The Essential is Done - France 1 Georgia 0

Les Bleus head to their summer vacation sitting atop group B, their game in Scotland is the only match where they dropped any points suffering a shock 1-0 defeat. They sit 2 points clear of Italy and 3 points clear of Scotland, however the next round of games will determine who emerges as the top two teams in this group.

Group B

Teams	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts

France	7	6	0	1	15	2	18
Italy	7	5	1	1	13	6	16
Scotland	7	5	0	2	13	6	15
Ukraine	6	4	0	2	8	6	12
Lithuania	7	2	1	4	4	7	7
Georgia	8	2	0	6	13	14	6
Faroe Islands	8	0	0	8	2	27	0

First the game - no surprise, the Georgians packed it in, much more than did the Ukrainians on Saturday. An interesting statistic, at the midpoint of the first half, France had 13 shots, Georgia had zero.....indicative of how both teams were going to approach this match. France utterly dominated, the combo Nasri - Ribery - Anelka - Malouda worked very well. They moved the ball around with short passes at times were too unselfish, passing rather than shooting (an example was at one point Nasri and Ribery had a nice give and go, Nasri had a clear channel at the 18 but rather than shoot and test the keeper he looked to pass off). Makelele and Toulalan were recovering a tremendous amount of balls showing their value in the holding role in the midfield. Of course with all this pressure it took Nasri to liberate the French just past the half hour mark. After a strong run in the box by Ribery to the end line, his cross found Nasri at the penalty spot who coolly finished in side the left side post. A great finish for the 19 year old.

The remainder of the match was much of the same, the French owning possession and moving the ball at will, but having trouble finishing. Clerc having the best opportunity at the start of the second half where he inexplicably pushed his tap in from inside 10 yards wide. There were some scares where the Georgians look to break on the counter but just did not have the talent to beat the French back line. They also could not generate enough set pieces to really look to counter the French.

While there is not much to criticize Les Bleus on (other than not scoring 2 or 3 more goals) but the main area of question I would have is once again the selection of players....be forewarned I am getting back on my soap box....
France have had difficulty with the aerial game, both defensively on the offensive side. When healthy, Henry is not a force scoring with his head. Anelka is okay but not know for this part of his game, neither is Cisse, or Saha. And you are not going to win many aerial battles with Malouda, Ribery or Nasri.....However you know you are playing two teams that will most likely pack in the defense making passing in the last 20 meters extremely difficult (the one goal against Georgia, there were at least 6 Georgian players in the box against only 3 French players), so why not get a striker who can score on crosses and is a pure poacher, someone who can latch on to rebounds and does not need the "perfect" pass to score? And that player is....Trezeguet....I realize that the last few games in Blue he has not been at the top of his game, but these are exactly the types of games a player of his talent can blow open the match. I watched the French get plenty of space on the wings yesterday, time to cross, but no one comfortable calling for the ball. It was clear that Nasri and Ribery could run through most of the high Georgian defense but did not have the targets to pass at the end of their runs. Anelka was dangerous but always appeared to have at least two defenders on him, another striker such as Trezeguet may have created more space in the "scoring zone." The point may be moot, with France securing 6 points after the last two games they head into the summer break exactly where they need to be, and it is clear that Domenech does not value his Juventus striker as much as this blogger does.

Looking forward. The past two games will give Domenech some pause for thought when the "old guard" returns - Henry, Vieira, Sagnol, and Saha. Anelka appears firmly entrenched as one of the striker options, will he find himself paired with Henry? And if so who else sits? Vieira will most likely force Toulalan to the bench, finding a Vieira - Makelele partnership once again (however Toulalan demonstrated that he is a quality replacement for the holding role). But who will sit amongst - Ribery, Malouda, or Nasri?

Logic would dictate that Nasri would find himself back on the replacement bench, having Ribery and Malouda on the wings supporting Anelka and Henry.....but I would vote for Malouda. The Ribery - Nasri combo looked very dangerous the past two games. Both can play the "meneur de jeu" role very capably (so can Malouda, but Nasri and Ribery have a little more rapport). Ribery and Nasri, supporting Anelka and Henry could cause many defenses some serious problems, especially since every player can pop up on either wing, in the middle, deep, etc.

Domenech has the summer to work out these problems, but they are problems I am happy we have. During the last world cup, the French were criticized for its age, with the rise of Nasri, Ribery, Toulalan as well as Diarra, Benzema and Diaby gives hope that the future remains bright.