Still stand up for leaving a strong legacy behind

I seem to see only one ball being used throughout. Players had to stand and wait for the ball boys to retrieve the match-ball when it leaves the field. There was once the fans refused to throw the ball back, and it took a long while before officials decided for a new ball. And then the original ball was cheekily thrown back when the game was back in play.

If I recall (and my memory is very spotty) Chelsea played us twice in the league obviously but we also drew them in the FA cup and CL. The Invincibles beat Chelsea home and away and in the FA Cup. The week we lost to them in the CL, it was a killer week, we had to play them first leg in the CL, Man Utd in the FA cup, return leg CL and Liverpool a few days later. We were playing on tired legs every few days for a little over a week.

The '05 Chelsea team were fantastic but also caught a sweet spot. We were not as strong, Man Utd were rebuilding (finished 3rd back to back first time ever), Liverpool...well, were Liverpool...haha and City weren't their fully stocked oil rich squad yet. That Chelsea side still didn't beat us in the league. They drew both league matches. Hair close first match where we were beating them late in the match.

Sorry but that's wrong, plain and simple. You often see ball boys throw a different ball back into play to the one that went out. I wasn't aware of the figures myself but Babu explained between 10 and 25 balls can be used per game and as he also said, the idea only one is used is a myth.

My arse, they were. They were the first ones to have a really deep squad. I wouldn't put our Invincibles up there as the best, but they weren't far off and were the best attacking side. Man U from 99 to 01 were superb. Pre-PL Liverpool had some brilliant teams. Cloughie's Forest won back to back European Cups.

It was a matter of when not if for Chelsea. Planets aligned for them. We were moving to a new stadium and no money, Roman spent hundreds of millions of pounds. It wasn't so much Wenger than the same thing with City. Money. Unprecedented amounts of it. As much as much as Wenger frustrated me, he played a minor role.

Only Ramsey and Arsenal know the real truth but if this is true, I wonder why we withdrew the offer? Maybe Emery didn't want him?
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/aaron-rams ... 08093.html

That's French singer-songwriter Francois Hardy on the right circa 1969 :

She's 25 there.



Edit = Ok - I had a 75 year old French guy here and he knows all these people. (" It's my vintage ")

In Order:

Far Left is = Johnny Hallyday - French singer - (Died Dec 5th, 2017) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Hallyday

Second left Sylvie Vartan = Bulgarian-French singer (She married Johnny Hallyday - 1965 - 1980) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvie_Vartan

Second from the right = Sheila - French singer - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_(singer)

Far Right = Francois Hardy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7oise_Hardy

ok, all these while, I must be watching the matches in mystical land

If I were manager, I would not play him after he has signed any pre-contract agreement in January. I do not believe he will burst his gut for the team if, and when, an agreement is in place. If I was in his position, I certainly won't go the extra mile to ensure Emery has a successful first season, after what had happened. Ramsey will sound politically correct all through the season about being a professional, and doing his best for the team. But, post January, it will be nothing but professional BS. I hope Emery sees it the same way, and give Iwobi, Smith-Rowe or AMN more playing time, in place of.

Henry is close to being appointed Monaco manager, hopefully we can forge a good relationship with him and his club if he gets the job. Monaco bring some great youngsters through and it would also be a fantastic place for some of our younger players to go on loan....if they’re good enough

I think his son Josh will be much better. He won't be ideal. But the one thing I like about him is that he wants to win. He has managed one of his father's professional sides with the intention of making them competitive and he may not have been as successful as the fans would have liked but the big difference between him and his father is he cares more about winning than his father.

Off topic but the stock market took a sizable dip a few days ago. World markets dropped as most of you well know. I am no economic expert by any stretch of the imagination but I worked in the industry for a number of years and trade on the side.

Most independent experts are convinced we are in a bubble, at least the major economies (U.S., UK, Australia, China, etc.) and we are headed for a crash and recession worse than 2008.

I believe them. In the U.S. we are nursing at least 4 bubbles, 5 or 6 actually but 4 that we at least admit to. The UK has another housing bubble, especially in and around London.

Any of you concerned? Preparing? Don't know or care? haha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZIslV__2KY

Congrats to "King" Henry being made coach of Monaco. With Vieira at Nice its going to be 'nice' rivalry when the meet. hehehe...what's that phrase you all use? "I'll get me coat"

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45848579

Yes, I'm concerned that what looks like a very promising crisis might fizzle out. A deep purge is needed. A really good economic crash looks like just about the only way the Republicans can be dislodged from the national intestines.

I'm deeply leveraged in the US, HK and Singapore markets. So everyday Trump tweets, my heart jumps faster. Hopefully a clearer direction after mid-term.

After the so called 'Great Recession' of 2008, Obama and the Federal Reserve, propped up the American economy by hook or crook. The stock market (S&P) was a no brainer. Quantitative Easing, and other things meant the market was going to go up and they were not going to let it drop on its own weight. Making money trading was easy. Buy the market on any dip and let it ride, till it retreated a little. Americangooner was a happy camper..lol. I knew the market was being propped up by smoke and mirrors and eventually it would all come down like a house of cards.
Trump changed all that. Last day of January the markets had what some call a 'flash crash'. We had another recently. The number of points is really irrelevant. A 200 point drop when the market is at 1500 is visibly different than when its at 2900. The percentage drop is what is important. That said, by all accounts (of respected financial people) we are headed for a tsunami of a crash. Trump is speeding up the process. It's not a political statement just a financial one. Some would argue (and I would agree) its needed. We need to purge ourselves economically off the old ways. But its going to be very, very bad for a lot of people and what will these masses do, and I count myself among them, is going to be 'interesting' to say the least.
My guess? We we will see a sharp change to far left ideology in America in much the same way Trump ushered in fringe right (alt right).
I am curious to see how it plays out in England as well. I think after all is said and done, America will no longer be seen as the premier world power. I think it will be China. In much the same way after WW2, the UK was no longer the premier world power and America took over. And in much like the UK, America will stil be very relevant but no longer the same stature.

As the season goes on and the squad evolves, its okay to revise goals. Until we play another top 5 club, we won't really know where we stand. Right now, the goal is simply not to lose to any of them away and depending on the club possibly nick a home win.

So, if we continue down this path, I don't think we can catch City or Liverpool. However, I think Man Utd (already behind us) and possibly Tottenham and Chelsea can be caught and passed when all is said and done. In other words, 3rd is doable if a few things happen and one of them is the defense. We have an embarrassingly high goals against number when you look at a complete table that includes goals for and against and goal difference. If we can keep it under 30 at the end of the season, I'll be happy.

So, if the team defense gets better. It's certainly doable.

Wenger on Ramsey's contract: "I dont really know what's happening at Arsenal. Sure, Aaron is in a strong position now. But I dont know how far #Arsenal will go in terms of giving him a huge contract. These things were once my responsibility, but not anymore. I'm happy about that"



Bitterness written all over that quote. Thank *%^@ he’s gone.

American, I assume you didn't check the league table before writing that post. Arsenal are actually in front of Tottenham. It's close, same games, same points, but Arsenal's goal difference is currently one better than Tottenham's. That mean's Arsenal are currently one place ahead of them in the league table.

The US wont shift far left. It never has and never will.

Really? What was Context? Did he offer that freely in which case, yes ... or was he responding to a (stupid) question? If the latter what should he have said? "No comment" would have been taken as exhibiting bitterness ...

Perhaps he's blocked the league table?

A bottle of the 1945 Romanee-Conti fetched £424,000 at an auction. I bought the 1990 DRC (Domaine de la Romanee-Conti) for £550 around mid-1993 to mid-1994. Not at an auction, but BBR (Berry Bros & Rudd). Lucky I did as in a few months (the end of 1994) the DRC had gone up at BBR to £700 per bottle.

Despite the DRC being wonderful, as a rule I tend to struggle with red Burgundy. The pinot noir is not my favourite grape variety as it generally makes lighter wines. I much prefer thrusting, full-bodied wines. Also, I think you usually have to spend a lot of money to even get a semi-decent Burgundy. To an even greater extent than with Bordeaux.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7490112/b ... ction/amp/

One should always keep an open mind ...

I prefer thrusting, full-bodied, midfielders ... but perhaps Torriera will bring me round.

Interesting comments from Mertesacker on Wenger and Emery. Just before his bit on Čech, if you'd rather not read the whole thing.

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc. ... l/45764376

I'd say Torreira was quite thrusting and full-bodied. If Özil is the footballing equivalent of pinot noir, I'd count Torreira as merlot.

Depends on your definition. Far left in the US is anyone with a smidgeon of a social conscience; see Obamacare, derided as far left. Bernie Saunders, a moderate Labourite in UK terms but far left in the US.

Definitions can be stretched beyond breaking points, however ... Bernard describing Torriera as 'full bodied' for example ...

He's a midget but lots of guts.

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/france/s ... ional-team

What a huge psychological dent, feel sorry for him.

http://global.espn.com/football/blog/th ... ch?src=com

Always liked Per, a very likable man

Per is great to have around a locker room. He would be great to have now if he were still capable, just for the positive attitude, etc.

Bernie Sanders is not moderate. He espouses the most radical sort of identity politics.

Your statement is incoherent. You should try to understand centre-left politics before commenting on it.
a) Bernie is a moderate. He is a mild Keynesian/social democrat.
b) he does not espouse 'identity politics'.
c) identity politics is not radical by definition. As part of class politics and intersectionality maybe ... but 'identity politics' per se: no way, Jose.

A bionic shrimp.

Credit to the England squad that they have gotten good enough where an England vs Spain game is not a forgone conclusion to be a loss.
I think they are not as good as the '90s team. The '90s team faced stiffer competition I think. France was stronger late '90s. Italy was a good team then. Germany was always strong but strong then and not as strong now.
But its to take anything away from this bunch. There is a confidence and a slight swagger to them. I think what helps them that wasn't around nearly as much in the '90s is that they are playing with and against the best in the world week in, week out. Not nearly as much international quality in the '90s in the league.

Are you being serious?

John Simpson saying the Glazers want to sell Manu to Mohammed Bin Salman. If true then given recent events it could get interesting.