Official Gunners Thread

Sparta on thurs. Predictions. I'll say another 2-1.

2-1 sounds about right.

Interesting that we are being linked with Morten Gamst Pederson.

http://www.lep.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?sectionid=75&articleid=3107620

A specialist left-wing is needed imo and he looks pretty good.

Ill be coming into work early tomorrow to watch the game. I normally start work at 6:30 am but i will come in @ 5:30 and miss my lunch so i can spend 2 hours infront of the big screen. We dont officially open at the backbencher until 11am but if anyone wants to stick there noses in and watch the game they are more than welcome, the entrance by our courtyard will be open. UberGunner2007-08-15 14:34:02

Ooh I might just take you up on that offer. Doesn't the game start at 6.45am though?

Coverage according to the online sky guide starts at 6.30 with sky sport2 covering wigan vs middlesbrough at 6.55am

Sorted.
Arsenal2007-08-15 15:37:31

Hey boys. Great to see a bunch of gooners havin a yarn...

I sometimes head to Courtenay Arms and sometimes stream matches at home. I'd be keen to watch some matches with a few Gooners though as most of my friends support other teams.

I didn't know the Arsenal-Sparta Praha game was being televised! What time and what channel???

SS1 6.45am.

Thanks Arsenal.

The Backbencher isn't open at that time of the morning for premiership games on the weekends. We are on the wrong side of town and we are usually a ghost town on sat, sun nights by midnight let alone 3am.During the week I'm usually in at 6.30am and if Arsenal are playing it will be on the big screen. We have a grumpy handyman who hates football and pretends to support Chelsea just to wind me up. He is usually in at some ungodly hour. he is going to through a wobbly when i show up at 5;30 tomorrow. Later in the season we will start opening in the mornings for some of the more interesting premier league and champions league games. and finals. with yellow fever we may also open by request for any particular game if there is enough interest. that includes fa cup finals and big matches. As far as i know there are no wellington based Arsenal supporters groups.

0-2 to the gunners. I dont think that the phsyical stuff bothers us that much anymore. I guess the true test will be at blackburn this weekend. But its good to see we can dish it out as well as take the abuse. that tackle that crocked the sparta captain was deliberate and malicious and i loved it . I think arsenal are quite comfortable waiting for teams to tire then turning the screws and killing em in the last 10-15 minutes.

Good result in the end, which we deserved. Cesc and Clichy played excellently, Hleb got better as the game went on and I've been impressed by Sagna thus far. Our defence looked pretty ordinary against set pieces (nothing new there) but we held. Song was shocking.

Was very disappointed with the first half, but as someone else said, it has become a tradition of ours to wait until they tire and kill them off with late goals.

And yes I thought Sagna and Clichy as the fullbacks were brilliant. Don't think we'll have any problems in that position this year barring injuries. Clichy is class, and Sagna appears to have the goods, although he tended to go down very easily in this mornings game - is that the french league influence??? Malouda is the same since he came in.

Well 2-0 even better than i expected. Was greatly impressed by Sanga and Clichy, not so much Gallas and Toure i thought some of their defending was quite dodgy. Lehmann had a solid game and Cesc was all class as per usual.

Sparta were flying in with  some of those tackles but Cesc put a stop to that pretty quick.

I think Clichy look good on attack but his positional play defensively needs some work. He doesnt seem to be able to anticipate the runs, most of the time his speed comes to the rescue but he may be a week link against some of the other speedy wingers in the premier league.

Who was the guy who played defense for the gunners this morning? He was black with bleached or dyed hair.

Is he a new signing or has he come up from the reserves?

Bacary Sagna. New signing from Auxerre. He's made a great start.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/football/bakari-sagna.html for more info on him.

What do you think about Eboue on the right side of midfield?

Yeah Eboue and Sagna work really well together. But Eboue is not a traditional winger, even though he's attacking minded, so will take some time to get used to it. It's not like we're blessed with wide players.  

http://www.fanchants.com/listenfootballchants/12/2/1/

Great win, man is HELB playing good or what. he was always good with the ball but now he can finish aswell good to see. Blackburn is going to be a tough game if we can take all 3point here it will give us a good lead over man u. Gael Clichy will make the french team in no time if he keeps playing the way he is, his defence might need a little work but most of the time his pace makes up for it. Debut goal for silva on monday i reckon

Yes Hleb is improving all the time. Hopefully he keeps scoring... and Rosicky to chip in with a few 30 yarders eh

I'm hoping for a 3-1 win over Blackburn with Silva, van Persie, and Rosicky scoring for us, while Nelsen bags his first one for Blackburn.

Backbencher will have the game on the big screen. same as last week, we wont be "open" but you are more than welcome to come in and watch if you want. it is delayed coverage so kickoff is at 9:30 am.

nice henry sig..

yeah i agree, but i do feel arsenal will play as the best team in the prem this season. Come on eduardo against blackburn =]

9.30 kick-off!?!?!? D'oh, I'm at school then!

Wag, ive considered it.

Is that a replay? or just a VERY late kick off time? CelticFC2007-08-19 19:13:27

Its a replay, they actually kick off an hour before the Liverpool Chelski game.

Sky really need to sort their priorities out, an Arsenal game should come before a Champions League final, let alone a Liverpool versus Chelsea match.

They dont have much choice. I think they are doing a great job. Sky in the uk arnt covering the game live so sky nz have bought the extra match to air, aswell as the usuall live games.

yeah but considering they were spose to show it and had it scheduled for sunday mornign 1.40.. i sent in a complaint it pissed me off its the only arsenal game in august too remember apart from the sparta prague game at the emirates.

heres a link if you want to watch live footy free on your computer.. some is in aisian but some channels are english hey its great.. i mean all the matches bascially that arnt on sky are on here
http://www.yellowfever.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1549

Blackburn played uefa cup on thurs. so the game was rescheduled to sunday afternoon to suit both teams. UberGunner2007-08-19 21:14:00

i felt we lossed it after we took eduardo off, had a good debut =] hleb wasnt really playing like he has been neither with cesc but yeah bummer bout lehmanns mistake