that time will allow the players to 'gel' (as he puts it). I for one am glad that we are getting spurs and city while the new broom enthusiasm is still intact.

You can never have too much rum Gaz ....... keeps all those sh***ty bugs at bay

My mini rant about over the top Americans ... have a go at this guy , the ultimate in cool ...no flannel , b%*&s%*^ looking at gauges etc etc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fblVyqHYaiY

sorry re - signing ... poured myself a hefty vodka then found we didn't have any orange juice ... so being the little lateral thinker ; got some ginger beer for a mixer , didn't seem quite right so added a couple of nips of rum as well

....... not sure what to call it .

But I honestly think Arsene has stumbled on something here , Aubameyang is one of those guys , strangely enough who seems to have the brains to hang around near the goalmouth where the chances of scoring a goal are much higher .

I'm amazed for so many barren years we've had dickstops constantly loitering outside the penalty area .

and couldn't for the life of me think how to spell jell gel ..knew it wasn't right .

Dele Alli "hold my pint"

I'm surprised by pocchetino's admission that diving is another way to trick your opponent and therefore morally acceptable in his eyes. If I worked in Arsenal's media department I would send out a copy of his comments to every media outlet and referee in the country.

Oh yes Kiwi. There's a show called Pimp My Ride. The name itself is is car culture.

A few suggestions:

A 'two hookers'.
A 'Russian surprise'
A 'Merse'.

The FA are a joke. Deemed avoids any punishment for his double middle finger gesture when he scored a pen v Chelsea. A ew ears back Wilshere was given a 2 game ban for giving the middle finger against City a few years back.
Not like the FA to be wildly inconsistent

Having watched Man U get dominated by spurs by using a positionally negligent pogba in a central midfield 2 we need to make sure whoever starts alongside Xhaka sits in alongside him to stop the ball getting in to that pocket of space between the lines that Ali, Eriksen and son all like to be in.

I expect Ramsey to be picked over Wilshere and I can see Ramsey floating away from that central mid role and is possibly getting over run.

There are two ways to play spurs, press them high and as a full team, or sit back deep and get them on the counter. To often we play the in between, let the opposition have the ball without pressure and play with a higher line meaning the through balls are easy. Play like that and spurs will pick us off

Osterund is currently under about 8ft of snow. Serious chance our match could be called off next Thursday.
Not sure how Uefa sort that because as the seeded team we earn the right to play the second leg at home.
Now we are huge favourites and shouldn’t need that small advantage but I wonder what would happen if it gets called off

very impressive. has a great note when you hear V8's. Other cars will never come near them.

I hope you are right about the football. I spent about 10 years in the 'we just need one or two players' camp but I'm edging towards Bernard's view that even the best 11 players in the world would currently flop if they came to Arsenal.

And I must try one of those concoctions. They (I presume you must have had a few) lent a certain je ne sais quoi and optimism to your discourse. And are those qualities to be sneezed at?

Proteas thrashed yet again by Kohli and the diabolical spin-twins.

I think it will be fine, the snow is easy to get rid of and it's an artificial turf anyway. The temperature could be a bigger threat, if it gets down to around -15 celsius it would be difficult to go through with the match. Prognosis says it will be around -5 so it should be ok, but I wouldn't expect an explosive performance from either side.

Oh my God Zed .....just checked one out ..... I'd feel sick everytime I got in that truck ...what ghastly upholstery

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfkCGxI6tKU

Gidday Decaf ... I was of that opinion too Messi Ronaldo and we'd still play tippy tappy BUT .. I think getting two players in who like each other and have played well together before , might be a little harder for Arsene to cock that up .

No I hadn't had a few then , maybe it was the thought of the few to come that fueled the optimism

Don't get to see any cricket now , we made a stand and cancelled Sky .... too many adverts ... miss the cricket really enjoyed that and it will definetly hurt not watching the V8 supercars and the Aussie rugby league which both start next month .

The likes of McLintock, Storey and Radford wouldn't have worn vests or t-shirts under their Arsenal shirts.

plastic pitch!?

-15 Celsius!?

-5 Celsius!?

Cold!?

we’re stuffed aren’t we

I can't see why it's an either/or with Jack and Ramsey. Play them both, leave Iwobi out and push Ramsey further up. Jack was outstanding before he got sick, our best player. It's nonsense to leave him out.

http://dailycannon.com/2018/02/arsenals ... set-18-19/

Green third kit next season....?

Definitely not Bernard, but, to be fair, their shirts were made out of good old fashioned cotton. The plastic shirts these days need shirts underneath to avoid nipple chafing. Very painful condition.

The only player that's replaceable imo is Xhaka so if not him who would you drop so they could both play?

Xhaka then. I'd have Wilshere in ahead of him or Iwobi. It just makes no sense to me to leave out a player in form, as Jack clearly was prior to his illness.

I could be wrong but don't we need to have at last 2 midfielders with one at least to be defensive. Do you really think that at least one of those two can or would cover the defence at all times?

Personally I think we need Elneny with one of either or a 3 at the back. We appear to be top heavy with attacking options.

Who'd be a manager?

Quite. We must be vigilant and ensure that it doesn't creep in.

Aha, the spirit of Oates and Scott. Just what we need

I'd agree. The point about our 'invincibles' team is that whether by luck or design our defence and central midfield complemented each other perfectly. Gilberto and Paddy, Toure and Campbell, Lauren and Cash. That lot would be fairly easy to manage, at least tactically :).

With the current lot we might be able to say 'go out and have fun to our attacking players, but we need an explicit structure at the back and central midfield. Otherwise it is just too tempting for the likes of Ramsey and Wilshere to obey their natural join the fun.

Whether its three at the back or a disciplined defensive midfielder, we need two stout central defenders plus one who can cover and act as a deep playmaker.

The other big thing about the invicibles is often the 6 'defensive' players (or more) could just give it to one of the front 3 and they would make the goals happen out of nothing. Pires/Henry/Bergkamp.....even ljungberg, wiltord seemed to have great goals/chance ratio.
It must be a lot easier to not have the desire to need to join the attack when you know and have the confidence the 3-4 guys up top will get you the goals even without your help in attack

Yeah that isn't too pretty.

Have said that down the years ........no matter what configuration be it V4 , V6 , V10 , V12 , V16 or straight 8 ... none come close to roar of a V8

Had a bunch of weaners several decades back at a workshop p**s up trying to wind me up , "Oh my mini Cooper S would sh*t all over your tank , cornering etc etc

Another ....my BMW uphosterywise , handling , braking , 6 cylinder blah blah much superior

I had a 56 Customline at the time .........I just kept repeating to every jibe with a Gallic shrug of the shoulders and p*ssing off smile

.. " who cares you haven't got the sound "

Strange how this old flathead running with one head off still sounds the part .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkHZyjiT_wk

Not just the noise, the style. I'd imagine that cruising through one of the less populated parts of the States in a mustang convertible or something like that would be one of the better things one could do with ones time. Same would apply to Harleys. What the young oness don't get is that performance isn't really the point. And it certainly isn't the how fancy or expensive it is (like Bernard imagining that because Guinness is a proletarian drink it must be swill. )

One can grant some leeway to differences in tastes but not too much leeway.

Oops, I thought the Oster game was this week. Luckily I decided not to wake up to catch it. Without the game, the team has more time to prepare for Spurs. I believe Wenger will have a strategy around Mkhitaryan and Aum. But Spurs will be wise to it too. A plan B must be hatched as well.

I agree, Iwobi is not better than Jack. Jack penetrates faster (not in the sense that Kiwi is thinking about ), and has more ideas on the pitch. Iwobi looks lost most times, and his final pass is, most times, poor.

I've been looking for a mention of Osterund for the last couple of days .......then thought has the Singaporean overdosed on battered scorpions legs or some other Asian delicacy .