So Wenger says that we were 'very, very close' to signing Mbappe. Isn't it annoying

[Luis Anaconda]

An Italian team is three centre backs and who cares how many others (as long as one is the referee)

[Burney]

Token "I dunno how to spell his name" defence before disappearing down tunnel with head hanging down.

Tell it to the FA Panel, son.

[redgunamo]

'Less' than 11 players, la? LESS?

I'm reaching for my top pocket again, here.

Germans, you see. They've no word for "fluffy" either #AnglerOut

[Burney]

Germans, you see. They've no word for "fluffy" either #AnglerOut

Yes. I'm starting to worry about la. Do the Germans have an equivalent phrase for 'going native'?

[Luis Anaconda]

'Less' than 11 players, la? LESS?

I'm reaching for my top pocket again, here.

It's perfectly acceptable to say that whatever the dwindling band of pedants who wish to appear clever would like to claim.

"Less has been used with countables for about a thousand years — pretty much the entire history of written English. The very notion of a neat distinction between fewer and less according to whether the noun is countable or not is a myth. It was invented out of whole cloth by an ill- informed 18th-century pedant called Robert Baker in his book Reflections on the English Language (1770). He proposed this distinction not as a hard-and-fast rule of grammar, moreover, but as a tentative suggestion with caveats (“I should think . . . it appears to me . . . ”) that you won’t find in modern style guides."

[redgunamo]

But that is earning the money, we are talking about spending it. When your manager is signing a striker that he clearly doesn't rate it suggests you have a problem.

Remember, of the four summers since we have had money to spend we had one where we didn't sign a single outfield player, another where we would have signed nobody is Ozil hadn't fallen into our lap at the last minute and then last summer where it almost happened again. We have been left short in midfield into two seasons and horribly short at centre back in another.

It hasn't been smooth sailing at all.

If you have the money, you *must* spend it. I just said

It doesn't much matter what rubbish you spend it on, because merely spending it is "like a trophy". Wives use this reasoning while visiting manoloblahnik.com

[Luis Anaconda]

Yes. I'm starting to worry about la. Do the Germans have an equivalent phrase for 'going native'?

Yes but it takes 14 hours to write down

[IUFG]

Yes. I'm starting to worry about la. Do the Germans have an equivalent phrase for 'going native'?

Ichglaubeichbindeutschichdenkewirklichso

[Burney]

It's perfectly acceptable to say that whatever the dwindling band of pedants who wish to appear clever would like to claim.

"Less has been used with countables for about a thousand years — pretty much the entire history of written English. The very notion of a neat distinction between fewer and less according to whether the noun is countable or not is a myth. It was invented out of whole cloth by an ill- informed 18th-century pedant called Robert Baker in his book Reflections on the English Language (1770). He proposed this distinction not as a hard-and-fast rule of grammar, moreover, but as a tentative suggestion with caveats (“I should think . . . it appears to me . . . ”) that you won’t find in modern style guides."

You are dead to me, la.

And now I'm going to have to turn my back on you.

[Peter]

How many games have we started with less than 11 players, p?

Fewer, but that is not the point.

Is that really the measure of success for our transfer activity? We were able to field 11 players every week?