Portsmouth tomorrow and our international players should be in good spirits. France and Sweden both qualified for the Euro 2004 finals this week and England, Germany and Brazil went to the top of their repsective Euro 2004 and World Cup qualifying groups with wins on Wednesday. And for those left behind, there was the consolation of a right royal tanking of Spurs reserves on Monday night. I haven't heard of any injuries, so hopefully it will be an unchanged side again unless Gilberto hasn't recovered from his trip to South America. Portsmouth have bought some experience in for their return to the Premiership, but the likes of Sheringham, Stone, Sherwood and Berger have left their best days behind them. I saw them live in their first game of the season and they looked pretty dodgy at the back against a workmanlike Villa side. This game is ripe for the lads to turn on the style and get a good win to top up the confidence for the Champions League and top Premiership action coming up. 4-0 is my (rather bold) prediction. Come on you reds!
4-nil is kinda bold. I'm calling it at 2-1 to the Arsenal. By the way, does anyone know if DB10 is gonna play? Rien mais le Treble! OPArsenal
I swear I read that Gilberto won't be playing tomorrow, but I can't remember where. I feel an Arsenal victory coming on, but I think it will be closer than it should be.
Are you all crazy? We're facing the #3 team in the Premiership, a team which is currently 2 spots ahead of the soon-to-be-world-conquering-or-at-least-buying Chelski! We'll be lucky to escape with a draw. OK, back to reality. My guess is 3-0 but I won't be surprised if the score is bigger.
I'm with you Fox Point for 3-0 maybe 3-1. Save the clean sheet for Inter than a single goal puts us in command right out of the gate. We won't go under-strength really as Gilberto is already gonna miss Saturday and return for Inter mid-week but I'd guess we could get away with having Pires on the bench if his knee is bothering him. Most likely Wenger will sub a bit earlier with all three subs and might just MIGHT lets some youngsters get some run-outs. Don't look at me if he doesn't...
portsmouth are going to get their first REAL test in the top flight on saturday.. i really see an inspired effort from the lads with a 4 or 5 nil result likely... oh innit great to be at the top.... hows the view manyoo... hehehe.... look for edu to be influential in this one as well.... cheers phishy
If the Arse is ahead by a bunch and Wenger doesn't play any youngsters I'm holding Martin accountable.
I would expect Edu to get the start, especially if DB10 gets a start. Edu and Viera means the midfiled will be clamped down tight, and DB10 can feed Henry, Freddie, and SuperBob. Might be a long day for Henry physically, though, as he's the only one who will come to the box on a regular basis. Frankly I'd look for Freddie to have a goal tomorrow when Henry breaks wide on the left, taking 3 defenders with him. Then one of those patented DB10 passes to Freddie on a diagonal run after the "D' has cleared out to make sure Henry doesn't get the ball in open space on the wing. 2-1 to the Arsenal My expected line-uP; Lehman Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole Ljungberg, Edu, Viera, Pires Begkamp Henry Another option, should AW want to give the Frenchmen a rest is to replace Pires w/ Parlour and giving Kanu a run. More pressure on DB10, though, as he would be expected to score himself in that line-up, but you could bring on Pires and Henry at the 60 minute mark, and, if you have a lead, give Viera a blow, bring in Keown to partner Campbell and move Toure outside in the midfield with Pires going in the middle, OR bring on Henry, Pires, and Wiltord and move DB 10 to the middle w/ Edu. I think I'm putting WAY too much thought into this.
yes very confident. i too will be happy with a win no matter how we get it. this whole underdogs and AW winning the motm has me a bit nervous. remember bolton last season
smash & grab footy I'd love to see us start FAST... and finish Portsmouth off EARLY.... yall know the Arsenal performances I refer to!! lets get a quick 2-0 lead... and bring in DB10 and Kanu... fun all around! I really don't expect anything but a WIN... you have to thump the Portsmouths of the league... and I am practicing my "VIERA" song... I see Patrick with a goal tomorrow..... don't know why....... I just do! he comes from Senegal..... he plays for Arsenal.... Vieeeeeeeeera....... woooooooo hoooooooo... 3-0 to the good guys... Viera, Henry and Bergy
Took me a second to see where you'd commented, Martin. Yeah, sometimes my overactive brain goes a bit haywire and I start REALLY thinking about stuff I shouldn't bother with. If you had wanted to see me have a nervous breakdown, you should have seen me coach my niece's under-9's last Saturday. My brother-in-law is their regular coach, and I'm not sure he had ever seen a soccer game prior to this year. I yelled at a linesman early about an offsides (apologized at halftime. I think the kid thought I was going to stuff him in the trunk of my car, but he ended up laughing it off). I also asked the ref why he decided to call a back pass to the keeper when offsides wasn't being called. I backed off, though, when he gave the other team an INDIRECT free kick! And it was (obviously) INSIDE the box! A couple of the parents told me the officiating is generally horrible in their league, and I have to agree.
Ljungberg on the bench as Parlour take his place. Edu in the middle with PV4 in the middle. Bergkamp up front w/Henry.
So far on Arsenal Plus-recap of the thrashing of sp*rs, last time when portsmouth played Arsenal, line ups(to follow). I'll give important updates such as cards goals, subs, etc...
Portsmouth line up: Portsmouth - Hislop; Schemmel, De Zeeuw, Stefanovic, Zivkovic; Stone, Quashie, Faye, Berger; Sheringham, Yakubu (Subs - Wapenaar, Foxe, Sherwood, Smertin, Roberts) Arsenal line up: Arsenal - Lehmann; Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole; Parlour, Vieira, Edu, Pires; Bergkamp, Henry (Subs - Stack, Keown, Ljungberg, Wiltord, Aliadiere) 5 minutes gone by, Bergkamp had a good chance and Teddy getting booed.
For those who'd like to hear it, audio broadcast is on at capital gold: http://www.capitalgold.com/schedule.asp