I Love Jersey Pirates

Hmmmm… can’t really say antying about Anelka ever wearing number 10. Can’t ever remember him ever wearing it. He’s really been around Europe now. Strangely, he will always stay in my head as the guy scored 2 goals against England at Wembley right after 98. Think he missed out on a third by hitting the crossbar…

As for the three goals, I think it will continue! But probably not against Serbia. They’re better off playing for a draw against a dangerous team like that. Away games against Serbia (or Croatia or Slovenia) are always tricky!

Off subject – Has anyone seen Benoit Pedretti play anytime recently? How’s his form?

Since I am running a fantasy type league of sorts, I can tell you, Jeff, that Pedretti is doing quite well, he’s consistently been the best in his team, except his team is not very good. Given that there is Vieira, Toulalan, Flamini, Bodmer, both Diarras, Mavuba and Matuidi ahead of him, along with the up-and-comers such as Fofana, Zola, Ducasse and Schneiderlin, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he’s already worn his last Bleu jersey.

Oh, and more importantly, Anelka did wear the #10 jersey once. It was in the friendly against Ecuador, where he started with Cissé.

Im looking forwards to the match against Serbia

I wonder which players domenech has in mind to call-up

Thanks for that Seb. You make it sound like there’s good depth at central midfield. I’d love to see some more of these up-and-comers. TV5 looks like they’re showing the Ligue 1 review show at a decent time this season – it was on Sunday evening at 7 p.m. eastern – so I’ll try to catch it as much as possible.

Schneiderlin playing for france??? is it the guy playing in the the coca cola division in england?

The only issue is that none of the guys I listed as up-and-comers are regular starters yet. All of them were highly thought of in U-16 through U-21 teams, though (Matuidi is the U-21 defensive midfielder at the moment). Except if they progress very, very quickly, I don’t expect any of them to appear in WC qualifying.

I think the more obvious guys in L1, such as Toulalan (duh), Mavuba, A. Diarra and Matuidi could have a role to play, though I think Vieira and Toulalan are the obvious choice in central midfield, if healthy. I threw Bodmer in there even though Inara will be quick to point out that he is more of an attacking midfielder, though with his versatility, he has seen action all over midfield, and even defense (he is the starting center back at l’OL these days, I believe).

Michel-Olivier, I listed Schneiderlin and the other very good ones only to demonstrate that we had depth in center midfield which would make it very unlikely that Pedretti be appearing in Bleu again. And actually, Scheniderlin’s been one of Southampton’s best players thus far in the season, and he’s only 18.

I’ve been late in realizing that Setanta is no longer showing games from Ligue 1 here in the USA! I thought they were just late in getting their new schedule going. What the hell’s up with that? Where the hell am I going to watch Ligue 1???

Try TV5 on Saturdays Sandrahn but I think you have to have dish network.

I know Comcast carries TV5 in Seattle, but it’s an extra-cost thing.

There is no way I’m going to re-up my subscription to Setanta broadband now.

No more Setanta? How are you going to catch all 38 Arsenal games?

TV5 (Tay Vay Sank) is about $10/month – available on Dish Network and some cable providers.

Seb, did he really wear #10 in that game? How did I miss that? And I watched that game, too.

In that game, since many of the regulars were out (Vieira, Toulalan, Makélélé), some of the players were assigned jersey #s they don’t typically wear (Escudé was 4, Lassana Diara was 6), as we had to go with jerseys 1-20 only.

domenech treat players like SLAVES

“It is not up to the player to decide when he ends his international career. A player, whether he is 35 or 18, will be selected. It is not up to him to decide, it is my decision.”(domenech)

lol@michel

Is TV5 tévé cinq also known as Tv Le Monde or something?

Jean Pierre, yes. http://www.tv5.org/locaux/usa/

cool laurie

Good news: for those with access to Setanta: the France – Austria game will be broadcast (tape delayed) at 4:00 pm EST on Sept. 6th. They also have the Sept. 10th game against Serbia at 6:45 pm EST (also tape delayed).

I don’t see anything listed on TV5 …

@ meta
My grandma has TV5 as well, but it does not broadcast those matches. Maybe because it is the Dutch Tv5 which I think differs from the american one. so maybe the canadian one??? differs from the american one.

Is sentanta a site where you have to pay for?
If you don’t want to watch the match live, (3 days later or something) you can download it from Emule. My daddy uses it; first download the sharing program that is called Emule. This program is (illegal) but it has very good Dvd quality

Hi Jean Pierre,

I checked the North American schedules for TV5–and I didn’t see anything listed for the upcoming two matches. They showed the France qualifiers for Euro 2008, but maybe they lost the broadcast rights … or maybe I’m just missing something.

Regarding Setanta: I think its a UK cable sports channel, which is available in North America at a rather expensive price. Personally, I think its great–though I don’t have it at home. I live in Montreal, and fortunately there are a lot of downtown, soccer …er, I mean football-friendly bars that broadcast stuff from that channel. As for the Netherlands, I really don’t know ….

Met – It looks like TV5, at least in the US and Montreal, won’t have the match.

I caught the first half of PSG-Caen on TV5 in Montreal on Saturday in a restaurant called Dundee’s by the Art Museum. I was bugging the guy there to get me the Arsenal game, but PSG-Caen was all he could get – which was way better than nothing.

Yeah, I was checking the TV5 Monde schedule today also. And also no go.

But it’s good that Setanta will be broadcasting them. I’ll probably still try to get them via the pirates, but when I put a post up during the game I’ll put the results below the jump so anybody stopping by won’t have the surprise spoiled.

Hey Jeff! That’s fantastic! I think you were on Crescent St. for that Caen-PSG game.

I saw the Arsenal-Newcastle game in a pub on Prince Arthur last Saturday with a bunch of mostly Arsenal fans and two depressed guys from Newcastle, or thereabouts.

I’m more of a Plateau kind of guy—if you don’t know, it’s an old neighbourhood just east of Mont Royal known for its European émigré population of the last century. It’s full of bohemians and university students, which makes a good mix for me. Think Leonard Cohen-meets-Arcade Fire and you’ll have some idea of what I mean.

Anyway, while Montreal is first and foremost (and probably forever) a hockey town, there’s also a lot of interest in soccer here. With its large Portuguese, Greek, Italian, Latin American and French ex-pat population, nothing beats the vibe on the plateau come World Cup time. In fact, that’s how I became a fan! Like most Canadians, the only soccer I’d watched was every four years during the WC. Do you remember that France game against South Korea in ’06? Well, I was in a trendy bar (Café Melies) on the Main (Boul. St. Laurent) that afternoon watching the game with a bunch of fans from France. There was this one young bald guy sitting in front of me in a France jersey who was getting increasingly agitated as France failed to put the game away. He couldn’t stay still—he’d pace about, look at the screen, turn away, walk over to the bar, go outside, come back, turn away again in disgust. All the time his two very beautiful companions sipped their sangrias with a certain amount of indifference or at least feigned concern. Anyway, at the end of the game, which ended after a late equalizer by South Korea, he walked across the street to a parking lot, put his leg up on a low-lying fence—and just fumed! Magnificently, I might add … For some reason I became a France fan after that … (though it also helped that I won a bet on the subsequent Brazil game everyone assured me France would lose). The cops routinely closed major streets that summer for celebrations by the fans of various countries, especially Portugal. I’ll never forget the two brave England fans who walked through one such celebration chanting, “Let’s-go-Eng-land, Let’s-go-Eng-land” just after the Portugal victory that put them through to face England, I think … It was a great summer to be in the city.

Met – I’ve got to spend more time around the Plateau. I was on Crescent St. on Saturday. Things are just a little bit spread out in Montreal, and it makes it a bit of a challenge to move between areas. In part because it’s the way we drive into town, we spend most of our visits near the Old Port. When we lived up in Burlington, we could get there in an hour and a half. We’re a little over two hours away now, and we have kid, so we don’t get up there nearly as much, but I’d love to check out Café Melies or that Pub on Prince Arthur to catch a game with Arsenal supporters at some point.

Saturday was good because Arsenal played the late kickoff – Noon Eastern. Other than that, it’s rare to have a decent kickoff time to watch games in a pub. Champions League games during the week might work, if you can get away from work.

Jeff, next time your in the Old Port, check out the roof-top terrace at the Hotel Nelligan …

For getting around Montreal you might try leaving the car and using the metro system. I heartily recommend a walking tour of the Mile-End, Outremont & Plateau areas of the city, especially at this time of year.

Café Melies is great for a French meal in a sophisticated setting, but you’ll never see an Arsenal game there. They only “allow” football during the WC & Euro championship. Aside from the sports bars, I think the only place I can guarantee an Arsenal game (actually, I’d call ahead) is Ye Olde Orchard Pub & Grille at 20 Prince Arthur West. Nearby parking shouldn’t be a problem …

http://www.yeoldeorchard.com/

It’s a bit faux-celtic and they play too much Pogues et al, but it’s tasteful, clean and there’s always a lot of space on Saturdary morning/afternoon, so bringing the family shouldn’t pose a problem. And the Main, is just around the corner …

met:)
2 years ago when i was 12, i went with my parents to canada and i was very upset because we left at the day of the final of the world cup 2006, and when we landed in your country, canada, it was such a chaos! all Italians there were like crazy and the streets were filled with soccer supporters – canada is a nice country

Hey, Jean-Pierre – that’s great!

I don’t know if you have the same phenomena in the Netherlands that Montreal has (or maybe even other North American cities), but come World Cup time all the motorists here drive around with little flags attached to their cars, basically announcing which country they support!

It’s funny, but while I live in a predominately French-speaking city, the Italian car flags outnumbered the France car flags by about 10 to 1!!

loll exactly when i was in canada i saw lots of motorists and cars with flag and people with painted italian flags on their cheeks:D
and ye i saw only 2 or 3 french flags, we were in toronto i think that is a francophone area – canada is funny with so many cultures
in holland its very quiet, but the dutch hang up orange flags to support holland (which i and my brother cut off from frustration when France lost with Holland in euro 2008 4-1)