The Bean Town Frog

PSG - can't buy me love

2012-01-19T18:40:00.000-05:00

Beckham, Pato and now Tevez? I guess the petro-euros in Paris are not as valuable as once believed! After Beckham said no thanks to PSG and re-upped with the Galaxy and then we say PSG do a dance with AC Milan only to see Pato say no to the French capital, now we are watching at the Apache might follow suit. What is going on! A few weeks ago I was waiting to see a whole host of big names being unveiled at the Parc. Well we did sign 30 year old Barcelona bench warmer - Maxwell. PSG is linked with another aging defender in Maicon.

Hmm should I go to Paris....

So what is really going on in Paris. Ancelotti has made it clear he wants a big name striker/offensive option brought in before the end of the month (did I mention that Kaka has also been on this merry go round) but it looks as if that might be a pipe dream. I understand what Ancelotti is looking to do, but once again I ask - what is the plan?

Beckham, thankfully he stayed in LA, but what would have been his role? Wide player? Deep lying midfielder? Late game substitute? That smells like a PR move and not a football move.

Pato? Big name. How would he be used? Top of the Ancelotti Christmas Tree? (4-3-2-1) Or would he some how be a tandem striker with Gameiro and/or Hourau. What about Tevez? What formation would he slot into? What about Kaka. Where would he slot and doesn't he make Pastore redundant? Or would Kaka be more of a 9.5, but then who plays the role of the #9? What about Nene and Menez? If you have Pastore, Kaka, Nene and Menez with Sissoko, Matuidi and Chantome you find a very crowed midfield.

PSG is sitting in a good position, they are our of the Europa League so can focus on domestic football. They sit 3 points clear of second, even after playing through a poor spell. Do they need a big name striker? Not sure. Hourau is coming back from injury and should assist. They might need some more depth in the midfield, especially if Ancelotti sticks with his preferred 4-3-2-1 formation. I also believe that we will see more success over the summer transfer window, if and when PSG are qualified for the Champions League.

12 more days...how many more players can avoid PSG during the transfer window?

Warriors...come out and play. Liverpool shaking things up

2012-01-19T18:17:00.001-05:00

Interesting story, Liverpool Football Club will be the first footy team wearing the Warrior brand kit. Warrior is known more for their equipment for hockey and lacrosse with a host of goodies from gloves to sticks to shoes. Now they are jumping into the fray of big time footy with one of the biggest fish out there - Liverpool. Long time equipment maker, Adidas, will be left scratching their heads as to where do they go in the Premiership (Liverpool and Chelsea were their two big clubs, paralleling Nike's Manchester United and Arsenal).

This is interesting as Under Armor, another US based sporting company, will be kitting Tottenham next season. Following in the footsteps of Nike, these two US based firms are turning their eyes to the world's most popular sport to expand their top line. Of course Under Armor has some, albeit short, history in soccer having jumped into the boot game a few seasons back. Warrior is no experience in footy, but what a way to make a splash!

It will be interesting to see how Warrior, not steeped in design tradition for footy, will do with the classic red of Liverpool.

Titi Henry - back at home

2012-01-11T22:26:00.001-05:00

I realize I am a bit behind, but watching the highlights of the Arsenal v Leeds FA Cup game brought back some warm and fuzzy feelings about Arsenal and when Titi Henry was the dominate striker in the Premier League:

Does Henry have another run in him for Arsenal? Maybe. When he first moved to Barcelona he found success playing in a 4-3-3 but soon found himself on the substitutes bench as the younger players took their spots with Barca. Titi then went to his retirement home in New York with Red Bull of the MLS...ooops sorry was that a low blow to the MLS?? I did watch a few games of Red Bull in the MLS, Henry still had the skill but seemed to lack to the desire, at times he appeared to be just going through the motions. I think Henry still has something left in the tank. I think that deep down inside Titi would rather be playing in Europe than in the MLS. I am not foolish enough to think that Henry could come back to Arsenal and start stringing together 90 minute games; however, I do think he could be a valuable asset to Arsenal as a substitute and spot starter.

I hope Henry continues to have success over the next two months for Arsenal, part of me hopes he makes this a permanent move. Seeing him in the red strip is almost as natural as seeing him in the France kit!

Messi - the golden one

2012-01-09T23:24:00.001-05:00

No surprise that Argentine and Barcelona star Messi won the Ballon D'Or, his third such honor. At the tender age of 24 will anyone be surprised if he ended up doubling his tally? He joins the only other three time winners - Zidane and Ronaldo (the Brazilian) - of the FIFA player of the year. Don't forget that the Ballon D'Or and FIFA player of the year award merged, in terms of Ballon D'Or, Messi joins the likes of Platini, Cruyff and Van Basten as three time winners.

As long as he has these two, more awards in Messi's future

What I find interesting of all these winners is their success for both club and country...except for Messi. All of these players won titles and were major contributors for their nation teams, their impact at the club level are all on the same level. Messi's success is disproportionately weighed to his run of form with Barcelona. There have been many discussions, articles, debates and opinions about why this is...there is no doubt that Barcelona, as it is currently constituted, is one of the best teams ever seen. However that is not unique to Messi, all the other winners above played on clubs that were also loaded: Zizou and Ronaldo did play for the Galacticos! The Milan teams of Van Basten were some of the best club teams ever seen. Cruyff's Ajax sides revolutionized total football. Platini's Juventus were one of Europe's best with the likes of Boniek, Rossi and Tardelli. All these winners also won on the international level.

Messi continues to struggle with Argentina. Maybe Argentina needs to stop trying to be Barcelona and figure out what is the best way to leverage the world's best player with the other pieces they have. It is not as if Argentina is full of chumps either - Tevez, Higuain, Pastore, Aguero, Mascherano and Di Maria to name a few. What is holding back Argentina is this attempt to build a Barcelona type system, rather than build a team and figure out where Messi would slot into the side. Until Argentina get a manager who is there for a longer time frame than a year or two, who devises a system and sticks with it, I fear that Messi might always be pushing when he puts on the light blue strip of Argentina. But for now he can thank Barcelona for allowing him to show the world what a wonderful talent he is.

Congratulation Lionel.

Happy New Year - what to look for in 2012

2012-01-07T23:03:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year to all, a few days late, but still within a reasonable window! So what can we expect in 2012 in the world of footy? Here are some trends/predictions to look for this year:

Influx of mega-wealthy investors. The footy world has witnessed what an apparent unlimited budget can do for a club - look who is sitting atop the Premier League. And we all lived through the dramatic changes at Chelsea with the unlimited funds from Abramovich. Most recently we have seen Manchester City on the Seine with the influx of Qatar money into PSG. This trend will only continue or become worse...add to the mix the petro-dollars from Russia and oil rich former Soviet nations (look at Monaco being taken over by a Russian billionaire). This will elevate teams out of the second tier - see Manchester City as well as some clubs that no one has heard of - see FC Anzhi Makhachkala. Add to this an apparent rise of Chinese domestic football spending and we will only see a continued shift in the balance of power of football. Look for this trend to thrust unexpected clubs into contention and send big name players to leagues otherwise unheard of.
Spain will disappoint at the Euros. Spain could still reach the semi-finals or finals, but they will not become the first nation to win three consecutive major tournaments. I realize they walked through qualifiers but some of their results from other matches leaves something to be desired: 1-1 away to Mexico, losing 4-1 to Argentina, losing 4-0 to Portugal, losing 1-0 to England and barely getting draw away to Costa Rica. I am sure that most Spanish fans, included my buddy Jose, will argue that the old Spain was always champions of the friendlies but did not step up when it counted. However, there leaves some room for doubt based on some of these results. Add to this the David Villa injury, Torres apparently forgetting what his role and nagging injuries. Finally, the core of the team has played A LOT of footy over the past 4 years, between club and country. This is going to catch up. The reality is nations have also started to figure out how to beat Spain (granted it is not easy): let them play their passing/possession game and wait to hit back on the counter. Without the likes of David Villa or an effective Torres there is not that clinical finisher who only needs half a foot to but the ball in the onion bag. Look for Spain to take a step back in international football.
China will become the new "retirement" destination for players...but will not be limited to just that role. Anelka will be heading over to Shanghai and might be followed by his former Chelsea teammate, Ballack. As the Chinese economy as a whole continues to burn red hot, there is a large amount of capital for such luxurious as football clubs and players. The MLS had become a default retirement home for big named players - Beckham, Henry, Ljunberg, Marquez - to name a few. The MLS was an expected destination for the likes of Anelka, Ballack, Ronaldinho, Drogba and Pires - however that might no longer be the next destination for these players. Chinese football will expand beyond simply attracting players at the end of their carreers as they also attract some South American names - Dario Conca, Cleo and Muirqui- before they ended up in Europe. Look for China to continue to grow in terms of influence and presence on the world scene. What will be interesting is to see if the Chinese players themselves become better and can challenge in Asia versus usual powers: South Korea, Japan and Australia.
Video and a second official will find themselves as part of the game. Maybe this is more wishful thinking, but with Sepp Blatter finally admitting that some type of goal line technology, there is hope! I have a feeling there will be some controversy whether in the Champions League or the Euros where it will become painfully clear that we need to leverage technology to make the game easier for the officials to better officiate the game. In addition, the move of having extra officials at the Europa League games and others will grow in momentum. Rather than simply having an official patrolling the penalty box, the football powers that be will realize that having 2 officials might be even better.
The Bundesliga will start infringing on the #2 spot in terms of domestic leagues. The German domestic league has already passed Italy when it comes to domestic leagues, measured simply by Champions League spots and the coefficient. I think that 2012 will mark the first time that La Liga begins to feel some "heat" in a long time. La Liga will suffer, in some ways, from its success. Or shall we say success from two clubs - Real Madrid and Barcelona. Clubs that carried success in Europe such as Valencia, cannot keep up in terms of money and players as the big two. This will only hurt Spain as a whole. The Bundesliga remains a more balanced league, without a real dominant power - even Bayern Munich does not have the domestic dominance exhibited by Real and Barca. This will only allow for a healthier league. Look for this to continue in 2012.

2012 should be a very exciting year for footy, with what should be a great Euro, and the last one before it expands again (not a fan of that move) we will see great matches from day #1. I am also looking forward to the Olympic soccer tournament as well.

Happy New Year!

Does PSG have a plan, or are they just collecting toys?

2011-12-14T14:41:00.001-05:00

The Manchester City of the Seine is at it again, with the winter transfer window a few weeks away, PSG is rumored to be involved in a host of big transfers;

Beckham from LA Galaxy seems like a done deal.
The Apache - Tevez - might be heading to Paris rather than Milan
Kalou could take the Eurostar from London to Paris
Kolo Toure might actually go from Manchester City in Manchester to Manchester City on the Seine.
Now there are even "rumors" of Villa and Higuain being looked at...

Looks interesting on paper, for fantasy soccer and for L'Equipe, but does any of this really make sense on the field? As the article from Sports24 mentions, how would these players fit into the general direction of the club? Where would they play and who would be the odd man out?

I can't run that way anymore...

Beckham: Where would you slot him? Out on the right? Push Menez to the bench? Golden Balls can no longer play in the middle of the park, I know he did that with the Galaxy, but all due respect to the MLS, that is not the same as playing the role in Europe. But that would push out other players from the mix, and again not sure Becks can last 90 minutes in that role.

Tevez: Gameiro does not seem to be the issue, he is on pace to lead Ligue 1 again in goals. Granted having Tevez would be an upgrade, but does PSG really have a dire need there? They have Hourau coming back as well. And they currently choose to play with a lone striker, with Tevez, Hourau and Gameiro there will not be much time to go around.

Kalou: Unlike Tevez, could play other front line roles - lone striker, deep lying striker, winger etc so would give PSG more options, might be a good signing.

Toure: Getting a bit long in the tooth, but clearly PSG have struggled with their central defensive pairing, could the former Gunner be the answer to partner with Sakho? Not sure, but after signing a number of central defenders this summer why dip into that pool again?

Villa and Higuain...uh not going to happen so no need to discuss.

I will have this many assists if I can play deeper

Once again I feel we are seeing what we saw with Chelsea and Manchester City when they found new wealth - sign a bunch of names without any regard to your on field direction! Granted it is easier to figure things out when you have a collection of talent and are not concerned about cutting bait and absorbing costs, but with some thought you can avoid that step in the process.

This transfer market should be interesting for PSG. For me they need to add to the defensive back line, I would like to see them go after some better outside backs - someone like Tremoulinas from Bordeaux would be nice! The real issue that has to be worked out is what formation makes the most sense...to me Pastore is too high on the pitch, maybe look to a 4-4-2 offensive formation where Pastore and Matuidi would be the central midfielders, Matuidi responsible for the dirty work and Pastore would be able to pick up the ball deeper and carry the play. That would allow Nene and Menez to play wide and have two strikers, you could even stay with one striker and play a formation closer to a 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1.

I am sure that PSG and their owners will feel the need to add some new toys to their stable, but not sure that is what is needed. Oh well, having money to buy players is not necessarily a bad problem to have...

The sun rising in the West? Goal line technology for footy?

2011-12-06T23:42:00.001-05:00

I almost fell off my chair when I read this today about the idiot - Blatter - saying goal line technology could be adopted in a few seasons - click here. After being so opposed to the adoption of technology for football what has created this change in heart? Maybe after he made his asinine comments about no racism in soccer...maybe someone smacked him in the head and knocked some sense into the Swiss. One can only hope that more rational decisions are to follow.

Beware what you wish for - Les Bleus draw host nation again

2011-12-03T16:10:00.001-05:00

Ooof oooof ooooof, so France avoided the really big fish in the shapes of Spain, Holland and Germany. They even missed the likes of Portugal and Croatia...so why does this group still make me nervous? It might be the fact that France head into the group as a co-favorite if not the favorite to finish top of the group. Gasp. Remember when France was drawn in what appeared to be an "easy" group for the South Africa world cup? Too bad the ended up in dead last of that group, after scoring one goal and securing one whole point...

So the French will face the following group and schedule:

Monday 11 June 2012
#7: FRA v ENG, 18.00CET, Donetsk
#8: UKR v SWE, 20.45CET, Kyiv

Friday 15 June 2012
#15: SWE v ENG, 20.45CET, Kyiv
#16: UKR v FRA, 18.00CET, Donetsk

Tuesday 19 June 2012
#23: ENG v UKR, 20.45CET, Donetsk
#24: SWE v FRA, 20.45CET, Kyiv

In a good way, facing their historical rival England in the first match will force Les Bleus to be on top of their game from game 1. Based on France's recent history as well as the fact England will be without their best player - Rooney - gives Les Bleus a decent chance to come out with at least a point. Facing the host Ukraine in the second game will be tough, it is never easy to play a host especially in the caldron of Donestek (Ukraine's heart of club football). Sweden will not be an easy opponent for the final game.

France have played well against all three nations they will face - defeating England 2-1 last year, won 4-1 in Kiev and lost to Sweden oh wait that was in the woman's world cup. Les Bleus have a winnable group, but at the least need to finish second. Granted I would be simply happy to see France win a group game after going 0-4-2 in the last two major tournaments. Lloris has already "punted" and put all the pressure on England saying they are the clear cut favorites. Good move Hugo! Deflect the attention!!

Euro 2012 Draw - Judgement Day

2011-12-01T22:51:00.001-05:00

The Euro draw will take place tomorrow in Kiev to determine the teams that will comprise the 4 groups of 4 teams. Just a refresher - all 16 teams have been placed in pots based on rankings, with Poland and Ukraine in Pot 1 since they are co-hosting. The pots:

Seedings for Euro 2012
Pot 1: Spain, Netherlands, Poland*, Ukraine*.
Pot 2: Germany, Italy, England, Russia.
Pot 3: Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Sweden.
Pot 4: Denmark, France, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland
* As joint hosts, Poland and Ukraine have already been allocated to Groups A and D respectively.

Each group will have one team drawn from each pot. By this time we all know that Les Bleus have dropped into the 4th pot and could be drawn with Spain, Germany and Portugal...yikes...that would be a serious group of death. For me this is really an indictment on the Domenech years once again. The horrendous showing at the last World Cup and European Cup have lowered the French coefficient to a point that they are dropped to the last pot. Of course we cannot forget that before the World Cup, France was also in a situation that might have been difficult and somehow drew South Africa as their #1 seed (avoiding the likes of Brazil, Spain and Argentina) lot of good that did! France went on to scrape together one lousy point versus eventual 4th place finisher and Copa America winner Uruguay - but poor losses to Mexico AND South Africa were ugly...thanks Dumbenech.

So just for fun I did my own draw and here is how it broke:

Group A

Poland
Italy
Sweden
France

Group B

Spain
Russia
Croatia
Denmark

Group C

Holland
Germany
Greece
Ireland

Group D

Ukraine
England
Portugal
Czech Republic

These would actually be decent groups, no really top heavy one. Group C would be tasty due to the Holland - Germany match up, but neither Greece nor Ireland would really pose a threat. Group B would be a walk in the park for Espana. Group A would actually give Les Bleus a chance to get into the knock outs! and Group D could see Ronaldo go against Rooney...oh no wait, the Englishman has already gotten a red card!

It will be interesting to see how the groups break. Until then it is just an idle exercise to pass the time!

Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the FIFA water - Blatter makes another ill advised comment

2011-11-18T09:16:00.001-05:00

"There is no racism in the game...just shake hands...after all it is just a game." Just some words from the genius Sepp - see the interview click here.

Let's shake hands later...

Uh okay Sepp, what world are you living in? Racism, unfortunately, still exists in every day life so why would it magically disappear on the pitch? It is absolutely farcical and irresponsible for the leader of the world's game to so flippantly dismiss the issue of racism. I am sure that bananas being thrown at black players, or monkey jokes being bantered around (at their own players!), or the statements thrown about by the likes of Suarez or Terry, most recently, have not made it to Sepp's iPad.

Sepp has once again demonstrated a complete lack of judgement and of common sense: women wearing more revealing outfits to attract more fans, World Cups every 2 years, World Cup in Qatar, dismissing technology to assist the game, bribery scandals and the list goes on. But this is the worst of them all, but the accumulation of them clearly demonstrate that he has no place at the top of FIFA.

I am just one voice in the consistently growing army of voices calling for the Swiss to step down, and he should have done so years ago. I fear that in his world he will flash that smile and pretend that everything is okay. Fortunately the beautiful game is strong enough to survive with him, but just think of how much better it could become without him.

Sepp go away...now.

Tempest in a teacup? Blanc looking for clarity on his contract

2011-11-14T08:45:00.001-05:00

The latest news out of the FFF is not about preparing for the upcoming match against Belgium but rather a small tempest that seems to be brewing around the contract for Laurent Blanc. Le President's contract expires at the end of next seasons Euros, and understandable he made some comments that he would like to know his future before heading to Eastern Europe. The head of the FFF, on the other hand, remains mum on the topic: basically stating that this is not something to think about today.

Thumbs up for Blanc - let us make sure we see this thru to 2014

I see both sides of this coin, give Blanc an extension and if he pulls a Domenech during the Euros you cannot sack him without financial penalty. If you do not sign him he might pull a Santini and sign with a club prior to the tournament. In this situation I am leaning towards avoiding the Santini route. Le Graet needs to focus on the big picture, after the disaster that was Domenech (something France is still paying for both monetarily and on the pitch) what France need is stability. Blanc has clearly brought a calm leadership with what appears to be a solid strategy with regards to rebuilding the national side. Unlike Domenech, Blanc has been willing to bring in new blood on a regular basis. He has built his system around a spine of Lloris - Mexes/Rami - M'Vila - Benzema, but will need to continue to build on this adding the creative element - Martin? France will most likely head into the draw in the worst pot - #4, meaning they could end up with a group with Spain, Germany, Portugal...ouch. Granted they could also get a group with the likes of Ukraine, Russia, Greece - much more manageable. France need to know they will have a steady hand at the tiller. Add to this the qualifying group that Les Bleus face for the 2014 World Cup and it is imperative that Blanc has the support and backing of the federation - keep his plan in action and maintain consistency.

Group I
Team	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Spain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
France	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Belarus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Georgia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Finland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

The group of death!

I understand the federation's desire to take things cautiously and not lock themselves into a manager as they did with Domenech. One big difference in the two situations, Blanc is actually talented and intelligent, meaning he is a hot commodity on the market. Better lock him down before you lose control of his future.

Belgium game ... for how many places?

2011-11-13T23:01:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately I was not able to watch the US - France game, the irony is I was in Paris on the 11th, but flew home that afternoon. Went through London...where the plane had technical issues therefore sat in London for an unexpected evening. I was hoping the game would be on, but understandably Sky Sports carried the Portugal v Bosnia and Ireland v Estonia from the first round of play-off. I did see the highlights of the France match, but did not see enough to provide any deep comments. Hopefully I will get a chance to watch it on ESPN3. Of course there is another match this coming Tuesday against a bigger fish - Belgium. I am sure Blanc will look to get as close to his A side as possible against a talented but underachieving Diable Rouge side. Of course the biggest question becomes which players get more time to make a statement ahead of next year's Euros?

Getting ready for a tour of Eastern Europe

So squads will carry 23 players to Poland/Ukraine, I am sure that Blanc has a list for his "core." But there remains a handful of spots open that will be up and this game will go a long way for certain players. First those players I think are part of the core:

Keepers, this is cemented. Short of injury or massive drop in form the three keepers heading to the Euros: Lloris, Mandanda and Carasso.

On defense, I think the following are assured a spot - Rami, Mexes, Abidal, Evra and Sagna.

Midfield will include - Nasri, M'Vila, Cabaye, Ribery and Malouda.

Up front look for Benzema, Gameiro and Remy to be heading to the Euros.

So that means 16 spots assured, 7 to fill.

Defense: Assuming Mexes - Rami is back in form, Abidal will slot left and Sagna back on the right (although I think that is not 100% certain) regardless, Sagna will be on the roster. Evra will be the second choice left back. That leaves a right back and most likely 2 central defenders:

For me Debuchy has a leg up on Reveilliere for the second RB slot. The Lille fullback gives a more offensive option for Blanc.
Sakho and Kaboul will find their way on the roster, the Gunner Koscielny will be odd man out, but could come down to him and his Tottenham rival Kaboul for that last center back slot.
Mathieu might have an outside shot at getting back into the squad - especially if Blanc decides to take one less CB and lean on Abidal as an option for center back, so having another natural left back would be cover in that situation, and one that could also play left midfield.
Outside looking in - Clichy and Koscielny

Midfield: M'Vila and Cabaye look very likely to be your holding/defensive midfielders, Ribery and Malouda will share left winger duty with Nasri either centrally slotted or playing wide right. So there remain a number of questions to answer - playmaker, holding midfield and right sided player:

Central/creative midfielder looks like it will fall on Martin's shoulders, since his explosive debut, he has steadily shown an ability to animate the game when on the pitch.
Right side to me will still be Menez, even though Valbuena has an outside shot. Menez can be maddening, disappointing at times and other times slicing through defenses with ease.
Gourcuff will make his come back, I was debating on whether or not the pretty boy of France football would be left at home. But I just do not see other options for the play making role. Now the OL player might not find himself in the starting line up, but having him available might be too valuable to leave at home.
I think Blanc will lean on his former captain - Diarra - over Matuidi as his last midfielder to provide some length and defensive acumen.
Outside looking in - Matuidi, Valbuena, N'Zogbia, Payet, Diaby (will we ever see him healthy enough?) and Gonalons

Stikers: Benzema is clearly top of the pyramid, with Gameiro and Remy apt understudies. Remy gives Blanc the flexibility of slotting him on the right side. However Blanc will need one more striker - the likes of Ribery and Menez could also be labelled as strikers.

Blanc will surprise and bring freshly capped Giroud to the Euros. I think there is a reason why Blanc gave the co-leading goal scorer of Ligue 1 a look friday - he is not convinced that his other options are that great: Cisse, Gomis, Hourau and the like have not excited Blanc. Hourau has not started training again, so difficult to see him get enough time to prove himself. Gomis has not seemed to give enough the few chances he has been granted with France and Cisse is maddeningly inconsistent.
Outside looking in - Gomis, Hourau, Cisse and Anelka (he has served his 75 game suspension!)

Of course all this depends on health and form. The game on Tuesday will give those on the bubble more time to convince Blanc they deserve a spot on the plane next summer to Eastern Europe.

Allez les Bleus.

Les Bleus - the next wave on defense

2011-11-10T06:06:00.001-05:00

Blanc and Les Bleus have faced a number of injuries on the defensive side of the pitch - Abidal still with Barcelona, Sagna injured, Mexes injured, Evra personal issues, Clichy out of form, Kaboul non selected...this has opened the door to 3 players - good article about the players here. The players in question - Koscielny Mathieu and Debuchy. The article discusses each players opportunities in length so I will not rehash what is said, but to me I think the player with the best opportunity is Debuchy.

Mathieu is third in line behind Abidal and Evra for left back. While the Valencia defender offers some interesting offensive options, I do not think they are superior to what Abidal and Evra bring to the table. I watched Abidal play for Barcelona this weekend against Athletico Bilbao and the cross he offered to Cesc was a thing of beauty. Koscielny has a good future, but it will have to wait, I think that Blanc will go back to leaning (correctly) on the Rami-Mexes tandem. However I think the Gunner has a strong chance to find his way into the starting line up sooner rather than later, granted neither Mexes 29 nor Rami 25 are on the verge of retirement, but over the next 2-3 years there could be a place to be had.

Future starting RB for Les Bleus?

Which brings us to Debuchy, who I think has a strong chance to take on a greater role on the right side. Sagna has been the unquestioned started for France the past few seasons. I am not convinced his place is firmly cemented. One area I have always been frustrated with Sagna (as well as with Clichy, must have to do with being a wide defender for Arsenal) is his poor crosses and too often wasted offensive forays. Watching Debuchy for LOSC, he offers a much more solid and dangerous offensive repertoire (he has 16 career goals to Sagna's 3, okay I realize no one is going to mistake the LOSC player for Van Basten). The LOSC player brings a more lively attacking option for France. Something that is vital at the international level. His other competitor, Reviellere is a good option, but I think age plays against him (the OL player is 31).

Of the three mentioned in the Sport24 article, I think the LOSC man will be a mainstay with France and has the potential to be a starter for the next few years.

As usual: Injuries to deal with for Blanc

2011-11-08T16:07:00.001-05:00

Well so far no one that Blanc selected has officially withdrawn from the upcoming friendlies against Team USA and Les Diables Rouge. Yet it is clear that Blanc will have to deal with some walking wounded that will hamper his ability to field the starting 11 he might have otherwise wanted to see. Granted this might be good - allow some of the fringe players to get some playing time and thankfully France is not playing the "home and away playoff" otherwise this might take on a larger problem.

The likes of Nasri, Cabaye, Remy and Malouda are all in question, you already have Mexes and Sagna on the side line. Abidal has been asked to stay with Barcelona for a Kings Cup match, due to the South American contingent having to leave early for their matches, Barca is a bit short of first team players - the reason for Abidal being ask to stay in Barcelona (there is a La Liga rule about how many reserve players you may play, which again limits Guardiola's options). Blanc has also been asked by M'Vila's manager to take it easy on the Rennes midfielder.

So what does this mean for Blanc? Clearly he has already indicated to look to give some new faces some time on the pitch, starting with the game on Friday against the US. I think Blanc will tinker with both a 4-4-2 and a 4-3-3 (or a hybrid 4-2-3-1), I am leaning towards a 4-3-3 since he has been hit hard injury wise in the midfield.

For the US match look for the following.

Lloris in goal and wearing the captain's arm band.

Defense, I think Debuchy will be on the right again after a good showing against Albania with Mathieu getting his first cap on the left. Sakho and Rami will be paired in the middle.

Midfield, we will see Cabaye (if fully fit), Diarra and M'Vila

Up front, Remy on the right, Ribery on the left and Benzema up front.

Look for Koscielny make his France debut in the second half to pair with Sakho. Martin will come in for M'Vila. Menez for Remy and drop to a 4-2-3-1 with Giroud making his France debut up top of the formation.

Late on look for Ribery to give way to Malouda.

Blanc will want to give his team some run, maybe look to the game against Belgium as one to manage closer to a real match than a friendly.

FRANCE ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS (3): Cédric Carrasso (Bordeaux), Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Marseille)

DEFENDERS (7): Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Matthieu Debuchy (Lille), Jérémy Mathieu (Valencia), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Adil Rami (Valencia), Anthony Réveillère (Lyon), Mamadou Sakho (PSG)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle), Alou Diarra (Marseille), Florent Malouda (Chelsea) Yann M'Vila (Rennes), Marvin Martin, (Sochaux), Samir Nasri (Manchester City)

FORWARDS (6): Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Kevin Gameiro (PSG), Jérémy Ménez (PSG), Loïc Rémy (Marseille), Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier)

Equipe de France, in with the new - last chance to impress?

2011-11-03T13:50:00.001-04:00

Laurent Blanc unveiled his list for the upcoming friendly matches, a few new faces, some old faces and some old faces missing. First the list:

Gardiens de but : Cédric Carrasso (Bordeaux), Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Marseille)

Défenseurs : Eric Abidal (FC Barcelone/ESP), Matthieu Debuchy (Lille), Jérémy Mathieu (Valence, ESP), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal/ANG), Adil Rami (Valence/ESP), Anthony Réveillère (Lyon), Mamadou Sakho (PSG)

Milieux de terrain : Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle/ANG), Alou Diarra (Marseille), Florent Malouda (Chelsea/ANG), Yann M'vila (Rennes), Marvin Martin, (Sochaux), Samir Nasri (Manchester City/ANG)

Attaquants : Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/ESP), Kevin Gameiro (PSG), Jérémy Ménez (PSG), Loïc Rémy (Marseille), Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich/ALL), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier)

One time wonder or could there be a long term place?

The new faces (relatively) - Giroud and Mathieu. The former is the co-leading scorer in Ligue 1 with PSG striker, Gameiro with 8 goals, with that earned himself a look. With the latter making another appearance for Blanc, and this time I expect him to see the pitch as the opportunity to be cover at left back remains open (thought I fear for the Valence player it will be Abidal and Evra as the two left backs next summer)

Old faces that are not on the list - Evra, Gourcuff, Valbuena and Kaboul. The most "surprising" might be the absence of Gourcuff. He is back in form, while still has not regained his "top" form, one might have considered these upcoming games as an opportunity for Blanc to take a closer look at his overall progression. The door on Gourcuff being at the Euros might be slowly closing. If the last few games are any indication, it would appear that Blanc is going to lean on the likes of Ribery, Nasri, Menez, Martin, Cabaye and Malouda for the creative engine in the midfield. Looking for pacey players out on the wings and a creative engine - Martin or Nasri - in the middle, two players who's style appear to be more on the direct attack and leverage pace rather than the more "Pirlo" type passing of Gourcuff.

Mexes is again absent due to a hand injury he picked up, might his window be closing as well? I doubt it, but I am sure that Blanc will be looking to finalize his central defensive pairing. But the Mexes injury is not one that should keep him out of next summer's tournament.

What will be interesting to observe is what formation Blanc looks to use - with the number of strikers on the list might he go back to a 4-4-2? At the same time he has not had Benzema in a few games and not sure he sees the Real Madrid man with a strike partner rather than being the sole high striker.

These games will go a long way to determining who will be on the list next summer. Much will also depend on which formation Blanc settles on as well. I am sure he has an idea of who the core should be, the question becomes who are the players that will be leaned on for cover.

Aie Aie Aie - Ligue 1 sides not up to snuff in Champions League

2011-11-03T05:51:00.001-04:00

It is a tad sad that a 0-0 draw away to Arsenal from Marseilles is seen as the high light for Ligue 1 representatives in the Champions League. The other two French sides in the competition - Lille and Lyon were brushed aside by Inter and Real Madrid. I sat through the Real Madrid - Lyon match, and it was painfully clear the chasm of talent between both sides. All one had to do was watch the dual between Briand and Coentrao the Real Madrid left back - both players are internationals, although in the case of the Frenchman I will lump a gigantic grain of salt on that statement. But the contest was so one sided, Briand could not beat the Portuguese international, neither with skill nor pace, usually the latter is prerequisite for a good winger. When Briand did, somehow, get behind the defense the ball would invariably be put out of play or thumped over the 18 yard box to...empty space.

On the flip side, Real Madrid's attacking force of Di Maria, Benzema, Ronaldo and Ozil carved up the Lyon defense. They broke with such precision and ruthlessness that had it not been for some strong goalkeeping from Lloris, Lyon could have and should have been down 3-0 at half time. Alonso, Khedira and Diarra so overwhelmed their Lyon counter parts in the midfield it appeared that Real Madrid were constantly launching 4 on 2 attacks and doing it in all kinds of manners - long diagonal passes, cheeky little chips over the defense, one touch triangle passing, pacey runs on the wings and even an old English favorite kick and run from deep. Lyon looked a step or two slow, did not have the automatism that Real Madrid demonstrated and the main point just did not have the level of talent Real Madrid could roll out onto the pitch.

Couple this with what I saw from the Lille - Inter (in highlights) and the outlook for French clubs in the Champions League looks bleak. Lille is in last place of their group while Lyon sit third, 3 points behind Ajax (their next opponent). There is an outside chance that both could somehow string some good results together and get into the knock out stage, but I doubt it. This will be difficult for Ligue 1 and it is coefficient moving forward. Thankful there is PSG on the horizon!

Head high - Les Bleus du Rugby

2011-10-24T10:50:00.000-04:00

Another World Cup final...another tough loss for Les Bleus. This time in New Zealand in the rugby World Cup finals versus the host and powerhouse All Blacks. France lost by the smallest of margins: 7-8. In a match that many saw as the coronation of the Kiwis, Les Bleus looked to prove all the pundits wrong. After what could only be described as a terrible groups stage: unconvincing wins over Japan and Canada, then losses to New Zealand and TONGA! France went on a North Hemisphere run, defeating fancied England and then eking out an ugly win against brave Wales. Heading into the finals it was assumed they would get rolled by the All Blacks, this was their tournament and they had been the best side in the world for the past 4 years. As the cliche goes, that is why they play the games, nothing is determined in the press or on paper.

While the end result is what most expected (the line was 7-1 against a French victory), Les Bleus almost pulled off what would have been a famous triumph. Bottom line is they lost, they can claim the official was swayed by the home crowd (that is what home field advantage is all about!), they can rue their missed chances. There is no shame in getting to where they got and losing. There is no prize for second place, other than the hunger and desire it can create to get to the top step of the podium the next go around.

Les Bleus will return to France heads held high, but they need to channel the disappointment and build on it. In 4 years the tournament returns to the Northern Hemisphere, can France build towards that?

Allez Les Bleus!

No more relegation? Hogwash

2011-10-19T15:54:00.001-04:00

A recent story from England that the foreign owners might look to get rid of relegation and promotion, click here. Are you kidding me? For what reason? So they can ensure their little toy stays firmly planted in the Premier League? First of all who would decide this? Would you set a date and say, by 2019 the teams in the Premiership will be there permanently. In recent history, storied clubs like Newcastle, West Ham, Leeds and the likes have been relegated. Some have come back to the Prem some, like Leeds, are still working their way up the ladder. But imagine shutting the door on such clubs from ever coming back to top tier football.

Taking away relegation and promotion is an abysmal idea. Construed by a bunch of owners who have little clue about the history of the game and all they worry about is the revenue stream being in the top flight guarantees. Sometimes I think relegation needs to be brought to US sports, maybe it would make the owners of the Kansas City Royals or Pittsburgh Pirates invest in their teams to make sure they stayed in the top flight rather than just collect the gate, shared revenue and TV money while their team toils in mediocrity.

There are problems with European football no doubt, but one of them is not the promotion and relegation system.

France - get ready for another group of Death!

2011-10-14T15:49:00.002-04:00

This is what happens when you cannot even get out of the group stages in major tournaments...your coefficient drops and you have less of chance of getting out of the group stages! Side note, this is something that will haunt nations like Belgium and their "golden generation," they have not even qualified for a major tournament since 2002 in South Korea/Japan. This means that in qualification groups they are seeded low, meaning get slotted into groups with at least 2 big fish. Making qualification more difficult, hurting the coefficient...and so forth. Their qualifying group for the World Cup 2014 is no cake walk...but back to Les Bleus.

Based on the coefficient, France might drop to the FOURTH pot! To explain, there will be 4 groups of 4 teams, and to determine this you have 4 pots of 4 teams. The first pot has the hosts - Ukraine and Poland - and then Spain and Holland. Pot 2 has Germany, Italy, England (which is comical but regularly getting to 1/4 finals has its perks!) and probably Russia (or Croatia if they get out of the play off). Pot 3 will have Greece, Denmark, Sweden and Croatia/Russia...leaving France in POT 4!!! With the likes of the other 3 winners of the play offs...so basically Les Bleus could find themselves in a group like this:

Spain, Germany, Croatia and France...yikes. Of course Les Bleus could also have a group of: Poland, Greece, Russia and France. Then again France "dodged"a bullet in South Africa when their #1 seed of their group were the hosts...and still could not get out of their own way.

Oh well. We shall see what the draw holds!

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the 4-2-3-1...surprise surprise

2011-10-11T14:19:00.001-04:00

So Blanc springs another surprise on us - goes back to a 4-3-3 and gives us a new formula with regards to the players...the biggest surprise is to find Menez in the starting 11 and Remy as the point of the attack...

France : Lloris (cap.), Réveillère, Rami, Abidal, Evra, M'Vila, Cabaye, Nasri, Ménez, Malouda, Rémy.

The back line is not a surprise as Abidal returned to fitness and Evra recovered from the knock he picked up. M'Vila and Cabaye also no surprise, Nasri earned another start and it will be interesting if he slots right or starts in the middle of the park. Up front is where things become interesting. Remy can play as the point, but with a fit Gameiro I thought he would be first option for that role. Menez on the right and Malouda on the left seems like a normal fit; however, I wonder if France have all of sudden become "right leaning." I do not mean voting for Le Pen and the FN, I mean with the likes of Menez, Remy and Nasri might the offense lean to much to the right channel? Could we see Remy drift into Menez's corridor? Will Nasri have the freedom he had during the Albania match to stay wide right and drift back in to the center? Could this right leaning formation allow Malouda more room to operate on the left flank and give Evra space to make runs from fullback?

An interesting formation to say the least, in addition this is not a very big line up, that could prove dangerous on set pieces trying to defend the likes of Dzeko.

Once again Blanc tinkers with his formation and strategy, so far he seems to have pulled the right levers, let see if that is the case again today.

Allez les Bleus!

Zizou back with Les Bleus?

2011-10-11T14:02:00.000-04:00

A story that made some minor waves were the comments made by Zidane around his future and the possibility of he becoming the French manager, click here. It would be nice to see the former captain becoming more involved with the FFF, of course there is no guarantee that he would be a good manager...but he has made some shrewd moves with Real Madrid, in particular spotting the young Varane and his potential.

Maybe if Zizou managed France there would be no questioning of where his son might play at the international level!

Lloris the captain...by default

2011-10-11T13:35:00.001-04:00

Laurent Blanc has long avoided the question of who will become the captain for France. Instead he has rotated his captains amongst - Lloris, Mexes, Diarra, Abidal and Malouda (I might have forgotten one...). The latest to get the arm band on a regular basis is Lloris. The Lyon keeper does not necessarily fit the profile. His talent is unquestionable, but he is a quiet leader. It does appear that he is becoming the choice for captain, a but by default.

Malouda - he is one of the players that experienced the Berlin final in 2006, but he is not a clear starter (Ribery offers competition for the left wing slot).
Diarra - Blanc's captain while at Bordeaux but also not a clear starter for the French, plus his form has dipped as of late. Difficult to give him the arm band when you do not always pencil him in to the starting 11.
Abidal - some lingering South African clouds hang over the Barcelona defender. When healthy, he is a clear starter either on the left or in the center of the defense. But cannot seem to entirely shake that legacy from South Africa.
Mexes - I believe that the former AS Roma defender could have a strong case for wearing the arm band. In a strange way the manner in which he was handled by Dumenech makes him a great candidate - a player who has great ability but who understands what it means to fight through adversity. Unfortunately with his knee injury he has been sidelined allowing others to gain ground.

For the time being it appears that Lloris is the choice to wear the arm band, I think that he is a reluctant captain and the reality is he is holding the role until a true team leader emerges - M'Vila?

France v Bosnia, comes down to this...

2011-10-11T01:23:00.000-04:00

Okay maybe I am being a bit dramatic...but it really should not have come down to this. When France went to Bosnia and came out with a 2-0 victory, I was convinced that Les Bleus would be in the drivers seat going into Tuesday's last game of qualifiers. I realize that France is not in danger of pulling a "1993" when they had two home games, only needing a point and lost both matches thereby eliminating a solid team from going to World Cup 1994 (they had the likes of Petit, Ginola, Cantona, Papin, Deschamps, Desailly and a certain Laurent Blanc...looking back that was a stacked team). I think it would have been interesting to see Cantona/Papin on the US pitches during the tournament, alas we will never know what could have been.

Painful to watch....and what WHAT was Ginola doing crossing the ball??? Just dribble to the corner and look for Bulgaria to foul you!!! I also love the fact Bulgarian TV had the wrong score on the screen....even more painful!

But back to the present.

France did the necessary by defeating Albania last Friday ensuring at least being able to head to a home-away against another second place team, but do we really want to go there? I certainly do not. France head into the match knowing they only need a draw and they will win the group. But I think this might be disadvantageous for Les Bleus. Bosnia have nothing to lose, if they draw or lose they go to the knock out round, France finish first of the group. So why not go for the win, throw caution to the wind, you are playing on the road put the pressure on the hosts. This is why this match is going to prove to be a stern test for Blanc and his team. Can he ensure his players stay aggressive, focused and within the situation? If the games is level late will the French try to milk the clock looking for a draw?

I think that Blanc and the team are up for the task, they know that they do not want to open the doors to any comparison to the Domenech side that got to the World Cup via the back door and in dubious fashion. So how will Blanc approach this match, he appears to have Gameiro back in the fold as well as Abidal. Might he revert back to his usual 4-2-3-1, giving his midfield more defensive muscle? Or go back to a 4-3-3 which worked very well away to Bosnia where he actually put out 3 holding players - Diarra, Diaby and M'Vila. Based on what is reported from Clairefontaine it remains a mystery.

The man to watch for Bosnia

From what appears coming from training session, we can expect the back line to have Evra on the left, Reveillere on the right with Abidal and Rami in the central pairing. Of course Lloris in goal. The trick now becomes the rest of the formation. I think that Blanc will revert back to his 4-2-3-1, he will look to stabilize the midfield, try to choke off the service to Dzeko who is the main threat for Bosnia. Clamp down on the likes of Pjanic and co. I see M'Vila and Diarra having the holding responsibilities and Cabaye preferred to Nasri, even though the former had a stellar game against Albania. With Malouda left and Remy right, Gameiro or Cisse up front. I would see the former up front over Cisse...why? Because this formation can quickly morph into a 4-3-3 with Cabaye dropping deeper, Malouda and Remy pushing up high to work in tandem with the striker - Gameiro who is better in this system than Cisse.

This would allow Blanc to have 3 midfielders who can work the midfield, maintain possession and look to spring the wingers, with Gameiro ready to pounce in the penalty area. If Blanc is chasing a goal, he can insert Nasri to take up the right side, push Remy higher, or even have Nasri slot in the middle and have Valbuena come in for the right.

What Blanc fears, and rightfully so, is the Bosnian midfield getting the space needed to feed Dzeko who can be an absolute handful.

I look for a tense match, both teams will not want to back down. Bosnia will score first, but France will counter and find a late winner. France 2 (Malouda, Nasri) - Bosnia 1 (Dzeko)

Allez les Bleus!

France v Albania...some thoughts...a few days late!

2011-10-10T00:39:00.000-04:00

I am remiss to have not had the time to post some thoughts on the France v Albania match from last Friday. It turned out to be a relatively easy victory for Les Bleus: 3-0, a score that one would expect when teams such as these meet. Some quick thoughts:

The Good:

Have to start with Samir Nasri, the Citizen has come under tremendous criticism as of late for his showings wearing the French stripe, and they have been deserved. He has not been able to replicate his Premier league form for France. Even being benched for the match away to Romania. However a new and apparently more at ease Nasri showed up this time around. He openly joked with the media about the scrutiny he was being placed under. Clearly this new attitude served him well as he played one of his better matches for France. He appeared more comfortable given the responsibility to manage the right channel. He frequently cut back to the middle, dropped deep when he needed and even lend a hand defensively, no better image of that than seeing him at the top of the French penalty box late into the game when France were already ahead 3-0 working hard to win a ball. The goal by Remy was created by Nasri who shed no less than 4 Albania defenders who all were trying to take down the Manchester City player, he broke into the penalty area gave a neat little fake to draw the defenders before laying off a sumptuous little through ball on the running Remy. Blanc expressed his happiness with the way Nasri played, now it is up to the former Marseilles and Arsenal midfielder to build on this showing - if he does that is great for Les Bleus.
14 caps and he is only 21, clearly M'Vila is one of Blanc's core players that he mentioned when took over Les Bleus. He was the metronome for France, sitting comfortably infront of the back 4, providing an outlet for the midfield when they found themselves in trouble and being a defensive rock when need be. With M'Vila, Blanc might have the luxury of playing with only one pure holding/defensive midfielder, similar to what Spain did in 2008 with Senna.
Remy is starting to come into his own as a footballer. His pace on the flank was something Albania had no answers for, he created the first goal by simply running by the defense event thought they were giving him a very healthy cushion. His goal was cheeky as he nutmegged the keeper and his work rate on the flank kept Albania on their back heel. One has to wonder what will happen with Ribery returns healthy, will Blanc look to unleash Remy on the right wing and Ribery on the left?
Scoring early...cliche I realize, but one cannot overstate how vital it was for France to score early in this match. Against a team like Albania, you always get a bit concerned if you take too long to score that first goal. The longer the underdog keeps a clean sheet the greater their confidence grows and more stern their defending...and you can always get the "hold up" as we saw earlier in these qualifiers as Belarus sprung a late goal to take the full 3 points from France.
The crowd at Stade de France, recently the crowd at the Stade de France have been fickle, and with reason. They have booed the team and when Dumbenech was still there chanted requests for the coach to resign (something I wholeheartedly supported!). But this match there was something different the supporters backed up the team, the enthusiasm reverberated through out the stadium - even giving Cisse many standing ovations (he used to get booed!).

The Bad:

French injuries, you never want to see them but you know they will occur but seeing Evra and Cabaye having to sub off due to injury is not good. With a big match coming up you want to keep what you have intact, especially since France are already "under - manned" due to injuries. Something to keep an eye on, especially since Evra and Abidal might be out, interesting to see who could be slotted in at left back.
Speaking of Belarus...coming down to the last game with qualification riding on the line is BAD, especially considering France dropped FIVE points to Belarus! A draw at home and a loss on the road are nothing but BAD BAD BAD...border line UGLY. I realize that France and Bosnia are both guaranteed to "play on" one will win the group the other will be put into home and away fixtures against another group runner up. Now granted, France would go into the #1 Pot if they fail to win the group and therefore most likely miss potential opponents such as Belgium/Turkey, Croatia or Denmark (based on current standings)...but why go through that stress...remember France v Ireland to get to World Cup 2010?

The Ugly:

Did anyone get the number of that Albanian tackling machine? The Eastern Europeans clearly lived up to their reputations as a tough side, but some of their tackles were border line criminal.
The Albanian keeper - Ujkani - did not cover himself in glory. Granted his defense at times let him down and trying to stop point blank shots isn't always easy. But he was beaten between the legs and to the short side...granted I have given up my fair share of goals in this manner but I have never represented my country! Ugly goals...

Overall happy to see the win, Les Bleus did what they should have done - beaten Albania with relative ease. Now onwards to the "mini final" against Bosnia...

No surprises - Blanc leans on a 4-4-2

2011-10-07T14:55:00.000-04:00

France will come out in a 4-4-2 against Albania with a very offensively minded midfield. With injuries to the likes of Benzema, Gameiro, Abidal, Mexes, Ribery and Sagna, the team will have a very different look. Something that might be somewhat concerning heading into two matches that must be won.

The line up:

Le onze tricolore :
Lloris (c) - Debuchy, Rami, Kaboul, Evra - M'Vila, Cabaye, Nasri, Malouda - Rémy, Gomis

Remplaçants : Mandanda, Cissé, Martin, Ménez, Réveillère, Diarra, Koscielny

Lloris once again gets the armband, more by default in this line up, he himself has admitted he is not the type to seek being the captain. Overall it is a very offensive minded line up, with the likes of Evera and Debuchy likely to push high up the pitch giving the team some width. It will be interesting to see if the formation morphs at times to a 4-3-3 with Malouda pushing higher up the field and whether or not Nasri will have some free reign to slide more to the center of the park.

Les Bleus should win this game, setting up the final match against Bosnia for the #1 spot in the group.

France 3 - Albania 0
Nasri (2), Gomis

Allez les Bleus!!!!

France going with a new right back...surprise surprise

2011-10-06T18:04:00.002-04:00

The latest news from Clairefontaine is that the LOSC right back, Debuchy, will be slotted to start at right back, over Reveillere (Sagna is out injured). It is a bit of a surprise that Blanc will go with a player earning his first cap to slot him in a big game, granted it is against Albania, but there is no room for error.

Otherwise it appears the starting line up will resemble what has been reported for the past few days. Question becomes does the formation look like a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3 or even a 4-2-3-1...will Remy stay high on the pitch to shoulder Gomis or drop deeper, and will Malouda slot high to give 3 across the top? The final question is does Blanc go with a more attacking midfield with Martin or stay defensive with Cabaye or Diarra? If you see Martin in the midfield then we are looking at a very offensive minded 4-3-3 with Martin, M'Vila and Nasri in the middle, Remy, Gomis and Malouda up top.

I think Blanc should opt for such a formation, we are playing Albania...France should be able to win and do so easily at home, get out and there and put the offensive pressure on the Eastern Europeans from the start!

Aie Aie Aie - Les Bleus limp into last 2 qualifiers

2011-10-05T22:33:00.000-04:00

I have been remiss in writing about Les Bleus - travel and work have gotten in the way! But with some airport time I can finally weigh in on what is happening with Les Bleus. With 2 crucial games left in qualifiers, France find themselves in a precarious position. With the likes of Mexes, Benzema, Gameiro and Abidal out, France and Blanc will be scrambling to find the players and formation to face Albania and then Bosnia. When these qualifiers started and after France had defeated Bosnia away, I thought that they might be able to go into these last two games and already have their ticket punched for next summer. Unfortunately a draw away to Belarus (1 point from the two matches against the former Soviet state) and a lackluster draw away to Romania, finds Les Bleus clinging to a single point lead over Bosnia.

Home			Away			Total
	Teams	P	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
1	France	8	2	0	1	3	2	0	5	2	1	11	3	8	17
2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	8	3	0	1	2	1	1	5	1	2	11	7	4	16
3	Romania	8	2	2	0	1	1	2	3	3	2	10	6	4	12
4	Belarus	9	2	2	1	1	1	2	3	3	3	6	5	1	12
5	Albania	8	2	1	1	0	1	3	2	2	4	6	10	-4	8
6	Luxembourg	9	1	1	3	0	0	4	1	1	7	3	16	-13	4

Yikes.

France should, that is the operative word "should," at least finish in second which would mean a home and away play off with another second place team...no thanks. France should, again there is that word, defeat Albania in Paris while Bosnia will defeat Luxembourg, setting up a show down in Paris. Where Les Bleus would only need a draw to secure the top spot...sound familiar? Similar to the situation they faced in 1993 - 2 home games away from qualification...only to face Bulgaria and that 90th minute.

A repeat of his first selection would be nice!

Okay let's not focus on the past. Let us look at what we have moving forward. Blanc has mentioned going with a 4-4-2 since he does not seem to think he has a true lone striker without Benzema and Gameiro. Word from Paris is that Remy - Gomis might be leveraged with Nasri on the right and Malouda on the left, I would assume M'Vila and Cabaye would be the central, deep lying midfielders. The back line would most likely have Evra on the left (Abidal does not appear to be fit), Reveillere on the right and Kaboul - Rami as your central pairing. Of course Lloris in goal.

The concern I would have with this formation is who will fill the middle of the park? Will Cabaye slot higher to sit behind the two strikers? Or will Malouda and Nasri be asked to drift inside from time to time, if so this will place greater strain on the fullbacks to provide width to the attack. Or will you see a 4-2-3-1 at times with Gomis the lone striker playing very high, Remy drift out as a right winger allowing Nasri to drift back to the middle of the pitch? Could be a way Blanc gives his offense some flexibility to break down what is sure to be a rugged Albanian defense.

It is a bit of a patch work strike force, much of the creativity and threat will have to come from the likes of Nasri and Malouda, neither of which has been lighting things on fire for France. The talent is there for Les Bleus, it is now a matter of can they click the next two games? Otherwise we might be looking at an Ireland circa 2009 situation....no thanks.

Deja vu all over again...RVP tepid on long term commitment to Arsenal

2011-09-26T11:44:00.001-04:00

Shhhhh, let's not talk about my future at the North London feeder club

Sigh, the theme from the past few seasons seems to continue as the latest story around Arsenal is that the current skipper and freshly minted 100 goal scorer - Robert Van Persie - is not sure about his future with the club. Sound familiar? Well it should since we went through this BS this past summer with Cesc and Nasri. Why do we not hear about players saying the same thing at Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham or Liverpool? Hmmmm, maybe because they try to win titles and bring in quality players every season.

The window for Wenger is rapidly closing, I think it might have already closed. This winter transfer window will be very telling, will he finally get off his hands and spend to make his club better or once again seeking out youth talent from all corners of the globe only to see them get farmed out on loans? While I am not a huge RVP fan, I think he is too fragile, it is telling that once again your captain is questioning the clubs commitment to winning. Regardless of all the last minute activity by Wenger, it was clear that Wenger was a dollar short and a day late.

If Wenger and the board do not wake up soon, players will continue to look at Arsenal with a dubious eye.

The International Dilemna - really doesn't need to be this complicated

2011-09-20T00:05:00.002-04:00

I was reading this last article about another potential "issue" which with nation a player will represent at the international level, click here for SI article. The debate revolves around an American player born to a German mother in Germany while his American father was stationed there for the military. Timmy Chandler has already represented his father's nation, the United States, 4 times...however none have been "competitive" games, meaning qualifiers or FIFA tournament matches. Meaning...he could still be called up for Germany! Huh??? What???

Shifting to Die Mannschaft?

I know, but those are the FIFA rules. The basic gist of the international rule is that a player can switch national allegiance if said player qualifies for multiple nations and has not represented his nation at the 'A' level for a match such as Gold Cup, World Cup, European Cup or qualifiers. Which is a well intended rule, to allow players who could represent multiple nations be afforded the choice later on in their careers. But then you get a situation such as Chandler. The rule should really be - once you have been called up for the senior squad and accepted that call up, you have declared your eligibility for said nation. Let us take the Chandler situation and change some of the dynamics. Instead of of right back being an issue due to Lahm moving back to the left, lets say the situation is because Lahm has an injury that will keep him out for a few months. Low needs a right back for qualifiers so calls up Chandler, an opportunity the right back cannot pass up. So he plays for Germany, does okay, but once Lahm is healthy, he slots back at Right Back and Chandler no longer sees his name on the call up sheet, or at best a bench player. I realize this might happen with other players, but in the Chandler situation he has already PLAYED for the US National team! Why even allow the above situation to be contemplated?

Come on FIFA do something right, revise the international eligibility rule. My suggestion - player is allowed to play for his nation of birth, nation where he holds residency or parental nation. Eliminate the grandparent rule - under that rule my child could play for France, US, England, Greece, China, Bermuda or Canada...uh really? Institute the rule that once you have been selected for the senior national team and accepted that offer, you are now only allowed to play for that nation. Otherwise we might see more dicey situations as with Chandler.

The rumors were correct - Blanc turns over his starters

2011-09-06T14:30:00.001-04:00

5 of his starting 11 will be different this afternoon when France face Romania. Granted, two of the changes are due to players returning from sickness in the case of Sagna or from suspension in the case of Rami. The other 3 are strategic changes made by Le President.

The starting line up:

Le onze français :
Lloris – Sagna, Rami, Abidal, Evra – Cabaye, M’Vila, Martin – Valbuena, Benzema, Ribéry

Remplaçants :
Mandanda, Koscielny, Nasri, Réveillère, Malouda, Diarra, Rémy

Not a big surprise in seeing Nasri sit, he has been given his chances but failed to impress, now it is Martin's turn to see he can finally find the maestro Les Bleus have been missing. Question becomes what happens if and when Gourcuff returns to health and form? Or has the train left the station when it comes to the Lyon play maker?

Cabaye with M'Vila is interesting as well, not that the Newcastle midfielder does not warrant a chance in the midfield, but more the fact Blanc starts his former Bordeaux captain - Diarra, and gives him the arm band, and then sits him. One would hope that the player that most readily gets the arm band would also be one of the core players on your roster.

On the right, I am glad to see Blanc giving "Le Petit Velo" his chance again. I feel every time Valbuena has been given a chance for France he has taken full advantage of it. The fact he is a natural right winger doesn't hurt either!

One aspect to watch is without Diarra on the pitch, Blanc has sacrificed some size, this might play a role on set pieces in particular defending them. Something France have not been very good at as of late.

Les Bleus escape Romania with a draw. France have trouble with the Romanians and they will be inaugurating a new stadium as well giving the home team and crowd a huge boost.

France 1 - Romania 1
Benzema scores again for Les Bleus

Allez Les Bleus!

The right wing - why so many problems for France?

2011-09-05T12:16:00.000-04:00

Against Albania, Laurent Blanc decided to slot one of his left wingers on the right side. Unlike during the 2006 World Cup where the new kid on the block Ribery was slotted right with Malouda left, Blanc flip flopped these two against Albania. But why? Unlike under Domenech, Blanc has placed natural right wingers on his roster - Valbuena, Menez and Remy. So why do you have to try to force a left winger on the right side?

Valbuena strikes in Wembley

Blanc needs to put the best line up and the best players on the pitch. Is Malouda better than the likes of Menez, Valbuena or Remy on the pitch let alone out on the right side? Not sure. When all three mentioned right wingers have been given time on the pitch they have all shown what they can do - all positive. Is Blanc trying to placate the old guard? Is there a fear of an undertone of rebellion? I hope not. My sense is that Malouda is a professional and if he has to site and watch Ribery on the left then he will be fine. If he is not, then drop him from the squad.

Blanc could even slot a Nari on the right, give the central midfield baton to Martin, might make the Manchester City player more at ease with less "responsibility" of being the French #10. Heading into the Romania match I would like to see the following -

Slot Abidal back to the left, insert Rami back with Kaboul in the center of the defense. M'Vila deserves to start, he is rapidly becoming one of the core players for Blanc. Diarra can shoulder him again, if Blanc decides to continue with his "muscled" midfield. The three attacking midfielders - Ribery on the left, Nasri in the middle (give him another shot at pulling the strings) and Valbuena on the right. I think the "petit velo" should be allowed to run at Romania on the right, with his pace on the right it would be a scary compliment for the pace of Ribery on the left. With Benzema up front and of course Lloris in goal, another 2 key core players for Blanc.

Let's stop trying to tinker with the right wing and just start one of the many true right winger options Blanc has at his disposal!

Allez les Bleus.

Blanc plays it safe - 1 nil to Les Bleus?

2011-09-01T23:37:00.003-04:00

The biggest concern for Le President is who will be his right back, as Sagna is recovering from an infection. The Gunner cannot go, then the Lyon right back - Reveillere will most like slot in on the right side of the defense. Not a big drop off since the Lyon player has regularly seen action for Les Bleus.

The other news for Les Bleus is that it appears Blanc will opt for "ole faithful" the 4-2-3-1. With the following:

Lloris
Evra - Kaboul, Abidal - Reveillere/Sagna
Diarra - M'Vila
Ribery - Nasri - Malouda
Benzema

Malouda will apparently slot to the right wing, which is a bit of a surprise to me considering Blanc has three natural right wingers on his roster - Menez, Valbuena and Remy. His two left sided players will be on the pitch at the same time - Ribery and Malouda. It would appear that starting both might limit his options or perhaps he assumes he will take out Ribery and slot Malouda on the left and bring in a right wing or just swap Malouda for a right wing. It just appears a bit forced to me that he has moved Malouda to the right side. Now it could be that with Reveillere as the right back, Blanc will hope that he and his former Lyon teammate, Malouda, have some degree of understanding. Couple this with the fact Malouda has greater defensive discipline that the other options at right wing, and Revelliere tends to push high on the pitch, Blanc maybe looking for a more defensively disciplined right side.

I am a bit surprised at the very defensive minded formation - 2 true holding midfielders - that Blanc appears to be favoring. Granted he might be thinking that if he can play this formation and score a goal on Albania, that he then has options to switch to a more defensive formation later on to protect the lead, or just rotate offensive players, knowing he has a strong defensive core. Alternatively, if he is chasing a goal after 60 minutes he could easily bring in a Martin for one of the holding players and switch to a hybrid Spanish: 4-1-4-1. Or even swap out Malouda for a Gameiro and push up higher on the pitch.

Les Bleus should win this match regardless of a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-1-4-1, but I do not think the match will be easy. France have never found away trips to Albania to be picnics. Assume the pitch will be heavy, the supporters boisterous and the competition tough.

France 2 - Albania 0
Goals from Ribery and Benzema

Allez Les Bleus!!!

The English Patient - Arsenal

2011-08-29T22:48:00.000-04:00

8-2...8-2.......EIGHT goals...a snow man in golf terminology. Just plain awful. The nice thing for me was because of hurricane Irene I had no power and therefore "watched" the game through my iPhone. Thankfully. Too bad Arsenal are no refunding fans who had to suffer through that match away from Old Trafford. Alas, after 3 games in the young season, Arsenal are just above the drop zone.

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Man Utd	3	2	0	0	11	2	1	0	0	2	1	10	9
2	Man City	3	1	0	0	4	0	2	0	0	8	3	9	9
3	Liverpool	3	1	1	0	4	2	1	0	0	2	0	4	7
4	Chelsea	3	2	0	0	5	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	7

5	Wolverhampton	3	1	0	0	2	0	1	1	0	2	1	3	7

6	Newcastle	3	1	1	0	2	1	1	0	0	1	0	2	7
7	Aston Villa	3	1	1	0	3	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	5
8	Wigan	3	1	1	0	3	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	5
9	Stoke	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	2	1	1	5
10	Bolton	3	0	0	1	2	3	1	0	1	5	3	1	3
11	Everton	2	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	3
12	QPR	3	0	0	1	0	4	1	0	1	1	2	-5	3
13	Sunderland	3	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	1	1	-1	2
14	Norwich	3	0	1	0	1	1	0	1	1	2	4	-2	2
15	Swansea	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	-4	2
16	Fulham	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	4	-3	1
17	Arsenal	3	0	0	1	0	2	0	1	1	2	8	-8	1

18	West Brom	3	0	0	2	1	3	0	0	1	1	2	-3	0
19	Blackburn	3	0	0	2	1	3	0	0	1	1	3	-4	0
20	Tottenham	2	0	0	1	1	5	0	0	1	0	3	-7	0

The only funny part is who is in last place! Hey maybe next season Arsenal and Tottenham can battle it out in the Npower Championship, might actually make Wenger happy, he can start a bunch of teenagers all season!

I don' really know where this post will head so please bare with me...a couple of thoughts:

There are three entities that should shoulder the blame: Wenger the coach, Wenger the manager and the board.
Wenger the coach - cannot be sacked today, what could another coach do with this ragtag bunch of players? Can a new manager teach his defenders how to ... defend? Or somehow find a way to get the Arshavin of Euro 2008 to show up? Or get the likes of Walcott to live up to their over-hyped potential? Or keep Diaby on the field? Like or not we are stuck with Wenger the coach at least until the January transfer window.
Wenger the manager - to me he is the main culprit in this debacle. So you sell Clichy, Nasri and Cesc...you would think that with that cash windfall you would have some plan in mind on how to back fill these roles. Instead all Wenger does is talk about how the squad will rally behind this and close ranks. Rather than wasting our time telling us that Nasri and Cesc were going to stay, maybe Arsene should have been devising a plan on how to fill in these gaps. Maybe he did, in the back ground, but he seemed to keep saying that both players were going to stay that he convinced himself that it might be true! Feels like Rain Main - three minutes to Wapner...yeah....Wenger talks now of Hazard, well maybe making bids a month ago would have been good. M'Vila? Same thing...Kaka on loan, how about approaching your buddy Mourinho when the Special One was all but buying Kaka a bus ticket out of town? Instead Wenger the manager has stockpiled a boat load of cash and with 48 hour left in the transfer window would like us to believe that he will purchase 3-4 players. FAIL.

A lonely lonely man

The board -where have they been during this whole time? According to this post, Kroenke might not even care that his team will be lucky to get to the Europa League next year - click here. If that is the case then...ugh...not much one can do. And Manchester United fans think the Glazers are crocks, at least they SPEND and borrow and use ManU as a cash register, but they are winning and I am sure the value of the club is higher now than when they acquired it! If Kroenke and his cronies are satisfied to have a world class stadium that throws off cash then so be it, smells too much like the Boston Bruins under the Jacobs family, but at least they spent some money! If Kroenke really does want to win or at least feign competitiveness then what were they doing this summer??? WAKE UP!!

Wenger's time is coming to an end. His self imposed rules about not signing players over 30 to multi-year deals is asinine - you mean to tell me that the likes of Pires, Gilberto, et al could not have contributed to the team when they hit 30? Instead they were jettisoned due to the Wenger rule, of course until he decided to sign Squillaci.... What about the self imposed rule of running transfer as a business? I realize that the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester City and the likes have taken all semblance of reality and spending and thrown in into the trash compactor, but as far as I can tell they seem to be finding ways to survive and WINNING.

The season is young...Arsenal might surprise us and come roaring back with a collection of no names. Or they might toil in the middle of the table...more likely. The sad part to this weekend's thrashing - Manchester United's starting line up was younger than Arsenals....sad day for the Gooners, could be a sadder day as the end of the Wenger era seems to be crashing to a abrupt end.

Les Bleus get ready for Euro qualifiers - the home stretch

2011-08-26T13:38:00.000-04:00

Ok maybe not the home stretch, but these next two games will go a long way in determining if France will be present next summer at the Euros. France are sitting in a good position, but they should not assume the qualification is in the bag at all.

Group D

			Home			Away			Total
	Teams	P	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts
1	France	6	2	0	1	2	1	0	4	1	1	9	2	7	13
2	Belarus	7	2	2	0	1	1	1	3	3	1	6	2	4	12
3	Bosnia and Herzegovina	6	2	0	1	1	1	1	3	1	2	8	7	1	10
4	Romania	6	2	1	0	0	1	2	2	2	2	8	6	2	8
5	Albania	6	2	1	0	0	1	2	2	2	2	4	6	-2	8
6	Luxembourg	7	0	1	2	0	0	4	0	1	6	1	13	-12	1

France are a point up on Belarus, but with a game in hand. Bosnia still remains a threat, only 3 points back and with the last game of qualifiers in Paris, any slip up by Les Bleus and Bosnia could pull to the head of the pack. Forcing a decisive last game in Paris. With away matches at Albania and Romania upcoming, how France fare will determine whether or not we will have to sweat out the remaining matches or whether Blanc will be able to leverage those matches as preparation for the Euros.

First the the list from Blanc:

Lloris, Mandanda, Carrasso
Abidal, Evra, Kaboul, Rami, Koscielny, Rami, Réveillère, Sagna
Cabaye, A. Diarra, M’Vila, Malouda, Martin, Matuidi, Nasri, Valbuena
Benzema, Gameiro, Hoarau, Ménez, Ribéry, Rémy

No real surprises. As Blanc stated these are qualifiers, so not the time to start tinkering with the roster or adding players who are seen in better form than others. What Blanc also spoke of, was to expect these two games to be tough, physical matches. Similar to what France went through against Bosnia. Does this shed some light on what could be a 4-3-3? Considering Blanc will also be without his central defensive pairing of Rami-Mexes. Mexes remains on the shelf recovering from injury and Rami is suspended for the Albania match. He might look to add even more muscle to his midfield and protect his back 4.

Based on the Chile match, I think we will see Sagna, Kaboul, Abidal, Evra on the back line. A 3 man midfield - ADiarra, Martin and M'Vila. A three man attacking formation - Malouda/Ribery on the left, Benzema up front and Remy on the right. Might also be seen as a 4-2-3-1, but I think Blanc will look to have Martin play much deeper. Without a healthy Diaby, I do not think Blanc can slot 3 holding midfielders in the 4-3-3.

Blanc must expect to deal with two physical teams and will need to counter with his own tougher midfield and look to get goals on the break or from a deep counter. We will be able to get a sense as the team starts to train ahead of the matches.

Allez les Bleus

Cesc and Nasri, don't let door hit you on the....

2011-08-11T10:31:00.000-04:00

Fans of football, Barcelona and Arsenal are all waiting for the soap opera that is Cesc to come to an end. All signs indicate that the Arsenal captain will be heading back to his former club shortly. This has been long time coming and the soap opera for the past few seasons has been a distraction and quite frankly nauseating. Add to this all the horse bleep that has come out of Barcelona and the likes of Puyol and Xavi doing their best impersonation of John Calipari on the UK recruiting trail. I said this a few years ago when there was all kinds of smoke around Titi Henry and his leaving Arsenal, at some point it is better to sell the player rather than force him to stay. That is if you have a plan in place to leverage the revenue from the sale to back fill the position...

Chasing each other out of town

When it comes to Cesc, I can understand the desire to head back to where his heart is. While I cannot blame him, I still feel slightly bitter towards the Spaniard. I will admit, much of this is linked to his being anointed as he replacement for Vieira, he was even given the #4 shirt! My respect for Pat is nothing new and to me the way Vieira was shown the door at Arsenal is directly linked to the arrival or Cesc. From a footballing stand point I understand what Wenger was doing and seeing Vieira's career since leaving Arsenal indicate that Wenger was slightly vindicated. Or would Vieira's steel resolve been valuable the past few seasons? Cesc doesn't want to be here anymore, let him go, thanks for your time here, too bad you couldn't lead us to any silverware.

As for Nasri, his reputation as the "Petit Prince" has not been diminished in his demands for more money and subsequently forcing his sale, most likely to Manchester City. One characteristic that should never be criticized (not because it isn't criticize-able but just because it is a simple reality) is the desire of an professional footballer to seek more money. I do not discount the frustration that must be felt by the likes of Nasri at a legitimate inability to challenge for silverware by Arsenal. But I am sure that if Arsenal met Nasri's pay demands, the lack of silverware contention would be quickly forgotten.

I would ask Wenger to get these two out of town as soon as possible, and with as much time as possible left in the transfer season. Not that Wenger or Arsenal will take advantage of that time. The Gunners have become the epitome of a club that is more concerned about the cash flow and balance sheets rather than the score sheets and trophy case. Granted the most recent transfers have Arsenal in the red:

Arsenal FC -15.474.800 £

Arrival
Gervinho (Lille)	10.560.000 £
Francis Coquelin (Lorient) *	-
Pedro Botelho (FC Cartagena) *	-
Armand Traoré (Juventus) *	-
Carl Jenkinson (Charlton)	990.000 £
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Southampton)	12.144.000 £

Departure
Jens Lehmann (End of career)	-
Mark Randall (Chesterfield)	free transfer
Gaël Clichy (Man City)	6.820.000 £
Denílson (São Paulo) *	?
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (Ipswich)	1.100.000 £
Pedro Botelho (Rayo Vallecano) *	299.200 £

Total: 23.694.000 £

Total: 8.219.200 £

However, if they sell Nasri and Cesc, receiving the expected to add close to 60m £ that would rapidly swing the negative into a 40m £ + positive. Now if Wenger is
willing to take that windfall and actually invest maybe I will be play with all this.
But I fear he will buy a few bargain basement players and
call it a day.

Alas, we might be looking at another season of no silverware and maybe even,
gasp a place in the Europa League! Wenger's war chest must be quite
healthy, unfortunately that money sitting in a bank does not score goals, make
tackles, dribble defenders or make passes.

Use it Wenger, otherwise what's the point?

Les Bleus opting for an attacking formation for Chile match

2011-08-10T14:45:00.000-04:00

Surprise surprise, Blanc announces what appears to be a very offensive minded formation! What appears to be a 4-3-3 could really be seen as a hybrid Spanish formation: 4-1-4-1. A very offensive midfield.

The line up: Lloris - Sagna, Kaboul, Abidal (cap.), Clichy - Mvila, Martin - Rémy, Nasri, Malouda - Benzema.

No surprise at the back, with the absence of France's first choice central defensive pairing, Blanc opts for what appears as his most steady combination. Sagna and Clichy are natural choices on the flanks, especially with Abidal being asked to slot in the center and Evra having sat out.

Also no surprise that we see Benzema up front, based on his recent form as well it should be interesting to see if he can find some goals for Les Bleus. Here is the surprise for me - Martin, Nari, Malouda and Remy with only M'Vila as your natural holding player. That quartet of offensive midfielders looks to do what Spain does so well - keep possession. While I realize you can line up Martin deep, next to M'Vila, he is really more offensively geared. Now his talents can be leveraged to spring counter attacks from deep as well as be a late runner into the offensive actions. The formation could also swing to a 4-1-3-2 with Remy pushing up high on the right flank to shoulder Benzema.

It should be interesting to see how the game and team evolve during the match. Clearly Blanc is not afraid to try new formations and look to get his best players on the pitch, good for him. Unlike the previous regime, who stuck to one formation whether in the middle of a World Cup game, qualifier or friendly.

This should be very insightful.

Allez les Bleus

Abidal back in the center - France v Chile

2011-08-09T17:16:00.000-04:00

All indications point to Abidal - Kaboul as the central pairing for the French defense in tomorrow's match against Chile, which also be the pairing for the match against Albania in the Euro qualifiers (Rami will be suspended and Mexes recovering from injury). The last few matches for Sakho, both for France and PSG, have not exuded confidence in the eyes of Le President. How quickly things change, a few months ago Sakho seemed the clear #3 option behind Mexes - Rami!

Back in the middle again

With Evra injured, Clichy will most likely take up the left flank with his former team mate Sagna off on the right. The question is who will start in front of this back 4? With Blanc leaning towards a 4-2-3-1, it appears that Malouda is the choice on the left (made easier that Ribery was not selected) with Benzema up front and Nasri as the #10. So who for the right or the holding pairing?

Blanc was seen working Martin - Diarra as one pairing and Cabaye - M'Vila for another. The latter much more defense, the former with a #10 in Martin playing deeper, something Blanc had tremendous success doing while managing Bordeaux when he would line up Diarra - Gourcuff as his deep lying midfield duo. On the right I think the time will be split between Menez and Remy. With 6 substitutes allowed, look for Blanc to rotate his central pairing in the midfield, give both pairings a run at it. Look for Menez and Remy to split time on the right. And I can see Gameiro getting in 45 minutes at the top of the formation. I doubt he will swap out his central defensive pairing, unless he wants to see Sakho on the pitch for 20 minutes, hopefully get him back on the right track; however, I think Blanc of all coaches understands the importance of getting his central defensive pairing in sync, and this will be seen as his best chance in preparation for Albania, so expect to see his pairing stay together on the pitch for the full 90 minutes.

I do not expect too much from this game, players are getting back into game shape, are focused on the start of the season...Chile is coming off Copa America. I expect to see a bland 0-0 draw. The real issue will be, can Blanc get the most out of his 90 minutes to prepare for Albania?

Allez Les Bleus

Ligue 1 starting up again! Guess who I think will win the title???

2011-08-06T11:29:00.002-04:00

It never ceases to amaze me how little time professional footballers seem to get off between seasons. No wonder players are even more strained summers when there is a global tournament - which was the case this season with the Copa America. This should not impact too much the teams in Ligue 1, now the African Cup of Nations...that will be a different story.

The biggest news during this off season was the rise of Manchester City by the Seine - aka PSG. The team from the capital started splashing out tidy sums of money to acquire talent after being taken over by well funded Qatar owners. It will be interesting to see if, as the French say, "si la mayonnaise prend." Marseilles also made some noise, namely in not losing DD - Deschamps, their manager. Lille are the defending Cup and Championship winners and the exodus from the northern French team was less severe than feared. So who will finish in the top 5 this year? Read on ...

FC Sochaux: The surprise team from last campaign will build upon their 5th place finish and...maintain that fifth place finish! Much of their continued success will be due to continuity. Primarily in the fact they have held on their core, especially the new French darling Marvin Martin, even though the transfer winds were strong. The dynamo play maker made some noises that he would like to join PSG or others, but nothing came of it...yet. The other major factor why I see Sochaux defending their Europa League spot is that none of the other contenders really improved themselves enough to get into the top 5. I would, however, keep an eye on TFC, they did add some fire power and talent but I do not think enough to challenge Sochaux for Europa League play. Now if Martin does leave before the close of the transfer window, Sochaux will drop back to the middle of the pack. Look for the likes of TFC or Rennes to slot up.
Olympique Lyonnais: It was not that long ago that the club from France's gastronomic capital was seen as Ligue 1's best chance at European glory, and why not? With the likes of Essein, Malouda, Abidal, Benzema and the likes having worn the OL kit. Unfortunately it is never easy at the top of the pyramid. Especially when you miss on some key signings - Gomis, Gourcuff to name two. I do see Lyon coming back very soon based on the youth that has come up through their system and who is poised to make a greater impact on the senior side: Kolodziejczak, Gonalons, Lacazette, Tafer and Pjanic. They might be one more season from truly gelling as a unit. The transition in the Rhone region continues but they are not far from contending again. Unfortunately, veterans such as Gourcuff, who

Better days for the play maker

was brought in as key pieces to build around have failed to impress. Is the French play maker overrated? I know I have had many debates with the Gooner about this very topic, and after the past season I am starting to believe that the Gooner might be right. Gourcuff had a break out season at Bordeaux, but since then it appears that the burden of being anointed the next great French #10 is too much for his slender shoulders. With a new manager - Remi Garde (who by the way is rumored to be in line to replace Wenger at Arsenal whenever the Professor decides to move on) - who has been with Lyon since 2003, Gourcuff will need to establish himself and his game under a new system. Lyon's season will depend greatly upon his ability to regain some of the form that teased us while at Bordeaux.
LOSC: The defending French Cup and Championship side will not defend either title, too much attrition. Cabaye, Gervinho, Rami, Frau, Emerson....and the list goes on, but it did stop at the prize possession - Hazard. LOSC did bring in some replacements: Rozenhal, Pedretti and Payet to name a few. Not that the comparison is fair, but Rozenhal to replace Rami, Pedretti to replace Cabaye and Payet to replace Gervinho. Not like replacements, but what LOSC did that was intelligent was bring in players from Ligue 1 or who have played in Ligue 1. This should ensure a smooth transition for the club. However with Champions League football and defense of two titles in addition to the year long rumors that will invariable swirl around Belgian winger Hazard, I think this will prove too much for the "little engine that could" of French football. LOSC have too much talent left over and were able to hold on to their best player, Hazard; however it will be too much to ask for them to mount another title winning campaign.
Paris St Germain: Surprise! I bet some of you thought I would pick them to win the title this season...why not I have done so consistently in the past when they had a far less exciting transfer season as this year! With the additions of Douchez, Gameiro, Matuidi, Menez, Sirigu, Bisevac Sissoko and the cherry on top - Pastore, add to this more rumors of players coming to Paris such as Cole and Berbatov - and you have a very exciting off season for the Parisians. I have argued with Gooner that, unlike Manchester City, these moves all making footballing sense and are not just the exploits of a front office drunk with petro-dollars. Granted if they also sign Berbatov and Cole we might start creeping into MCFC territory, but I digress. PSG had a good run last season, but just did not have enough to stay in contention. The main reason? Goalkeeping - check with Douchez and Sirigu that should not be a problem. Midfield depth - check with Pastore, Matuidi, Menez and Sissoko replacing the older Makelele and Giulys of the team.

Scoring - check with the addition of Gameiro and Menez, if Hourau can ever find his goal scoring touch again then look out. If you add a Berbatov to that mix then goals should not be an issue. The other positive for PSG - not losing Sakho to the likes of Arsenal or Barcelona. Having him pair with Bisevac, in front of a solid keeper will go a long way to stabilize the back line for PSG. So why not in first place? I am not convinced that Kombouare is the right man for the role. Tactically he has not shown me anything and when it comes to personnel I am not convinced either - he was opposed to signing Nene last season, without him PSG would have been stuck mid table. I also think PSG need a season under their belt before we can see PSG live up to their potential.

Someone looks happy

Olympique de Marseille: Bleehhh...that was painful to type....might need to wash my hands. Hard for me to accept, but OM will win the league title this season. They stuck around all season, but could never make a serious charge to threaten Lille; however, look for this to change this season. With the main question of whether or not DD would stay, having been resolved, Marseilles spent a relatively calm off season, instead allowing their hated rivals PSG make all the noise. They were able to add Bordeaux captain Diarra, a player long sought after by Deschamps to add muscle to his midfield. The situation
with Gonzalez remains a moving target, with the latest rumors being a move to Serie A. If that move were to materialize, look for DD to target another striker, possibly Gilardino from Fiorentina as a replacement. Regardless of the Gonzalez/Gilardino dance, Marseilles have the players in place to win the title. With the likes of Remy, Gignac, Valbuena, Mandanda, Cheyrou, Diarra, Amalfitano, Fanni to name a few, OM have the necessary fire power and depth to capture the crown. Ugh that was painful for me to write.

Teams that will have to fight on their hands to avoid relegation:

ASSE: The once storied French side have yo-yo'd between Ligue 1 and 2 for the past few seasons. This year will be no different with the losses of Payet and Riviere look for Les Verts to struggle to stay in Ligue 1.
Auxerre: Another storied Ligue 1 side will find the sledding tough after a net loss in the transfer market, especially their captain Pedretti who was the engine for the small French side. The one time hot bed for youth talent, thanks to Guy Roux, has become a small club that tends to punch above its weight, but they are destined to get knocked down one of these days.
FC Lorient: Talk about a team that punches above their weight class, but with the losses of Gameiro, Morel and Amalfitano it will be too much for the club.

If the likes of ASSE and Auxerre get relegated, Ligue 2 will look like Ligue 1 in the 1980s - Nantes, Lens, Monaco, Metz, Le Havre...

This should be an exciting Ligue 1 season, if nothing else to see a ratcheting up of the OM - PSG rivalry.

Sakho - Kaboul tandem for France v Chile

2011-08-05T00:46:00.000-04:00

Looks likely that this, Kaboul and Sakho, will be the defensive central pairing for the match against Chile and might very well be for the Albania match as well. I forgot that Rami was suspended for a game...so Blanc will have to leverage this match to test out his central pairing.

Jumped to #3 in the queue?

Some might say that Abidal should slot back in the center, while he always stated he did not want to do so, he has spotted Barcelona this past season at central defense and done so with great aplomb. However as Blanc points out, his offensive skill on the left flank is something to be taken advantage of. The Chile match takes on even greater importance for the PSG center back as his last matches under the France flag have not been 100% reassuring. Granted it was the end of the season, playing in what amounts to exhibition matches. However, the player that was once seen as the clear "next in line" at central defense, no longer is afforded that luxury. With the likes of Koscielny returning from injury and Varane making the big move to Real Madrid, there appears to be some competition that might be emerging.

I think Blanc will allow Sakho and Kaboul to play the entire game against Chile, similar to what he did with Mexes and Rami from day 1 of his tenure. As a former international central defender, Blanc is well aware of the need for the pairing to develop a level of understanding vital to successfully navigating those waters. Something obviously lost on his predecessor - Dumbenech.

La Rentree, back to work - Blanc calls up his 23 for the Chile match August 10th.

2011-08-04T09:47:00.000-04:00

Laurent Blanc has called up 23 players for next week's friendly against Chile. Not too many surprises, the list:

GARDIENS : Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Cédric Carrasso (Bordeaux).

DEFENSEURS : Eric Abidal (Barcelone), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Younès Kaboul (Tottenham), Adil Rami (Valence), Mamadou Sakho (Paris-SG), Anthony Réveillère (Lyon), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal).

MILIEUX : Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle), Alou Diarra (Marseille), Yann M'Vila (Rennes), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Marvin Martin (Sochaux), Blaise Matuidi (Paris-SG), Samir Nasri (Arsenal).

ATTAQUANTS : Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Kevin Gameiro (Paris-SG), Guillaume Hoarau (Paris-SG), Jérémy Ménez (Paris-SG), Loïc Rémy (Marseille), Dimitri Payet (Lille).

The one "surprise" is no Ribery and Payet is back in the line up. Ribery is slowly recovering from an ankle injury so not really a surprise that he was left at home. Blanc has called up a number of players that work the wide channels on the pitch - Malouda, Menez, Remy and Payet. Arguably Nasri can also play on the wide side, and really only one pure central offensive midfielder - Martin. with Gourcuff still on the shelf, this is really the Sochaux play makers time to make his mark on Les Bleus. Also there is no Mexes due to injury, so it will be interesting to see how Blanc navigates his central defensive pairing.

It will be interesting to see how Blanc works his formation, I have a feeling we will see Blanc lean on the 4-2-3-1 and look to place Martin in the middle of the formation. Blanc will have to be thinking ahead to the start of qualifiers with tricky away ties against Albania and Romania. Blanc will need to focus on the following 3 potential problems prior to the Euro matches:

Central defense - with Mexes recovering from knee surgery who will shoulder Rami? Kaboul? Sakho? The PSG captain was seen as the natural replacement, however his last few matches for France have not infused tremendous confidence while the Tottenham man has surprised with his form. I am sure that Blanc will give both players 45 minutes with Rami to see who makes the most sense.
Who will be the playmaker - the natural choices are Martin or Nasri, or will Blanc look a particular formation that will dictate where the play making comes from? Might he go back to a 4-3-3 and look for 3 more defensive minded midfielders and look for his wide players to provide the offensive creative play? The 4-3-3 worked well in Bosnia but Blanc has not looked to play this since that match.
Where will the goals come from - Benzema appears to have the lone striker role sewn up, especially since reports are he is the best shape of his playing career. However Gameiro was very influential in the last matches for France and could offer a different look up front. Les Bleus and Blanc still need to work out the front of their formation and where they will get a regular stream of goals.

For the match against Chile I see the following: Blanc will go with a 4-2-3-1 for part of the match. Look for the following starting line up:

Lloris - Abidal, Rami, Sakho, Sagna - ADiarra, M'Vila - Malouda, Nasri, Menez - Benzema

I see Kaboul getting 45 minutes for either Rami or Sakho, but I have a feeling the Tottenham man will spend a good part of his time partnered with Rami. I would also expect to see Martin spend some time in the middle of the formation as well as a potential 4-3-3 with a front line of Malouda - Benzema - Menez and a midfield where Martin might slot deeper or Cabaye partnered with M'Vila and Diarra. Finally, look for Gameiro to get some time up front either as the lone striker or in the high line of three in a 4-3-3.

Chile will prove to be a good challenge for Les Bleus. The South American side will be a stern test and will be interesting to see how they line up after a Copa America and will the likes of Sanchez line up?

I do fear a rather bland game, most players will be still in the middle of their preseason training. But this match and its lead up will be vital for Blanc as he gets ready to finish out Euro qualifiers. Another interesting note - 5 players from PSG! That was usually the case back in the 1980s, but such a strong showing from PSG has not been seen a long time (granted 3 of those players just signed with the club - Gameiro, Matuidi and Menez)

Allez les Bleus.

Domenech's sweet revenge - France drawn with Spain in 2014 qualification group

2011-07-31T00:50:00.000-04:00

Earlier this weekend, FIFA held the draw to determine the groups for each region and how nations will qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The big news heading into the draw for the European region was that France would not be in Pot 1, meaning they could risk being drawn with another one of Europe's big football nations. Much of this is due to the fact France have shown very poorly in the last two international tournaments - Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010, both times leaving the tournaments after the group stages...Thank You Dumenech! So what do we get for our sins...Spain! Click here to see the European groups.

So France will have to fight it out with defending World Cup Champion and current European Cup champion for the #1 spot in the group and hope they don't slip on a banana peel as the rest of the group is not a cake walk either.

The French group:

Group I
Team	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
Spain	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
France	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Belarus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Georgia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Finland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

France have faced Belarus during the current Euro qualifier....and taken a whole 1 point from 2 matches! France have faced Georgia in recent campaigns and fared well against the former Soviet nation, as would be expected. Finland will be no push over, while the Scandinavian nation has not seen a major football tournament since well never. Recently their form has been a bit underwhelming, even losing to Moldova in qualifiers for the Euro. But they have quality, and I could see them causing more problems than one would expect for France and Spain.

On the surface this group should come down to the home and away fixtures between France and Spain. Much will also be determined as to when those matches are scheduled. Will they both be in the heart of the calendar, meaning both teams will be looking for points. Or could one be late or even the last match when both nations might already know their destiny? Much will depend on that schedule.

When I informed the Gooner about this draw, he kind of scoffed at France's chances. The reality is I think this could prove a good draw for France. Why?

France will have 2 fewer matches. The group has 5 teams as opposed to the 6 in the other groups. This means 2 fewer games. Now one might argue that playing the likes of a Luxembourg or San Marino should not really "count" as matches. But if recent form has demonstrated anything they still present challenges and with players having full club schedules 2 fewer matches could be beneficial.
France should not fear Spain. Okay I realize that might sound silly, but I do not think Spain is a team that France really fear. Had France drawn Germany or even Italy, I think they would have presented a greater "fear" factor. Spain and France have always had a footballing rivalry that gets overshadowed by other rivalries - England, Germany and Italy. Recent matches would dictate that Spain has the upper hand. But that was also Domenech, now we have a real coach. If recent form dictates anything it is clear that Blanc and Les Bleus do not fear any team, they are still working out the kinks but would fancy their chances against any nation - see their victory versus Brazil in Paris. Or France going into Sarajevo and beating a fancied Bosnian side.
Key French players are playing in La Liga - Benzema, Abidal and Rami - will have all been playing for clubs in Spain. That familiarity and motivation will go a long way.
International football goes in cycles. I realize this might be just some wishful thinking, but Spain has been at the top of the football world for a good 4 years, at some point you naturally drop in level. France on the other hand, has been mired in the middle of International Football. Primarily due to Domenech, but they still retain the talent and system to be better than their last two tournaments would indicate.

I realize some of this might be wishful thinking or just hope, but France can and will do well against their southern neighbor. Having to work through a tough group will benefit Les Bleus. If France cannot win the top of the group nor accumulate enough points to be in the playoffs, then they do not deserve to head to Brazil. It is a tough draw, but one that can be had.

Allez les Bleus!

PSG - Manchester City on the Seine

2011-07-30T12:08:00.000-04:00

I will say that the Gooner called PSG, MCFC south, but I prefer calling PSG - Manchester City on the Seine! Why this new name? With the cash infusion from new Middle Eastern backers, PSG has started to spend like the Citizens did when they also received a cash infusion from wealthy middle eastern backers. Yet, I would say the parallels stop there. Why?

Let us look at the recent purchases by PSG.

Gameiro - leading scorer in Ligue 1 for the past few seasons. He was playing for small side Lorient but always one of Ligue 1's most sought after transfers. In the past, players such as Gameiro would either go to Lyon or head to another league. PSG finally did what a club of their stature should do - secure the best players from within your league. Gameiro will add another element to the PSG side, with Hourau struggling to regain his consistent scoring touch and recent misses at the striker level - Erding and Kezman. I would not be surprised if Gameiro became PSG's #1 striker from day 1. Solid signing.
Menez and Matuidi - I lump these two players together because they signed close to one another but they also slot in nicely to fill in for Giuly and Makelele. Menez will slot in on the right channel while Matuidi will become the anchor at the holding midfield role. Matuidi is like Gameiro - one of Ligue 1's best players being acquired by one of France's largest clubs. Menez was a minor coup, getting a player in his prime to leave one of the bigger leagues and clubs: AS Roma to come back to Ligue 1.
Sissoko and Sirigu - As two players from Serie A I will also lump them together. I am luke warm on both signing, warmer on Sirigu, always need quality keepers and last season proved that you will most likely need to use both of your keepers. The Sissoko signing I understand for depth, but not sure I would have gone over this Sissoko, I would have preferred the one from TFC. Regardless I think he will be in the defensive midfield rotation with Bodmer and Chantome, so in the end it could prove a good move for depth.
Douchez - This was a free as the former Rennes keeper was at the end of a contract. The fringe national team keeper was an easy choice for PSG as Coupet was retiring and let's face it, Edel was not going to be the answer long term. Coupled this move with the recent signing of Italian #3 keeper Sirigu and you have the makings of a good tandem of keepers for PSG. The question becomes does the #2 keeper become disgruntled, but if so, you can always sell him and make back some of your money.
Bisevac - The Serbian international was brought in to add depth and talent at central defense, and some insurance as the rumors of Sakho being lured to a larger European club will not go away. Again, another player from within Ligue 1, who was reasonably priced and a know entity.

All these signings are what PSG should have been doing for the past few seasons. As one of France's largest and richest clubs (even before the new investments) they should have always been more aggressive with the talent within Ligue 1. What makes them creep into Manchester City territory is the bid for Pastore. The Argentine is also a target of Chelsea. The latest is that he has signed of PSG for a whopping 38m pounds. This is the one signing that I feel is a "Manchester City" type signing. Get a new cash infusion and spend it like a Russian Oligarch. But unlike some of these other spenders, this move makes sense for PSG. They need a playmaking midfielder, I realize the have also purchased Menez but he is creates from the right flank. Ever since PSG sold Sessegnon to Sunderland they have not had a true attacking midfielder, now they do.

All in all very good signings for PSG. Unlike Chelsea or Manchester City, they have not gone out and signed players just for their names and then wondered where they fit in the system. PSG have acquired pieces that were desperately needed to either replace players leaving or bolster areas that needed addressing.

Call them what you want, I, for one look forward to seeing them on the pitch with all these new assets!

Penalty row...much to do about nothing

2011-07-20T11:35:00.000-04:00

So I was reading how Theyab Awana will be punished for his taking of penalty kick in a manner "disrespectful" of the game, click here for article. I will give the UAE manager credit for taking action and for calling out his player. I do think it appears to have become a tempest in a tea cup. Was the kick a bit of showboating? Sure. Did it go in, yes. If the American Women's National team has demonstrated anything this past weekend is that taking and making a penalty kick is not necessarily as easy as it looks. For those who have not seen it, the actual penalty (the US Women's Team could have used him on Sunday!)

Was the manner in which Awana took his kick disrespectful? I say no. Mind you I, myself have play and have logged many matches as a goalie. Trust me, any time I give up a goal in any manner I am not happy and even less so if I think the opponent is disrespecting the game. Full disclosure, I have given up a goal on a back heel and it was not "pleasant." But the bottom line is, the keeper's job is to stop goals, regardless of how they are shot at you. The brilliance of the manner in which Awana took his PK was that the keeper was completely thrown off his rhythm. As the UAE player approaches the ball then pirouettes the keeper stutter steps, leans to his right and is caught completely flat footed....mission accomplished by the penalty taker. Had the keeper not been completely thrown off, he could have made what would have been a routine save to his left.

The UAE manager is entirely in his right to punish the player. And I am sure that Awana would not have attempted this had the match been a World Cup qualification match. But it will make the next keeper give pause for thought when facing him in a penalty kick situation. That too is mission accomplished as a PK taker.

I will say, if I were Awana I would be careful next time he plays that keeper and drifts into the penalty box on a cross or had a 1v1 with the keeper. Goalkeepers tend to have long memories...

Football world shocker! Not what you are thinking...

2011-07-18T17:49:00.000-04:00

No this is not a post about the Woman's World Cup finals, and yes that was a shocker. The US National team can only look at that result as a failure. They were the #1 team in the world. Had a 1 goal lead twice. Gave up said leads late in regulation and then in extra time. The first time on a terrible defensive mistake, you NEVER try to "clear" a ball in your team's penalty box when you down on a knee, facing your goal and then square the ball to the middle...the second Japanese goal was a well taken corner kick, tough to blame the US for that one. Um and missing your first 3 PKs? Unacceptable at this level. Okay that is it for my Woman's World Cup rant, not on to my real topic: Copa America.

What is wrong with this picture:

Uruguay v Peru
Venezuela v Paraguay

I hope things are better in 2014

These are the semi final pairings for this year's Copa America. Where are Argentina and Brazil??? Both South American power houses lost to Uruguay and Paraguay respectively, and both on PKs to boot. I was not able to see the Brazil v Paraguay match, but from what I could tell it was all about Brazil inability to finish their chances. I was able to see some of Brazil earlier in the tournament and what struck me was the apparent lack of a "boss" a player of the stature of Pele, Socrates, Zico, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Romario, Ronaldino or even Dunga to name few. Players that clearly took control when the team needed that kick in the pants, either through emotional leadership or by taking over a game physically. I could not help but think that player could have been Kaka, who instead was playing a meaningless match for Real Madrid against LA Galaxy. Bazil's World Cup is not far away, and there does not seem to be a player on the Copa America roster that can step up and take those reigns. Ganso was seen as the next great playmaker for Brazil, and he very well could be down the road. But can he live up to that pressure by the next world cup? What about Neymar? The next scoring wonder kid looked great at times, but not sure he will put his stamp on the Brazilian side as did the likes of Ronaldo or Romario. These players have bags of talent and potential, but also expectations, sometimes these do not meet in a happy place! Makes me wonder how a player such as Kaka could have helped this squad. Kaka was once that player, the next great one. While he has not played, recently, at the lofty levels expected of him, he remains one of the world's best. He is a veteran of big club European football and could have been the guiding force for this Brazilian side. Alas that was not to be. Brazil will always have raw talent, but do they have the generation of players that can take them to a title when they play at home in 2014? Maybe not.

What about Argentina? Much like Brazil in 2014, they were hosting a big international tournament on their turf. Add to this the pressure of a soccer powerhouse that has not won silverware since 1993, an eternity! They were playing at home and had the world's best player - Messi - as well as an embarrassing pool of talent - Tevez, Aguero, Higuian, Zanetti, Mascherano etc. Granted, next to drawing Brazil, pairing up against Uruguay at this stage was tough draw, least we forget Uruguay was the highest finisher at the World Cup. Now Argentina also ran into Muslera who made some ridiculous saves to keep Uruguay in the game, most noticeably his double save on a Tevez deflection, of a free kick where somehow the keeper kicked out the deflection and then had the reaction to make himself "big" on the Higuain follow up...

Save of the game no doubt! He made another fantastic reflect save on another Higuian shot when the Real Madrid man took a silky pass from Messi, controlled, turned and rifled a shot that called for a fantastic reflect save from the Uruguayan keeper. But the keeper notwithstanding, Argentina spent most of the game with a man advantage (after a silly second yellow by Perez) and had chances. They had a goal disallowed (so did Uruguay) granted, but Messi - Aguero - Di Maria - Higuain seemed out of sorts, they were able to put pressure on the Uruguayan defense but were not able to be clinical in front of goal. Argentina were even getting good width at times from their fullbacks - mainly because with Zanetti and Zabaleta they had NATURAL wide fullbacks, Hey Diego were you paying attention? Uruguay seemed to look to foul high up the pitch, slow down any breaks and if that did not work would just slide deep to protect their 18 yard box - always shadowing Messi. Argentina seemed frustrated by this, noticeable when the likes of Higuain dropped way back to get the ball. Add to this the unexplainable fouling by Milito, that lead to a host of Uruguay free kicks - the only time Uruguay looked very dangerous of scoring. In the end, the game went to penalty kicks, and in that lottery the Albicelestes lost.

And to think...could have played for Spain

Another tournament lost for Argentina. Another tournament where players such as Messi, Tevez, Mascherano et al did not live up to their expectations. After what happened in South Africa, Argentina is clearly a team in turmoil. They have the talent, almost a ridiculous level of talent, but they still seem to be struggling with formations and how to use Messi in particular. Could it be that the pressure of Barcelona is too much to over come? Everyone expects Messi to be able to replicate his play at the club level with Argentina...unfortunately there is no Xavi or Iniesta wearing the blue and white stripe kit. Then again Barcelona might be challenged to produce the other offensive options Argentina currently have. Argentina must decide how to best leverage Messi within THEIR system, not try to replicate the Barcelona system. Maybe Messi should be allowed to play wide with Di Maria on the other wing, potentially a 4-2-1-3? Three high offensive players, slot Higuain or Aguero in the middle of the top of the formation, question is who slots behind them as the true #10? Lean on Mascherano and Gago to hold. With real full backs, you can leverage their runs to support the high wingers...of course that would mean putting players such as Tevez on the bench, but at the international level that is the name of the game! Maybe the Barcelona expectations are too heavy a curse for Messi...

Both Argentina and Brazil have some retooling to do, at least Argentina have qualifiers to ensure they get a run of serious games to work out their kinks. Brazil will have a host of friendlies, not sure that will allow a true test. Should be interesting 2 years for these South American powers.

Titi frustated...come back to Europe!

2011-07-15T12:44:00.000-04:00

Recent rant from French striker - Titi Henry - about playing in the MLS, click here to read. Based on the article, the two areas of concern for Henry - the playing surface and the media requirements. For the first rant, not a surprise. I understand why MLS teams play on the turf, they share stadiums with their American football counterparts. While we have made great strides in field turf, it still is not grass! I think all outdoor sports should be played on NATURAL grass. I realize that the new field turf is better than the old astro turf and is starting to mimic natural grass...but it still mimics, why not just have the real thing??? I can hear teams complain, "well in the cold, the snow, the rain and the difficult conditions, field turf is better." Okay I get that, and for the NFL that makes some sense, the playing surface does not impact the ball, but in soccer the ball spends its time on that surface. It changes the game. It impacts the players. Get rid of it for soccer.

As for the media complaint, I am sure that Henry is just venting. The reality is he is not being treated as a star as he was used to at Arsenal or Barcelona. So instead of being able to do what he wants post match, he has to sit down and answer questions from a 21 year old reporter from the New York Daily News....

Titi has a long way to go on his contract with Red Bull (another 4 years). Unlike Beckham, I do not think that Titi really views himself as a footballing ambassador. Maybe we will see Titi coming back to Europe and why not back to Ligue 1? Teams such as PSG or Bordeaux could do worse than adding the veteran to their rosters. Maybe even the likes of Lille could try to lure Henry back.

Reviens en France Titi!

Merci Pat...Vieira hangs up the boots

2011-07-14T11:05:00.000-04:00

Not a surprise but Pat Vieira has announced his retirement today, how appropriate on Bastille day! What a remarkable career for one of the most elegant and powerful "box to box" midfielders the game has seen. Vieira will be most remembered for his days patrolling the midfield for the Gunners. He played 371 games for the Gunners, scored 32 goals, won 3 Premiership Titles, 3 FA Cups and was part of the invincibles. He will also be remembered for his battles with Manchester United's Keane.

One of my favorite pre-game tunnel bust up. Neither player would back down in these confrontations...too bad Arsenal do not have some of that bite anymore. Maybe Cesc can start yelling at Ferdinand next time Arsenal play Manchester United (assuming Cesc is still on Arsenal and Ferdinand is healthy...two BIG ifs).

To me Vieira was France's greatest holding/defensive midfielder. Not only was he a crunching tackler and enforcer in the middle of the park, but he could chip in big goals, was clinical with his passing and was a true "box to box" midfielder.

One aspect overlooked was his leadership at the 2006 Germany World Cup when he stepped in to carry the team when Zidane was suspended. He scored the opening goal versus Togo to get France on its way to the run to the finals. He also latched on to a Zidane free kick late in the Spain 1/4 match to give Les Bleus the lead, and sprung Ribery end of the first half to score the tying goal.

I will always contend that it was his injury and need to be substituted out of the finals that was the real turning point for the match - he would have been one of the penalty kickers and having a healthy Vieira finish out that game might have sprung the goal that France seemed destined to getting before the head butt! I am also certain that he was not in the planned substitutions and took away one of the substitution options late in the game. Alas his hamstrings had other ideas for Les Bleus.

Vieira has been one of my favorite players to watch. His combination of pace, power, skill and toughness were invaluable for both club and country.

Merci Pat. Too bad Arsenal could not have bottled some of that leadership to be used the past few seasons.

Happy Bastille Day!

2011-07-14T10:15:00.000-04:00

Happy Bastille Day! Let them eat cake!!!

Arsenal implosion getting closer and closer

2011-07-07T10:54:00.000-04:00

Headline on BBC Sports - Arsenal's Samir Nasri remains Manchester United target - sigh. Are we about to see the implosion of Arsenal? Clichy is already out the door, the heat around Nasri leaving is starting to burn hot and the 800 lb gorilla - Cesc to Barcelona. The revolving door at Arsenal seems to continue.

Barcelona is that way

A great article about the seeming fire sale that is currently under way at Arsenal, click here. I cannot agree more with the author who points out that Wenger has bemoaned the fact his team does things "right" and that Arsenal is the victim. Problem is, as we waste time crying about the free spending of the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Barca or Real Madrid we go another season without any silverware.

I fear that Wenger's time at Arsenal might be coming to an end, his stubbornness when it comes to signing, as the article points out "a 11 year old wonder kid striker from Belgium" cannot continue. He has brought in some wonderful youth, that he must be praised for, but he has not uncovered the next Vieira or Henry that he can build his team around.

Time to go Wenger. Please head to PSG where your methods will be met with success.

Motivational speech...if you need something to get you fired up.

2011-07-07T00:30:00.002-04:00

Great pre-game speech. Too bad this coach wasn't managing Les Bleus rather than Dumbenech...

Arsenal rumored to be looking at OM winger as potential Nasri replacement...interesting

2011-07-06T08:52:00.000-04:00

The latest rumor is that Arsenal sniffing around Marseilles and their French international - Valbuena. Interesting. The Marseilles winger has never been high on Deschamps list of key pieces for OM. I am not sure how the winger would be seen as a replacement for the potential departures of Nasri and Cesc.

Wearing #10, but more of a winger than central midfielder

Cesc and Nasri are closer to the traditional #10, they play in the center of the park can either slot high on the pitch or drop deeper, but always roaming around that middle of the pitch. Granted, Nasri can easily slot out wide as well, but he is at ease pulling the strings in the center. Not sure that Valbuena would be someone at ease in that role. So why is Wenger thinking about adding him to the roster? Unless Arsenal believe they can hold on to Nasri and/or Cesc. Otherwise I fear the void left in the middle of the park will be too much to overcome and having another winger - Valbuena - will be an exercise of deck chair rearrangement on the Titanic. Couple this with the addition of Gervinho and all of sudden you become winger heavy with little depth at the center of the formation.

Arsenal - net sellers once again? Next stop Europa League?

2011-07-01T13:27:00.000-04:00

So it appears that once again, Arsenal will end up being in the black after the transfer window closes...meaning they will be a net seller. Good? Bad? Typical?? Here is what it might look like:

Purchase Gervinho from LOSC for 11m pounds. Great another winger! Maybe we should look to getting a true #9 instead...
Oh Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at 12m pounds, great, the next wonder kid English winger...he isn't even 18 yet...guess we will have to wait for that impact on the first team.
Sell Clichy to Manchester City for 7m pounds, not a surprise that the French left back leaves, it feels as if his time had run its course at Arsenal.
Rumor - 18m pounds for Nasri to join Clichy at ManCity...might be more if Manchester United gets serious in the bidding.
Rumor - 35m pounds for Cesc to Barcelona, we have all been waiting for this move and I think this is the season it finally happens.
Rumor (purchase) - Cahill at 17m pounds

So net net, 40m pounds out, close to 60m pounds in....great we made a profit! Pop the champagne! Pay down more of the debt! Put some in the player's 401ks! Buy back some outstanding shares! Fund more R&D! Invest in some PP&E!!! Oh wait that is what you would do if Arsenal were a business. But it isn't, Arsenal is a sporting and entertainment entity. Add to these rumors the likelihood that Arshavin, Bendtner and possibly Diaby/Rosicky are all shown the exit and what type of team do we have left?

Arsenal are making me very nervous with regard to comings and goings in the transfer market. If they do lose Nasri, Arshavin and Cesc where will the creativity come from? Who will be pulling the strings in midfield? No addition of a true #9 is a concern. What about...the goalkeeping?

If Wenger and Arsenal do not take a different tact I fear the club might be relegated to competing in the Europa League in the near future.

Gold Cup musings...US needs to get to Copa America

2011-06-30T14:17:00.000-04:00

So the Gold Cup final was this past weekend, I had wanted to lay down some key strokes and give some thoughts on the finals earlier, but work sometimes gets in the way of my musing. Better late than never! For those of you that did not watch or do not know what the Gold Cup is, a quick recap.

This is the CONCACAF football championships, it is held every 2 years (which minimizes the title in my opinion) and the winner gets to go to the Confederation Cup the following year (assuming the Gold Cup version is held prior to the World Cup). Recently the finals have been another opportunity to see a US v Mexico match and to once again watch the game played on US soil in front of a predominately Mexican crowd! That was the case again this finals edition in Pasadena.

The game itself was actually exciting, the US going up early 2-0 only to concede 4 straight goals. Granted Dempsey smashed a shot off the cross bar when the US was trailing 3-2, had that goal gone in things might have turned out very differently. Both teams also sent most of their A side players - Donovan, Dempsey, Bradley, Howard et al for the US, Chicharito, Dos Santos, Marquez et al for El Tri. Mexico did expose that the US does a poor job with in game management, remember last Confederation Cup final when the US had a 2-0 lead on the Brazilians? The US continued to play a more wide open game after being up 2-0 and ended up paying for it, as Mexico's speed and offensive talent exploited the space. Eventually finding their way to a 4-2 victory...including a wonder goal from former Barcelona player Dos Santos:

But this post is not about the game itself, but about the value of the Gold Cup. What struck me was the reaction from many of the US players and pundits post game, it was not about the fact they lost a title or lost to hated rival Mexico...but that they cannot go to Brazil next summer for the Confederation Cup. Hmmmm interesting. I do not think I hear the losing team in the Euros say "shucks, we lost the title and now we cannot go to the Confederations Cup." To me this is indicative of what could be holding back the development of US Soccer - regular competitive games.

The reality for the US is that they have graduated, 20 years ago, playing in CONCACAF was good for the US. They had a chance to get to the World Cup, played smaller nations that were more passionate for football but clearly were trailing in regards to resources. When the US qualified for the 1990 edition of the World Cup in Italy, it was the first time in 40 years, they attended the global sporting event...promptly getting trounced losing all 3 games. However since then, the US has qualified for every edition since, and reaching two knock out stages and the 1/4 finals in 2002 (some would argue they outplayed eventual runner-ups Germany in that game and were it not for a missed hand ball might have played a semi final). That is a good run. But if the United States is serious about being a legitimate threat to go deeper and gasp...maybe even win the trophy...they cannot rely on Gold Cup and Confederation Cup as their "competitive" matches. I discount World Cup qualifiers, why? With 3 direct spots to the World Cup and a fourth that goes to play off, are the US and Mexico ever really in jeopardy of not qualifying? As I have posted in the past, the US needs to get out of their comfort zone if they expect to grow, footballing wise.

Unlike the US, Mexico will head to the Copa America in Argentina, and face some serious competition. El Tri will face, Chile, Peru and Uruguay in their group....much more serious than Panama and Jamaica. European nations are never taking a break, with the World Cup and European Cups every other year there is a constant stream of high charged qualifying matches to reach these tournaments. The US must, if it will not rework its World Cup qualification and why would they, find a way to participate in the Copa America on a regular basis. Since 1993 they have only participate in 3 editions...why has Japan participated??? The US must get into this tournament. The US must add another real tournament to their dance card if they want to grow.

Otherwise the US will be stuck lamenting another lose in the Gold Cup finals and not being able to go to the Confederation Cup...but looking forward to World Cup qualifiers versus Turks & Caicos, Bermuda and El Salvador.

Hazard to PSG....really? Seriously? Let's take a deep breath and think about this...

2011-06-29T15:03:00.000-04:00

Wow...the latest rumor is that PSG is preparing a bid of 31.5m Euros and Erding for the young winger. The very fact that PSG is rumored to be in the chase for the player is exciting, yet I remain cautious. Clearly the new majority owners of PSG are willing to splash the cash around, or at least give that impression. Let us not forget that 31.5m Euros + Erding (valued at 10m Euros) is in the same neighborhood as the rumored 41m Euro transfer fee from Barcelona to Arsenal for Cesc. But I am concerned about a few areas:

Where is this money coming from? The true source of Qatar backers is still a bit of a mystery. Are they associated with the royal family or have some of their funds under management?
Is there a long term plan for PSG or are we seeing a mini-Manchester City? Granted MCFC will be playing Champions League next season and won the FA Cup, but let us see how things look in Manchester in 5 seasons.
Who is running footballing operations at PSG? With the new ownership in place I am a bit confused as to where the direction is coming. Kombouare remains the manager, but no one believes his tenure will be long. So who is there to make some of the player decisions? Rumor is Hazard was flown to Qatar to meet with the investors...but who was there from PSG sporting side?

Maybe I should just sit back and enjoy this while it lasts, it cannot be any worse than the dysfunctional club I am used to! I do hope that there is a long term plan, a plan that calls for sound sporting and business decisions. While the recent run at Manchester City might excite some, I do not necessarily want to become the next Leeds United, something that might strike ManCity if their investors get bored with their footballing toy! I realize that what happened to Leeds was not exactly the same, but their run to the Champions League semis was followed by undisciplined spending based on expected revenue streams that were not tenable.

So PSG, go get Hazard if you can, that would be a coupe, but promise me that you have a plan and a vision and aren't just buying to make headlines!

Give them credit - PSG's new ownership is not afraid to shake the tree

2011-06-21T14:31:00.000-04:00

PSG has been making lots of noise this transfer season, whether through their actions: signing Gameiro and Douchez or the rumors: Benitiz as manager...do not like rumor AT ALL. Now PSG is rumored to be sniffing at acquiring the Bulgarian striker Berbatov from Manchester United and now they have approached the #1 transfer target in Ligue 1: Eden Hazard. Wow. Now I am not sure PSG stands a real chance at acquiring the Belgium starlet, especially with the likes of Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or even Inter Milan sniffing around the young player. Just the very fact they are looking to explore the option, invite the player to come meet the ownership, gauge what would have to be done to get him. That is promising.

Give the new PSG ownership credit...they are not sitting idly by!

Rafa at PSG...please...this must be a bad joke

2011-06-19T20:58:00.000-04:00

There are rumors that the former Liverpool and Inter Milan skipper, Rafa Benitez might be in line to manage PSG. Um....okay....haahaaaa...funny. But seriously. I realize that he has won a Champions League and has a certain cache; however, he remains a terrible manager. One who spends like drunken sailor and then says he has no money. I realize he is very good at knock out style management, but what PSG need is manager that will build from within, make some shrewd signings and manage for the long championship season. I would rather have a manager in the mold of Wenger: sign a number of up and coming youth players, make a few veteran signings and get into the Champions League to fill the coffers. Unlike Wenger, however, I would like some silverware along the way. Rafa is none of these...on the contrary he is of the manager that views high transfer sums as a solution to a poorly performing squad and cannot seem to manage for the duration of the season.

I hope that sane minds prevail in Paris and that we go after a lesser "name" of a manager but one that is more likely to bring success to PSG.

What it means to be a sports fan...

2011-06-15T19:26:00.001-04:00

One thing I am is a sports fan...shocking I realize. One thing I have had the privilege during my fan hood has been to see my teams win championships.

Celtics, Red Sox, Steelers, Arsenal and PSG (well neither have won the trophy with the big ears!) Of course I saw my beloved Les Bleus win the Euros in 1984, 2000 and the World Cup in 1998 (plus 2 Confederation Cups!!!). The one title I have not seen...the Stanley Cup. The last time the Bruins won the Stanley Cup was right before I came to this world. Tonight that might all change. This made me ponder what it means to be a fan.

Truth be told I have hesitate to watch too much of the Bruins' run, why? Because they were my first Boston sports team love and also my first heartbreak. The teams with Neely and Bourque that faced off against the Oilers of Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, etc etc were a team that really piqued my interests. But then they let me down, not because of anything they controlled but because they faced arguably one of the greatest hockey teams ever. The last few seasons when I allowed myself to slowly get behind them again...and then kapooowwww - game 7 against the Carolina Whalers and the melt down against the Flyers...ugh. And now we are on the verge of putting those let downs behind us...much like 2004 and the Red Sox erasing the pain from 1986 and 2003...or Les Bleus in 1984 erasing (somewhat) the pain from 1982.

And that is the beauty of sports and what being a fan is all about. In our lives we go through ups and downs, obviously more serious that those associated with a simple game. However sometimes the ability to escape from our real jobs our real problems and lose ourselves into living vicariously through a group of players whether on ice, the pitch, the diamond, the gridiron, the court who take us away and allow us to live a "dream." Albeit for a few hours and albeit in fantasy land. However sometimes the escape to fantasy land is a necessary place for us to go. For that reason I will soak in all of this game 7. A fan never knows when his or her team will be back in the playoffs let alone one game away from winning a title, so one must enjoy it when those opportunities come around.

History is stacked against the Bruins - game 7s for road team does not look good, Luongo looks like Patrick Roy playing at home.....but that is what makes sports so engrossing, no baseball team had come back from 0-3 against their most hated rival. But the Red Sox did in 2004. No way a team comes back on Italy after being down 1-0 with little time on the clock...but France did in 2000. History will be made tonight, I hope it is the black and gold that is the one lifting the cup!

Lets go Bruins. Bring home the Cup tonight!!!

PSG quietly making some strong moves

2011-06-13T11:31:00.000-04:00

The transfer season barely opened and PSG already, for once, was aggressive and in the right direction. First they went out and took care of their goalkeeping issue but signing Nicolas Douchez, should finally resolve PSG's long term goalkeeping issues. With Edel being let walk and Coupet retiring, Douchez slots in immediately as the #1...granted had Edel stayed, Douchez would still be the undisputed #1! Maybe Wenger can learn from this move and get himself a true #1 keeper...one that could be lining up for your club for the next decade.

Good long term option for PSG's GK situation

Not stopping there, PSG made a surprise move and acquired Gameiro from Lorient. Why a surprise? Gameiro was heavily linked with La Liga for 2 seasons and more recently some EPL clubs. The fact PSG was able to swoop in and grab the French striker bodes well for the Parisian club. According to reports, PSG is not done. They have targeted Matuidi from St Etteinne to be their holding midfielder to replace the retiring Makelele. It appears that PSG will get Matuidi as long as they can agree on the price. If PSG stops there, I would say that is already a good transfer season (assuming as well that they hold on to the likes of Sakho). Douchez solves their keeper issues, Gameiro will be an upgrade for the PSG strike force. I do not see Erding sticking around and with Hourau struggling a bit, adding the Ligue 1 scoring leader will be an upgrade.

PSG have also inquired about Gervinho from Lille, but LOSC has stated they will not sell him within Ligue 1. It is not coincidence that this new aggressive tact from PSG coincides with investment from Qatar. With a new infusion of capital, PSG can be more aggressive in the market. However this is not any different from other eras in the PSG history, the difference is this time it feels as if they are making smart investments.

Let us see how much more PSG have to do when it comes to transfers. I would like to see Matuidi as well as another creative presence, maybe his St Ettienne teammate Payet?

Les Bleus and Blanc going witha 4-4-2

2011-06-09T13:31:00.000-04:00

No surprise, Blanc will align a 4-4-2, after announcing that Hourau would be a starter I could not really see him lining up as the lone striker. After his match against Ukraine, Gameiro was given another chance to start this time with a strike partner - Hourau.

The midfield is no surprise with Diarra (I am a bit surprised to see the Bordeaux man back in the starting XI but he did not play against Ukraine so makes sense), Martin, Valbuena and N'Zogbia. Look for N'Zogbia to hold the wide flank on the left with Valbuena doing the same on the right. Martin, after his 15 minutes of insanity, will be given an expected start and will be expected to pull the strings in the midfield. This will place some pressure on Diarra since he is the single "guard" in front of the back 4. Speaking of the back 4, no surprises, except for Sakho sitting and Abidal in central defense. How ironic when that is the exact role he did not want to play under Domenech. Granted Abidal has slotted there for Barcelona when Pujol was injured. With Rami suspended against Albania when the qualifiers start up again, and Mexes coming off injury, Blanc is clearly getting ready for having to leverage Abidal and his experience in central defense.
I see this game being another trial run for Blanc in preparation for the Albania match in September.

Prediction: France 3 – Poland 1, goals from Hourau, Valbuena and Gameiro

Allez les Bleus

France v Poland: Welcome to some new faces

2011-06-08T20:21:00.000-04:00

No surprise, but Laurent Blanc announced that the players he has not used over the past 2 matches will start for the final friendly before the summer break: Carrasso in goal, N'Zogbia and Valbuena in midfield and Hourau at striker. Question remains who else will start and what formation with Blanc look to leverage?

I have a feeling he will lean on a 4-4-2 or a 4-2-3-1. I am not sure he wants to have Hourau as the lone striker so look for the former to be employed. N'Zogbia wide left with Valbuena on the right, the central midfield I could see Martin coupled with Matuidi, M'Vila or maybe even Cabaye. The front two will be Hourau and Gameiro, with the defense similar to the last match. Get Sakho another run out in the center of defense with Kaboul as his partner. Reveillere and Evra holding the wide roles. Finally Carrasso in goal. A more offensive leaning formation, which will place an increased amount of pressure on whomever is the holding midfielder.

It will be interesting to see how Martin does after his coming out party against Ukraine. Let us hope he can build upon his showing.

Allez les Bleus.

No surprise - third keeper for France v Poland this Thursday

2011-06-07T00:46:00.000-04:00

Le President announced that his keeper from Bordeaux will get the nod this Thursday against Poland. Not a big surprise at all; however, after a poor goal given up against Ukraine, I am beginning to question whether or not the hierarchy in goal is written in stone. Mandanda has had a great season for OM, but I feel as if his latest showing for France puts him a bit on shaky ground. What about the likes of Landreau with LOSC? Or Ruffier at Monaco?

Lloris remains the #1 choice but I would not close the door on looking at picking 2 from the 4 keepers: Mandanda, Carrasso, Ruffier and Landreau for the other spots.

After a lackluster 1st half...a 5 goal second. What a debut for Martin

2011-06-06T18:13:00.001-04:00

With many of these friendlies, the game between France and Ukraine was an exercise in playing pass around and keep away rather than really trying to get a result...that is until the second half. End of the 90+ minutes and Les Bleus leave the Ukraine with a 4-1 victory, scoring 4 straight goals and might have had more.

The Good:

Could we see both these men in Blue on Thursday?

Let us start with the debutant - Marvin Martin - what can you say from a player who entered the game at the 79th minute and had quite the last 10+ minutes of the game. The leading assist man from Ligue 1 showed that he has a good goal scoring touch as well. Hitting a sneaky shot for distance that found is way just inside the inner post and then patiently latched on to a simple square ball from Benzema, and cooly finishing with a strike into the Ukrainian upper 90. Martin also came close to springing Benzema on a wonderfully weighted pass. Before we get ahead of ourselves and start comparing him to Zidane - and the fact Zizou also scored a brace on his debut for France will draw comparisons - we only saw about 12 minutes of Martin. He was also playing against a tired Ukrainian side; however, it is something to build on and it is positive.

A true poacher

A number of France's other new starters did some good things. Cabaye gave Newcastle fans something to look forward to, he had a high motor and made some strong passes. Matuidi demonstrated an ability to play the midfield "destroyer" role, however at times I felt he was pushing a bit. Kaboul had a quiet, yet solid
game, his goal was a great show for the Tottenham man, always good when you can get your central defender to be a threat in the air on set pieces. Finally Gameiro showed me something, an ability to turn what appears to be a lost cause near the 18 yard box and turn it into a goal scoring threat. His goal was a great example of a goal poachers goal - he latched onto a loose ball and, without hesitation, struck a thunderbolt into the Ukrainian goal. He had done the same end of the first half, turning what appeared to be a lost ball and forced a strong save from the Ukrainian keeper.
Ribery is starting to look like his old self. He was devastating on the left flank when he entered the game, every time the ball game to him he had the chance to spring the Ukraine defense. The last France goal was a direct result of Ribery's high pressure causing the Ukrainian turn over. Let us hope that Der Kaiser has been humbled after last year's world cup and plays the way he did rather than spend time his time being a pain in the team's collect side!
4 Goals...can never complain when you can post 4 goals in any game.

The Bad:

The goal against Mandanda was not good....one would think the shot would have been deflected, but on replay it was a simple pile-driver shot that Mandanda misread. Granted the ball did have some nasty movement, but when you are an international keeper you must make that save. Seems like French keepers have problems playing away to the Ukraine...remember Frey's gaff a few years back?
Too Bad Les Bleus did not play like this last Friday! It was bad that France found its scoring touch during a friendly and not when the games counted.

The Ugly:

By no means a perfect match, but cannot really identify any truly ugly showing. I might come up with something over the next few days.

After defeating any team 4-1 you cannot leave unhappy. Blanc will look toward Thursday's game again Poland to close out the season on another upside. I would expect to see the remaining players who have not showcased during the past 2 games - N'Zogbia, Hourau, Valbuena and Carrasso. I have a feeling Blanc will leverage a similar line up as against Ukraine. I do think he will go back to a 4-2-3-1 or even a 4-4-2, with Martin pulling the stings, N'Zogbia on the left and either two strikers - Gameiro and Hourau, or the PSG striker alone up front. Valbuena should see time on the right side in either formation.

Will be interesting to see, I hope for another four goal game!

Allez les Bleus.

Equipe de France - starting XI for Ukraine match, no surprises

2011-06-06T14:33:00.000-04:00

No surprise from Laurent Blanc and his announced starting XI.

Le onze tricolore :
Mandanda – Réveillère, Kaboul, Sakho, Evra – Matuidi, Cabaye, M’Vila – Rémy, Gameiro, Ménez

As mentioned in an earlier post, this 4-3-3 could easily evolve into a 4-3-2-1 with Remy and Menez dropping deeper in the park. I could also see Menez dropping behind Remy and Gameiro, acting like a 9 1/2 with Remy playing wide, Gameiro as the high striker and Menez pulling the strings just in front of the midfield 3 and behind the strikers. With this formation, it will be important to see how the wide fullbacks an support and provide offensive width to the team.

With Matuidi, Cabaye and M'Vila patrolling the midfield, I believe we will see a similar game as to the one France had against Bosnia when they rolled out a 4-3-3. The heavily leaning defensive and holding flavor for France's midfield should snuff out much of Ukraine's creativity and offensive space in the middle of the park. Should be an interesting match with regards to tactics and how the newbies play.

Prediction: France 1 Ukraine 0, goal by Menez.

Allez les Bleus!

Les Bleus head to a week of friendlies

2011-06-06T06:43:00.000-04:00

So Les Bleus will head into the two matches this week limping into the summer break. After a lackluster 1-1 draw away to Belarus, I will admit I was not able to watch due to travel but I will do so and provide a write up later this week, Les Bleus still sit atop Group D. With a 4 point lead over second place Belarus, and 6 points over Bosnia (the nation most likely to push France, they also have a game in hand so really that is a 3 point lead over Bosnia), France look like their path to the Euros remains on strong footing. Granted Les Bleus still face tricky ties home and away to Albania, away to Romania and home to Bosnia.

With two matches against Euro co-hosts Poland and Ukraine, it will be interesting to see how Blanc plays these matches. Based on his comments we should expect some turn over of his roster allowing fringe players to be granted an opportunity to show what they can do on the pitch as well as giving the starters some much needed time off.

What can we expect from the line ups? I full expect to see the likes of Kaboul, Gameiro, Matuidi, Sakho and Cabaye given every opportunity to show to Le President what they are capable of. Players such as Menez, Remy and M'Vila will also be given time, however there roles with Les Bleus I believe is clear to Blanc. Also look for Mandanda and Carrasso to get time in goal.

For today's game versus the Ukraine, look for the following formation:

Mandanda - Réveillère, Kaboul, Sakho, Evra - Cabaye, M'Vila, Matuidi - Rémy, Gameiro, Menez.

An entirely new defense, it will be interesting to see how Kaboul-Sakho works out in central defense, there remains an open competition for who will be the second pairing after Rami-Mexes. Koscielny will also remain in the wings. If Blanc does go with this 4-3-3 it will be interesting to see how the midfield trio of Cabaye-M'Vila-Matuidi perform: you could consider all three as "box to box" midfielders, high work rates, great engines - question becomes which one assumes a more offensive role? Or will Blanc look to his wide players, Remy and Menez, to drop deeper and provide the offensive link between the back and Gameiro? I could see this formation looking a bit like an old Italina "Christmas Tree" or a 4-3-2-1. Gameiro on the last defender with Menez and Remy dropping deeper when need be, the midfield trio destroying any Ukrainian offense. The wide backs will also look to push up the pitch and provide extra width.

It will be interesting to see, if this is the formation that Blanc goes with today, who will play end of week against Poland. I would not be surprised if we saw Blanc going back to a 4-2-3-1 for that match, looking to roll out N'Zogbia on the left, Martin in the middle and Valbuena on the right, give Gamerio another match at the top of the formation, select two of the three defensive midfielders from the Ukraine match (probably Matuidi and M'Vila) and roll out a similar back line.

Speaking of Matuidi, a nice piece of goal scoring from the ASSE midfielder.

The players are on the verge of a much needed break, I hope we get to see the new faces for Les Bleus, two good matches and no injuries!

Allez les Bleus!!!

Les Bleus sticking with old faithful

2011-06-02T17:24:00.000-04:00

Ahead of tomorrows game versus Belarus, it would appear that Laurent Blanc will go with old faithful - the 4-2-3-1. His statements around Cisse shed some insight into his leaning towards using just a single high striker. First the expected starting line up:

Lloris - Sagna, Rami, Sakho, Abidal - A. Diarra, Diaby - Malouda, Nasri, Ribéry - Benzema.

No surprise in goal or at the striker role. What is interesting, and nothing short of amazing is the fact Abidal will be on the pitch. A few months after having surgery he will be taking his post on the left for France. The other surprise is the inclusion of Diaby who missed much of the end of the Arsenal season. With the likes of M'Vila, Matuidi or Cabaye available, it was interesting to see Diaby tapped as a starter. I have never hidden my support for Diaby, but I will admit that he is maddeningly frustrating as a player both due to his constant injury bug as well as his sometimes apparent lack of progress in his game. Like Benzema he seems to have found his stride under Blanc. The other aspect to watch - how will the midfield function with Ribery on the right? The Kaiser has apparently tempered himself when it comes to constantly lobbying to be on the left of the formation. However, based on his past performances, he is clearly better and more dangerous coming off the left wing. With the likes of Menez and Valbuena available, I am a bit surprised that Blanc would force fit Ribery on the right.

Could we see a tactical move in the second half, take off Malouda, slot Ribery back to the left and bring on a fresh right winger - Valbuena or Menez to run at the Belarus defense? Which makes sense, but why not put in a Menez on the right from the get go? Keep Malouda or Ribery on the bench as an option late for the left, gives you more substitution flexibility.

Finally, it will be good to see the PSG center back Sakho get some run.

Blanc might have a last minute twist for us, but the above line up would seem to make sense based on his recent outings.

Allez les Bleus

Shocking! FIFA and Blatter under investigation

2011-05-27T12:09:00.000-04:00

I hope, for once, that justice and rational minds prevail. Sepp Blatter, the "leader" of FIFA, was looking to buy...errrr I mean win a 4th term in office (which he claims would be his last, unless he finds some other source of "revenue"). In his quest to continue his reign, he decided that it would be in the best interest to launch an investigation of his primary rival - Mohamed bin Hammam. Nothing like using your position of authority to squash the competition...wonder if Blatter has taken pages from the Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong Il election playbook. What is dripping with irony is that these charges have now raised the eyebrow towards Blatter's prior indiscretions...and there are many to pick from!

Make sure my "envelope" is at least this thick

So now the entire election will be called into question and most likely delayed. Good. I also hope that the investigations are done properly and that we are finally able to shed some light on the "leadership" of FIFA. Blatter has always had a dark cloud over his head, and for reason. He is a shady character. He has clearly come close to and most likely crossed many ethical lines - his original election was rife with allegations that bribes were offered to secure his passage.

The Swiss has made ridiculous statements such as: "Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball" Uh okay...yet the concept of leveraging technology, like goal line technology, is constantly poopooed by the Swiss. He has also presided over bring the World Cup to Africa - South Africa - that was a great achievement. Seen the World Cup head to Russia, also good, as well as Qatar...uh what? Qatar? Still a questionable move, especially when the Swiss Genius then comes out with the idea of playing the game in the winter since Qatar summers tend to be slightly warm.

So now Blatter finds himself under the scrutiny of his own organization...and let us all hope that they find the truth and hold those responsible accountable. If, as I believe, we discover that Blatter turned a blind eye or had direct involvement with any bribery scandals, then he MUST stand down. And CANNOT be re-elected. It would be an absolute disgrace and will completely discredit FIFA.

Do the right thing FIFA, get to the bottom of this and let us all hope that if the results warrant it, that Blatter does the right thing as well - step down.

Blanc comments on Cisse and Payet - sheds some light into potential formation

2011-05-26T15:39:00.000-04:00

Laurent Blanc made some comments on the likes of Gourcuff, Payet and Landreau. Basically stating that none of these players have been written off for Les Bleus. The most interesting comment came around Cisse:

«On suit également ses performances. Mais il faut un équilibre. On a déjà deux buteurs, dans un système qui n'en utilise qu'un seul. On ne va pas l'appeler juste pour lui faire plaisir. Mais la porte n'est pas fermée.»

"We already have two goal scorers, in a system that only requires one..." I guess that means we should see Les Bleus evolving in a 4-2-3-1!

Blanc announces his list for upcoming internationals - Martin the new face to the mix

2011-05-26T10:03:00.000-04:00

This morning, Laurent Blanc announced his list of players that he will leverage in France's upcoming matches. France will face Belarus in Euro qualifiers and then play 2 friendly matches against Euro 2012 hosts: Poland and Ukraine. It will give Les Bleus an Eastern European test to go into the summer break!

First of all the list:

Gardiens : Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Cédric Carrasso (Bordeaux)
Défenseurs : Eric Abidal (Barcelone/ESP), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal/ANG), Adil Rami (Lille), Mamadou Sakho (Paris-SG), Patrice Evra (Manchester United/ANG), Anthony Réveillère (Lyon), Younes Kaboul (Tottenham/ANG)
Milieux: Alou Diarra (Bordeaux), Blaise Matuidi (Saint-Etienne), Yohan Cabaye (Lille), Yann Mvila (Rennes), Florent Malouda (Chelsea/ANG), Abou Diaby (Arsenal/ANG), Jérémy Menez (AS Rome/ITA), Samir Nasri (Arsenal/ANG), Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich/ALL), Marvin Martin (Sochaux), Charles N'Zogbia (Wigan/ANG), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)
Attaquants : Kevin Gameiro (Lorient), Guillaume Hoarau (Paris-SG), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/ESP), Loïc Rémy (Marseille)

France's next play maker?

The biggest surprises - the play maker from Sochaux Marvin Martin gets his first call up to the senior squad. The leading assist man from Ligue 1 gets a well deserved inclusion. There is no Gourcuff, who is injured, so this might open the door a bit for a player such as Martin to create a bit of a presence as France's #10. Interesting to also see N'Zogbia included in a squad that seems to have a number of options on the left flank: Ribery and Malouda.

As usual Blanc has a deep set of players to lean on for his holding responsibilities: Diarra, Matuidi, MVila, Diaby and Cabaye. He has options on the left, see above, and some decent depth for the right - Menez and Valbuena, even Nasri in certain formations.

What makes me nervous are his options up front. France seem thin when it comes to true world class strikers. Benzema will most likely be the starting option, but I am not convinced that the secondary options can be relied upon. I am not saying there is not some quality there, but just not the level that inspires confidence.

I will be interested to see what formation Blanc looks to lean on, the game in Belarus may look very similar to the one in Stade de France: Belarus defending 10 men behind the ball and looking for a goal on the counter and set pieces. Knowing that, Blanc might opt for a more offensive formation. Maybe a 4-4-2 diamond, play one holding midfielder, two wide flank players and an offensive midfield player sitting right behind the two strikers. It will also be interesting to see who Blanc turns to in central defense, Mexes is out due to knee surgery.

LLoris
Abidal-Rami-Sakho-Sagna
MVila (or Diarra)
Ribery Menez
Nasri
Hourau - Benzema

I can see Blanc leveraging Hourau, looking to get control of the Belarus' 18 yard box and allow him to get crosses from the wide players. Nasri would tuck in behind the strikers, Ribery and Menez will provide the width. Much will be expected of Diarra/M'Vila to do the work cleaning up any loose balls in the middle of the park. Sakho will be expected to find his bearings quickly with the other defenders.

It should be interesting!

Allez les Bleus.

Nasri to the Red Devils...the horror

2011-05-25T10:48:00.000-04:00

A recent transfer rumor is that Sir Alex Ferguson is keeping tabs on Arsenal and French play maker Samir Nasri...ugh the horror. The last thing Arsenal needs is to see one of their bright lights jumping ship and heading north. Wenger is going to need to get his business in order - aka sign Nasri and either sign or jettison Clichy. Add to this the never ending rumors over Cesc and this off season will prove to be an interesting one once again in North London.

My thoughts - sell Cesc now, if Manchester City is truly interested that could start a minor bidding war with Barcelona - sell high. Move Clichy to Italy, I just do not see the French left back's game evolving any more, I think Wenger has maximized that player. Resign Nasri...now. And go spend some money on players. Look for some thoughts on who Wenger should target over the next few weeks.

PSG heading to an interesting off season...typical

2011-05-19T09:38:00.000-04:00

Sigh, PSG had a chance to move into the Champions League by defeating reeling Bordeaux, but instead they dropped all the points falling to Bordeaux 1-0. So with 2 games to go, PSG find themselves 2 points behind 3rd place Lyon. With a game this Saturday against league leader Lille, who subsequently defeated PSG a week ago for the Coupe de France title, the road to the Champions League does not appear to easy for the Parisians. Lyon face Caen and then finish with Monaco, while PSG will have to face St Etienne on the last day. Again, advantage Lyon. This weekend's game will be no cake walk for PSG, Lille will be pushing for at least a draw, which would secure them the double. And finishing with Les Verts is not easy task either. Of course Lyon will be facing two sides in a relegation battle, so no quarter will be given in those matches either.

Mathematically, PSG is still in the running for the bid to the Champions League next season, but the odds are not in their favor. This fact has been the catalyst for some rumblings coming out of the president's office at the Parc de Princes.

"We were not up to the game, and that is a big deception."

The quote from the PSG coach...which was a little tame compared to what the PSG president stated:

«Je suis assez énervé parce que ce soir (Ndlr : mercredi soir) les joueurs ont failli. Ils sont passés complètement à côté de leur match. Je crois qu'ils n'ont pas bien saisi que le Paris Saint-Germain avait un rendez-vous important avec la Ligue des Champions. C'était sans envie, sans impact et j'ai envie de dire presque pas sérieux. Cette place de troisième nous tendait les bras. Seulement il faut entrer sur le terrain avec un autre esprit. Il faut avoir faim, avoir envie, je pense qu'ils n'ont pas pris la mesure de l'événement», déplorait le président parisien, ajoutant un «on va régler ça entre nous» qui laisse augurer d’une sévère soufflante à venir du côté du Camp des Loges

To paraphrase - "We were not ready and we will take care of this in house" aka Heads will roll. Clearly we are in for an interesting off season. PSG, once again, will be entering the transfer season with much work to do, a lot of uncertainty and once again (much like Arsenal) will not be adding to their trophy case. Alas, this is becoming too regular an occurrence.

I would like to think this off season will be different, the PSG spring...but I will not hold my breath. If PSG and their president is serious about getting back to the Champions League they must hold on to their young talent - Sakho, Chantome, Clement and Makonda to name a few. They need to also ensure if the likes of Erding and Hourau exit they have the proper replacements in mind. PSG must acquire a legitimate keeper, sound familiar? And finally, make some bold moves! They must find some difference making players, otherwise they will be destined to chase Lyon, Marseilles and the like.

I fear that we will just see more of the same PSG soap opera this off season.

Essien back with Ghana, good for the game

2011-05-18T16:04:00.000-04:00

Chelsea's hard tackling midfielder, Michael Essien is back in the mix for Ghana. 18 months ago it was feared that his knee injury would force him to retire from the international game, which would have been bad for the game. Essien who burst on the footballing scene when he made his move to Lyon and subsequently Chelsea. Valued for his unstoppable engine, tough tackling and occasional pile-driver goals his missing the World Cup last summer was ashame for Ghana.

The Black Stars built on their success from the Germany World Cup to get to the 1/4 finals in South Africa...and were one missed penalty kick from becoming the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi final. Imagine what Ghana would have looked like had their #8 been on the pitch.

Glad he is back, I have always regretted that Wenger and Arsenal did not grab him when they could. He would have solved many of the Gunner's problems.

The quota issue with the FFF, the underlying story

2011-05-17T10:46:00.000-04:00

It would appear that the quota fiasco has been put behind us but the underlying issue remains an interesting one to debate. What is that issue? The dilemma that nations such as France have when it comes to players who have the opportunity to play for different national squads - whether due to dual nationalities or because of residence rules. During this debate over who said what and when the word quota was mentioned, it made me think about the issue of France developing talent through their youth organizations only to see them commit to a different nation when it comes to the A side. Originally I was adamant that this was bad for Les Bleus and France. How can Les Bleus nurture a player through all the youth teams only to see him commit to a national team for a country he may have never set foot in? According to a report, linked to the entire quota discussion, close to 50% of recent players that have gone through the French development system committed themselves to another national side. That appears like a high number. I am sure that some of those players could help Blanc and the squad.

Players such as Moussa Sow, who is the Ligue 1 leader in goals, would be nice for Blanc to call upon. How about Chamakh for Arsenal? Born in France, playing U19 for France but decided to play for Morocco. Or Taarabt who showcased for Les Bleus at the youth level but also decided to follow the same path as Chamakh, granted Taarabt was born in Morocco and moved to France at a young age, but he was still groomed by the youth system for Les Bleus. Of course there are some players that have gone through the famous Clairefontaine academy who now play for other national sides:

Name	DOB	Club before Academy	Years at Academy	Club after Academy	Current Club	International
Nicolas Anelka	14 March 1979 (age 32)	Trappes FC	1993–1996	Paris Saint-Germain	Chelsea	France
Habib Bamogo	8 May 1982 (age 29)	ASV Châtenay-Malabry	1994–1998	Montpellier	Nice	Burkina Faso
Sébastien Bassong	9 July 1986 (age 24)	FC Saint-Leu	1999–2002	Metz	Tottenham	Cameroon
Habib Bellaïd	26 December 1986 (age 24)	Red Star FC	1999–2002	Strasbourg	Sedan	Algeria
Hatem Ben Arfa	7 March 1987 (age 24)	AC Boulogne Billencourt	1999–2002	Lyon	Newcastle	France
Jimmy Briand	7 August 1985 (age 25)	CSF Brétigny	2000–2001	Rennes	Lyon	France
Abou Diaby	11 May 1986 (age 25)	Red Star FC	1999–2002	Auxerre	Arsenal	France
Issiar Dia	8 June 1987 (age 23)	AC Boulogne Billencourt	1999–2002	Amiens	Fenerbahçe S.K.	Senegal
William Gallas	17 August 1977 (age 33)	AVG Football	1992–1994	Caen	Tottenham	France
Thierry Henry	17 August 1977 (age 33)	ES Viry-Châtillon	1992	Monaco	New York Red Bulls	France
Blaise Matuidi	9 August 1987 (age 23)	CO Vincennois	1999–2002	Créteil	Saint-Étienne	France
Mourad Meghni	16 April 1984 (age 27)		1999–2000	Bologna	Lazio	Algeria
Gabriel Obertan	26 February 1989 (age 22)	Paris Saint-Germain	2004–2005	Bordeaux	Manchester United	France U21
Jérôme Rothen	31 March 1978 (age 33)	Versailles FC	1991–1994	Caen	Hajduk Split	France
Louis Saha	8 August 1978 (age 32)		1991–1994	Metz	Everton	France

What is interesting to me...those players that are showcasing for other national squads, are they really good enough to be key members of the French national set up? The answer is no. They are good players, no doubt, could be useful for Les Bleus. Yet they are not players that I look at and say "wow, they would be the starting for Les Bleus in the place of Insert current player name"

On the contrary, players who could have showcased for another nation, who became key elements for France, opted for France. Vieira, Desailly, Makelele, Trezeguet and Zidane could have all played for another nation but decided to play for France. Will some players opt for another national team that could become an important cog, sure. Hey it would have been nice if Higuain had opted to play for Les Bleus rather than Argentina! I do realize he lived in France a whole 3 months....but he was born in France! France, both the soccer team and the nation itself, have been built on the immigrants and colonies. This diversity brings it strength and a multicultural diversity. From a footballing point of view there is good - players like Vieira and Desailly - and there is reality - players who are developed by France only to play for the likes of Mali, Algeria or Morocco.

At the end I will accept this reality to take advantage of the good: picking from a diverse, large and talented pool of players. It is never pleasant to nurture a player only to have them snub you at the ultimate moment. That happens in international football. The world is flat, nations like France with a strong youth system and a diverse population might "suffer" more because of this, but it will also have a first look at more talent than other nations. Rather than worry about quotas, the FFF should work on how to ensure their prized jewels that might switch nationalities are put on a track where that becomes a non issue.

The year for Lille, enjoy it while you can LOSC

2011-05-15T20:40:00.000-04:00

Lille seems well on its way for the French double, after defeating PSG for the Coupe de France title. They are also 3 points clear from OM, after Marseilles drew this weekend, with a game in hand as well, with 2 days left in the Ligue 1 race. Lille will face Sochaux this week, a make up game from their Coupe de France match this weekend, then face PSG and complete the season with Rennes. While Marseilles have to face Valeciennes and then end with Caen. Clearly Lille have the more difficult clubs to face with PSG and Rennes having legitimate European aspirations. LOSC does have a healthy goal differential, so figure they have an extra point lead versus the defending champion.

LOSC should be lifting the league title in a few weeks. It will be the crowning moment for a club that has been slowly rising the ranks in France. A club that a few seasons ago had to play their Champions League matches at Stade de France as well as in Lens because their stadium was not up to standards! With a new stadium in the works, this should not be an issue. However not sure that heading to Europe on a regular basis will be a problem either.

Off to the sunshine of Spain

I fear that Lille will suffer next season due to their success. They will head to the Champions League with a French double in their trophy case...but how many of the players that helped them win this silverware still be wearing the red of LOSC? Rami, the French central defender and stalwart for Lille, will be in La Liga playing for Valencia. Rami has logged over 120 matches for Lille and is one of Ligue 1's best central defenders. Not an easy player to replace. What about Sow and Gervinho? Both players account for close to 50 goals for LOSC over the past few seasons. Gervinho was rumored to be heading East last transfer season. The Ivorian was a potential transfer target for big name clubs in both Turkey and Greece, now he is rumored to be heading to England. What about Sow who came over last season from Rennes? As the leading goal scorer in Ligue 1, I am sure he will be attracting attention from other clubs - PSG could use another striker, what about Marseilles and Lyon? Alternatively I could see him heading abroad - Juventus and Villareal could be looking for a striker. What about Mavuba, Cabaye and Landreau? None of these French internationals have been linked with any deep transfer talk, but I am sure someone will come sniffing around to see what it might take to get them to move. Finally the jewel for Lille - Hazard.

The Belgian version of Messi is on all the big clubs' wish list: AC Milan, Arsenal, Manchester United, Real Madrid to name a few. LOSC did sign Hazard to an extension, but that is only to increase his value, I doubt that LOSC really believes they will be able to hold on to this prospect. Question becomes, how high will the bidding go and who will land him? When Lille lose some if not all of these players, who will be left next season to compete in Europe? Lille have been able to recruit and build around some core players - Mavuba, Rami to name a few - and add some good Ligue 1 talent - Sow and Landreau being examples. Finally they unearthed some solid youth - Hazard. Yet with success come the sharks that are the big European clubs.

I fear that like sharks in a feeding frenzy, many of Lille's assets will be stripped from their grasp. Granted Lille should find their coffers swelling with cash. Question becomes can they identify and replenish their roster with players capable of competing in the Champions League as well as Ligue 1?

It will be a tough task no doubt. So LOSC fans, enjoy this while you can...

Laurent Blanc resigning? French football spinning into an abyss

2011-05-07T10:22:00.000-04:00

For those of you following the continuing saga over what was said, who know what, who said what and when it was uttered around the "quotas" there is another shoe that has apparently dropped - the resignation of Laurent Blanc. After a week focusing on how this has divided the 98ers - the players from the World Cup champions, it is clear that this has deeply affected the current manager of Les Bleus. With Lilian Thuram being an early vocal critic of the current France manager, there was a subsequent phone conversation between the two former teammates where the issue was broached and apparently Thuram has gained some empathy for his former back line mate.

This morning, however, it appears that this might have become too much for Laurent Blanc and that he will be handing in his resignation letter. Something that the Federation might not accept and a situation that appears to be heading to the world of politics with a potential intervention by Sarkozy. This incident has become very ugly and divisive. As I published earlier, I was hoping the genesis of the article from MediaPart was from a misinterpretation of the quota discussion, and it appears to be an issue more aligned with this, but broached in less than savory method: aka with racial undertones.

So should Blanc leave? He was not at the crux of this ugly incident, but he was there and he is the public head of the federation. There does not seem enough evidence to clearly fault Blanc, but again he is the lightening rod. The row between the 98ers is evident and that will not go away with Blanc simply walking away, nor should the Federation's concern be about keeping peace with the former players. Explanations need to be provided clearly and responsibilities assumed. If that means Blanc is to be dropped, than so be it. I am not convinced we have the full story, until then that evidence emerges it would be sad to see Blanc resign over what is really mounting to a PR campaign between the opposing sides of the 98ers.

Disturbing accusations about FFF quotas.

2011-04-29T13:26:00.001-04:00

A disturbing story was written about in the blog MediaPart, click here to read the summary. What it accuses the FFF of is setting secret quotas based on a player's race, aka get more white players into the French developmental program. Wow. This smacks of Front National and JM Le Pen. If this is true than it is disgraceful and completely unacceptable.

Until proven otherwise, I am siding with Laurent Blanc and the FFF, that these accusations are completely baseless and unfounded. The French national team has been one that has embraced the diversity of its population. The last time I checked some of France's best players have been from a diverse back ground. Zizou, Desailly, Thuram, Tresor, Djorkaef, Vieira, Makelele, Tigana and the list goes on. Look at some of France's U19 Euro champs: Bakumba, Tafer, Griezmann and Kakuta all different ethnic backgrounds. Clearly the French Federation, as does any nation looking to win, will take the best youth available and look to groom them to represent the national team at the highest level.

Now an interesting twist could be, that the directors of the federation might have been discussing the dilemma of selecting youth players that have multiple eligibility. The majority of these situations involve a former French colony in Africa. Recently Blanc has specifically called out the fact Les Bleus have not been able to select players that the FFF has developed. Going back to the 2002 Euros where Kanoute was pre-selected for the French national team for the Euros (he has even had a game for the French B side as well as 16 games for the U21 squad) but instead he decided to commit to Mali. Kanoute was born in France. Today players such as Moussa Sow, Sebastien Bassong and Mourad Meghni have been developed at the youth levels for Les Bleus, only for them to choose another senior national side. Granted, Les Bleus have benefited from their colonial heritage and their diverse population for the French squad: Makelele from Zaire, Desailly from Ghana and Vieira from Senegal to name a few big name players who have worn the blue kit for France rather than from their birth nation. Yet, all these players spent the majority of their youth and lives in France so more reasonable than a player born in France who has been part of the French development system only to switch national team at the penultimate moment.

I hope that the article was penned from a misinterpretation of what the federation was discussing. If the directors are looking to impose some strategy around regulating the amount of players they put into their academies that after years of grooming can simply jump to another national team, then by all means that is a good strategy. I hope that this is the crux of the misunderstanding that led to the article....otherwise...well I rather not think about the alternative.

Zizou's next career

2011-04-25T15:31:00.000-04:00

Great story on Zizou and his active role with Real Madrid, click here to read. Since his infamous head butt in Berlin...I still get a bit depressed whenever I think about that game...Zizou has been very active in the world of football. He was a key figure in Qatar's successful bid to host a world cup. Efforts for which Zidane came under considerable criticism about doing this simply for a financial windfall. Zidane stated he was interested in seeing an Arab nation host the global tournament and even if it were simply for money...what is wrong with that? It is not as if he was supporting Qatar's bid going up against a bid for his homeland France.

He has also played an active role with Real Madrid. And based on what the article outlines has done considerable work behind the scenes. The former player of the year has the Special One's respect, and that goes a long way in the game. Zidane clearly has the respect of the Real Madrid brass as well as players. His son also plays for the youth set up and is already in a tug of war between the Spanish and French national teams (I personally think it would be a tragedy if the former France captain's child plays for anyone other than Les Bleus).

Zizou makes it all right for Real Madrid

Zidane mentions wanting to run a club some day, I would hope that teams in Ligue 1 are paying attention. The French league would be well served trying to attract back into the fold some of France's big name exports. I would love to suggest PSG look to bring Zizou in to run the club, but he is from Marseilles and not sure he would want to take over the Parisian club when his heart is in the Velodrome. So why not Marseilles? OM could do worse than having Zizou play an active role in the club. Marseilles, and this pains me to say, is the only French club with true global potential. Lyon, PSG, Bordeaux, Lille to name a few are all clubs with real aspirations and relative strengths, but Marseilles is the only French club that has the cache. The fact they are the only ones with a Champions League title doesn't hurt either. Adding the likes of Zizou to their front office could propel OM into another orbit. It would also be great for Ligue 1 to have a favorite son back. Add Wenger to PSG and Ligue 1 might start to truly begin to live up to their potential.

I realize these might be pipe dreams, but one can always hope. With the other French favorite son - Platini - running UEFA and potentially FIFA one day, French soccer exports are doing well. But let us try to get some of that talent back into Ligue 1.

Time for Cesc to go...and truly rebuild Arsenal

2011-04-24T20:43:00.000-04:00

Just a matter of time

After another terrible game where Arsenal fell to their boogie man - Bolton - it is time to admit we are going nowhere fast and must change. That change starts with selling Cesc. I realize his statements this week mirror much of what many Arsenal fans think: get some more veteran talent on the squad. Yet as the captain of the team you cannot allow yourself to come out and make such comments, I realize the media can sometimes twist your words and statements. Just do not allow yourself to be in such a position.

Add to this the fact that Cesc did not appear too averse to all the wooing that occurred last summer from Barcelona and you have a volatile situation. Wenger cannot stubbornly rely on youth it just does not work, especially not in a league with the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City, all clubs with deep pockets who are willing to spend on veteran talent. As I stated in a prior post, it is time to clean house, spend some money and bring in a team that will get over the hump.

Cesc needs to be the first to go.

Arsenal - another wasted season

2011-04-20T20:32:00.000-04:00

Sigh, so any glimmer of hope that Arsenal would find a way to truly challenge Manchester United for the Premiership title all but evaporated today after another heart-breaker....once again versus North London rival Tottenham. Oh and did I mention that our other London rival, Chelsea, have now gone ahead of Arsenal in the table to the second spot.

Barclays Premier League : Table
Wednesday, 20 April 2011 21:45 UK

			\| Home					\| Away
	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Man Utd	33	15	1	0	42	9	5	9	3	28	23	38	70
2	Chelsea	33	12	2	2	32	10	7	5	5	29	17	34	64
3	Arsenal	33	10	4	3	31	13	8	6	2	35	21	32	64
4	Man City	32	10	4	2	28	11	6	4	6	22	19	20	56

5	Tottenham	32	8	7	1	25	15	6	5	5	22	24	8	54

6	Liverpool	33	10	4	2	29	12	4	3	10	17	27	7	49
7	Everton	33	7	7	3	28	22	4	7	5	19	19	6	47
8	Bolton	32	9	5	2	31	19	2	5	9	15	24	3	43
9	Newcastle	33	5	7	5	36	23	5	3	8	12	24	1	40
10	Aston Villa	33	7	5	4	23	17	3	5	9	19	37	-12	40
11	West Brom	33	6	6	5	27	29	4	3	9	20	33	-15	39
12	Fulham	32	7	6	3	23	16	1	8	7	13	19	1	38
13	Stoke	32	8	4	4	25	16	3	1	12	14	26	-3	38
14	Sunderland	33	6	5	5	20	19	3	6	8	15	28	-12	38
15	Birmingham	33	6	7	4	18	19	2	7	7	16	27	-12	38
16	Blackburn	33	6	6	4	20	14	3	2	12	20	40	-14	35
17	Wigan	33	4	7	6	18	31	3	6	7	14	22	-21	34

18	Blackpool	33	4	3	9	25	33	5	3	9	22	36	-22	33
19	West Ham	33	5	4	8	23	27	2	7	7	16	31	-19	32
20	Wolverhampton	32	7	3	6	24	25	2	2	12	12	31	-20	32

Sigh.

So what to make of what is clearly another season without silverware? I will not harp on the quadruple talk, as my fellow Gunner and podcaster (it has been a while), Sam pointed out, what was Wenger to say when his club was still in contention in 4 chases? However after a historic crashing out in the Carling Cup (see video to relive that debacle)

an embarrassing showing in the Champions League and a whimper in the FA Cup, Arsenal are clinging to a last gasp effort to somehow convince themselves they can still catch and surpass the Red Devils...what is the first sign of insanity? Doing the same thing and expecting a different result?

So where to start dissecting yet another failure of a season? A couple of thoughts:

Transfer season - I am not saying that Given or Schwarzer would have solved all that ills Arsenal, but it was a clear indication that Wenger was not willing to go the extra mile for the season. Putting your faith in Almunia and a collection of Polish kids did not instill a high level of confidence in me. Add to this that Wenger did not address other areas of need - midfield metal anyone? The likes of Chamakh and Koscielny were nice additions but again still needed to bring in more fresh blood.
Relying on the likes of Diaby, Rosicky, Cesc, Bendtner, Van Persie and the likes. All very talented all injury prone, add to that list Nasri and you have a MASH unit. Again if you are serious about competing for 4 trophies you better have players that can stay on the pitch.
Losing Vermaelen was a major set back, no doubt, but not being able to secure the proper replacement was the kiss of death. I realize that Wenger did explore some options and had to settle for French international Squillaci, who has shown some decent performances but overall too many howlers. Again this goes back to the lack of depth, lose a key player such as the Belgian international and your ability to compete evaporates. Last I checked it appears that Manchester United also suffered some injuries to the likes of Vidic and Ferdinand....just saying.
Being soft...I realize this is a running theme for my Arsenal rants, but it was never more apparent than this season. Up 4-0 against Newcastle, 2-0 versus Tottenham, 3-1 against Tottenham, 1-0 against Liverpool....see a theme? I realize the game versus Liverpool was an anomaly, but still. Oh how about losing at home to WBA and Newcastle? What is maddening in the games where they held a 2 goal or better lead is the fact there was no Vieira or Keown or Parlour or Berghamp players who would will their teams through toughness and desire. Arsenal do not have these players...and need some....now.

So once again we will qualify for the Champions League, have a team that is "talented" and on the verge of winning, head into the off season with hopes of big signings but instead see a bunch of kids Wenger signs with the labels of potential and future stars. Meanwhile clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City will go out and sign big name established players. My advice to Wenger - sell the following players:

Clichy - his stock will not get any higher and I fear has dropped. Move the French back, Serie A has shown interest, move him.
Clean out the midfield - sell Diaby, Rosicky and Cesc....yes Cesc. Get the maximum you can for the Spaniard. His talent is unquestionable, but I am not convinced he is the captain and leader of this squad. While you are at, get rid of Arshavin, if you can.
See if anyone will take Van Persie, again not questioning his ability, just cannot count on him being healthy for an entire season.
Target a keeper, it will be tough since Manchester United are also looking for a long term #1, but Wenger must stop the merry go round that is goalkeeper at Arsenal.
Find your midfield holding player - De Rossi? Schweinsteiger? Diarra from Bordeaux? Do what it takes to get a player that you can rely on to play that box to box role. While you are at it, why not go after another such player - Matuidi or Toulalan? The latter is probably inexpensive and eager for a change of scenery right now.
Lean on Nasri and Wilshere as your midfield anchors, hope that the likes of Ramsey come back to form as well.
Get some depth at central defense - Sakho or Mertesacker would fit the bill.
Find some depth up front - Sow from Lille? How about Remy at Marseille? Niang at Fenerbahce? I am not expecting any of these options to be the next Titi Henry, but additional depth at striker.
Make a bold move, aka don't get outbid - and get a player such as Hazard or Muller.

I realize many of these are pipe dreams and Arsenal will be cautious in their approach and once again feed us the story of being fiscally responsible and counting on the players they have. And once again the only silverware we have much hope of winning is the Emirates Cup...One day we will once again add something to our trophy case, meanwhile I will just count the days until the youngsters become adults.

Copa America....and Spain.

2011-04-07T19:00:00.000-04:00

Copa America has always struggled to gain the prestige of the European Cup. Even with the likes of Brazil and Argentina in the competition it never carries the heft of the Euros, and that is really just because of numbers. The Euros,like the World Cup, has a 2 year qualifying campaign and then a very entertaining and competitive tournament every 4 years. In the past many have called the Euros - "the World Cup without Argentina and Brazil." Now with the rise of African and Asian football, as well as other nations in the Americas that statement does not hold the same weight. At the crux is a simple math equation - UEFA has 53 nations, CONMEBOL has 10...

Future Copa America champs? Well at least they had colonies there

UEFA needs to have a qualifying campaign to get to the 16 nations that will participate, although soon those qualifiers will be almost moot as the tournament expands to 24 teams not a fan of that. For Copa America, CONMEBOL has always invited Mexico and then another nation to the tournament. Most of the time that nation is from Central or North America, however Japan has also participated...um yeah...Japan. Aren't they in Asia? This is the case Japan had to withdraw due to the earthquake. So who has received the fill in invite? Spain. Um what?

So technically the defending World and European champs could also be the Copa America champs...really? As Sid Lowe stated in his article in Sports Illustrated...ABSURD! It makes no sense. Cope America is for...the AMERICAS! The fact that Japan has been a regular participant is already idiotic.

Here is how Copa America can improve, include the nations from CONCACAF. Wow no brainer there! That would add another 40 nations, granted some of those are minnows...okay many of them are minnows. So how about this formula - the top 8 teams from the combined regions go to Copa America, the other 4 slots are in qualification - maybe two of those teams are already there and the other teams have to qualify in a traditional method. How would this look, based on recent FIFA rankings?

Automatic qualifiers:

Brazil
Argentina
Uruguay
Chile
USA
Paraguay
Mexico
Colombia

Hondorus and Ecuador would qualify for the play in for the final 2 spots, their opponents would come from the rest of the nations. Therefore the likes of Bolivia, Peru and Venezuela would have to qualify against the other nations rather than simply walk into the Copa America.

This would make it a true Cup for the Americas. It would afford the smaller nations a chance to play qualifiers and potentially get into the competition. Other nations such as Mexico and USA would know that they would have a regular tournament every 4 years that will give them a real test, unlike the Gold Cup. Finally it might start putting Copa America on par with the Euros. Of course the timing would have to be standardized!

But Spain? Really...

Mexes injury - set back for Les Bleus

2011-04-06T14:27:00.000-04:00

Such is life in professional sports...well all sports for that matter. Injuries. There is never a good time for an injury. The latest one suffered for Les Bleus is the torn ACL from France's sweeper - Mexes. He will miss the remainder of the AS Roma season, which means he could have also played his last game for the Rome squad (he is out of a contract and rumored to be heading to England or Milan). Mexes will also miss the upcoming matches for France. Will this be detrimental to Les Bleus? The one match of significance will be the visit to Belarus on June 3rd, otherwise he will miss 2 friendlies. Blanc and Les Bleus should be able to navigate these upcoming games without Mexes, but it is a set back. Why? It has been clear that Blanc is leaning on and building his squad around Lloris - Mexes - Rami. While this trio has looked very solid the past few games, their time together is still under 1 year. With the Euros coming up next year every game and every opportunity for this trio to work together is crucial to the long term success of Les Bleus.

In the near term, Blanc will need to figure out who to pair with Rami as central defender, both options are talented...but young: Sakho and Koscielny. Based on what Blanc did earlier I would see Sakho as the first option. Let us hope for a rapid recovery for Mexes, in the mean time Blanc will need to figure out who is the obvious second lieutenant at central back.