Gourcuff set deeper...could this be an option for Les Bleus

Interesting statements coming form Domenech and Blanc about the French playmaker Gourcuff. The young French playmaker has at times evolved deeper in the Bordeaux line up, while he lined up in his traditional spot behind the striker, he regularly dropped deeper switching with the goal scorer Plasil. Domenech seemed to stated he was aware of this and might think about it for Les Bleus...hmmm....here is to hoping he does!

I think for it to work with Les Bleus, assuming Domenech insists on sticking with his 4-2-3-1 formation, can Gourcuff be one of the 2 holding midfielders? I think so, but that would place increased pressure on whoever is his partner as the true holding midfielder. Why this worked for Bordeaux is while Plasil can swap with Gourcuff and push higher leaving the #8 to sit deeper, but will also track back to alleviate some of the defensive responsibilities. Also, for Bordeaux this works since they have two true wingers in Sertic and Gouffran. Why is that important? Having two players that understand the need to give the field width forces the opposing team to defend wider and therefore makes the center less congested, meaning that the 2 holding players are under less defensive pressure coming through the center of the park. With Les Bleus you do not, at least recently, have natural wide players. With the likes of Henry and Anelka, you have players who have a natural tendency to drift back to the center, this adds greater emphasis to the center of the park. While I think that you can still manage with one holding midfielder, not sure that Gourcuff playing deeper would work for Les Bleus, unless there were some other changes.

If you were to go to a 4-2-2-2 with Gourcuff/Lass or Toulalan as the pairing sitting in front of the back 4, with the 2 wide players such as Malouda on the left and Ribery on the right and play 2 natural strikers - Henry and Anelka high that might work. It would place more defensive pressure on whoever is shouldering Gourcuff, but it would also allow the French play maker to push high when the opportunity allows and then drift back deeper to see more of the game in front of him - playing the the role of the deep lying midfielder Pirlo plays with Italy and Milan. It would almost become a 4-1-3-2 with the 3 midfielders forming a V. Might be an interesting formation, and with the likes of Diaby, Nasri, Remy who could be the wide players of the 3 there would be depth in the formation as well. This would also allow a Toulalan the freedom to do what he is suited for - run around and destroy any offensive threats from the opposition, do not concern yourself with the counter - destroy the offense and give the ball to Gourcuff to start the attack. It would also permit Ribery more room to operate in the offensive 1/3, providing the linkage between Gourcuff and the strikers - similar to what Totti did with Italy (sorry for all the Italian references!) Unfortunately I think Domenech is so in love with his 4-2-3-1 that all this is just conjecture and may only see the light of day in practice...alas....maybe we need Blanc to manage France sooner!