http://www.soccernet.com/championsleague/news/2002/0930/20020930auxerrevafcpre.html A foot injury continues to plague Djibril Cisse, who will miss Arsenal's visit to Auxerre. Guy Roux's squad ran out 4-1 winners over Nantes this weekend without the French international, as Yann Lachuer scored twice. Cisse's replacement, Benjani, opened the scoring as the Burgundy side canned 3 goals in a ten-minute span to break the game open at the half hour mark. The win, coupled with ten-man Nice's loss this weekend, takes Auxerre to sole possession of first place in Le Championnat, 3 points clear on 20 points after 9 matches (6W, 2D, 1L). They also sit third in Group A with one point, but leading PSV on goal difference at -1.
Its too bad that FSW dropped Le Championnet as it was interesting to see. Theyve replaced it with LA LIGA and thats a higher caliber of football so its not all bad. Seeing what I saw Saturday I cant see anything less than a romp. We are playing so well that as Number one in England we should have no problem with the top of French football, you would think. Also nice to get two away games out of the way in this first go around.
http://www.soccernet.com/championsleague/news/2002/0930/20020930featrouxbidwell.html Feature from Soccernet on Auxerre's manager for the last 41 years, Guy Roux.
I get a chance to see Auxerre at least once a week on TV5, the French-language channel. They show the highlights package that FSW used to show last season, in addition to showing one Saturday match. Anyway, here's what I've noticed about Auxerre: -Benjani looks fairly dangerous. -They've got three players who played in France's last full international: Cisse (currently hurt), Kapo, and Mexes (future Arsenal player?) -Their kit supplier is Kappa, which means they wear those skin-tight jerseys like the Italian national team and the Colorado Rapids. -Their goalie is Fabian Cool, a candidate for the All Name XI. Not exactly a kygunner-caliber preview, is it? The last time Arsenal played a French side like Auxerre was in the UEFA Cup in late 1999 when they played Nantes. Nantes, like Auxerre, was a young squad that didn't mind attacking. Nantes, also like Auxerre, were on the verge of success in France (won the league cup the season we played them, won the league the next year). We won 6-3 on aggregate, and even though we drew 3-3 on the away leg, we were never really bothered. I expect a similar outcome when we go head-to-head with Auxerre twice over the next three weeks.
Denver viewing FYI For those in the Denver area, our only hope for viewing these matches (Fado's) declined to pick up any matches because they are apparently too expensive. So, I guess we're at the mercy of espn and FSW.
Good stuff! I for one know nothing about Auxerre this season and wont be contributing to the website for this one. I vote Dwink the official French scout! Dont you hate those Kappa kits. Than again there not as ugly as ours.
They've also apparently dumped the midnight CST (1:00 AM for you East Coast guys) Sky Sports News. Here I was, just getting used to listening to an interview, reading the crawl, and glancing at the League Tables, all at the same time, and FSW has gone and dumped it for their own world sports news, hosted by 2 people who could put a pot of coffee to sleep. Now I have to straggle to the TV at 6:00 AM to get my Sky Sports....
You can also catch it at 6 p.m. your time. BTW, those two people are Canadians, so what do you expect. (Oops, did I just say that out loud?)
It's a good thing that Cisse is injured, he's looked a good player when I have seen him pay for France. I would be very surprised if we don't beat Auxerre. If anything our speed on the break will suit us better away from home than at Highbury. I'm sure that Wenger wants to qualify for the second phase as quickly as possible so that a few of the players can be rested in preparation for important Premiership games. And the best way to keep the current unbeaten run going is to send out the strongest team available and build on the confidence gained from the win against Leeds on Saturday. I expect the first team to play tomorrow with the exception of the injured Bergkamp, Pires and Keown... Seaman Lauren-Campbell-Cygan-Cole Wiltord-Vieira-Gilberto-Ljungberg Henry-Kanu We need a big game from Henry again, his more clinical finishing this season has made him into an even better striker. If any criticism could have been levelled at him in the past is that he wasted too many chances. This has capped off his all-round game, he's definitely up with the best in the world at the moment.
Thanks, but I can think of at least one poster on these boards more qualified than I. Jamison, who moderates the France forum, probably does so for a reason. J, do you have anything useful to add on Auxerre?