GARDIENS : Carrasso (Bordeaux), Lloris (Lyon), Mandanda (Marseille)
DÉFENSEURS : Abidal (FC Barcelone), Escudé (FC Séville), Evra (Manchester United), Fanni (Rennes), Gallas (Arsenal), Sagna (Arsenal), Squillaci (FC Séville)
MILIEUX : A. Diarra (Bordeaux), L. Diarra (Real Madrid), Gourcuff (Bordeaux), Malouda (Chelsea), Sissoko (Toulouse), Toulalan (Lyon)
ATTAQUANTS : Anelka (Chelsea), Benzema (Real Madrid), Gignac (Toulouse), Henry (FC Barcelone), Rémy (Nice), Ribéry (Bayern Munich)
An interesting collection. So let us get into the roster
The Good:
- Consistency, Domenech seems to have a rhythm to who he is selecting. His strike core is built
around Henry, Benzema, Anelka with flyers on Gignac, Remy. Ribery to me is a midfielder in the French system. The keepers have been consistent, granted I still think the French keeper is playing in Florence - Frey. Midfield will by built around Toulalan and Lass as the holding midfielders with Gourcuff pulling the offensive strings. The one area with lack of consistency is the central defensive pairing...but more on that later. - Staying with Malouda is the right move. After being sent to international siberia, the Chelsea winger has found his feet again for both club and country - notice he received and extension at Chelsea and has been called for the past few
games for Les Bleus. He offers Domenech a true left footed winger and coupled with Gourcuff and Ribery could be a solid line of three offensive midfielders sitting behind the strikers. He was the quiet man for Les Bleus in the World Cup 2006, and his veteran experience is key. Something else that is a positive is his experience playing on the same side as Abidal during their times at Lyon. Both men have an understanding that cannot simply be developed over a few weeks at Clairefontaine. - NO BOUMSONG!!! Whoohoooo. Ok....granted...I know that if any of the French players are injured, the first player called up will be Boumsong, and then he will get a start. Ugh. But for now I am going to enjoy the fact that Domenech left his binky at home.
- Um again, what is up with no Mexes? Not sure what his role is within the team, granted Squillaci had good showings the last few matches, but Mexes should have been included in the team.
Domenech needs to decide what his central defensive pairing is and STICK with it! The clock is ticking. Teams that have success start with strength down the spine and that really starts at the back with the keeper and the central defensive pairing. France won in 1998 because Blanc and Desailly were rock solid, this carried over to Euro 2000. France's run in 2006 was in large part because of Zizou, but also because of Thuram/Gallas in the back. Since Thuram has retired, France does not have a clear defender to shoulder Gallas. Mexes, on paper, is the most talented player and the one that should find himself there. Squiallaci and Escude are both solid central defenders, but sure they give what a Mexes can bring to the table. Then again maybe sticking with Gallas is where the problem also stems from....what about Mexes - Squiallaci? Mexes is more in the mold of Desailly, roaming central back, takes chances, and is a bull. Squillaci is more like Blanc. Smooth, solid, and knows how to position himself...hmmmmm....food for thought. - No Clichy, well not really bad, just an indication of the depth and competition at the position - Abidal and Evra - hard to argue that Clichy is not the 3rd option. Too bad France could not leverage some of that depth and trade with another country for a new central defender or new manager.
- The situation with Pat Vieira, why is this "ugly" mainly because I fear that we have a situation similar to Desailly, Thuram, Sagnol, Petit....and the list is long, what list is that? French internationals that have overstayed their usefulness in the international team. All these players were crucial during different times of France's successful tournaments. The World Cup will be held just under a year from today, that means another 10 months of
wear and tear on Pat who recently has shown much difficult in staying healthy for any significant stretch of time. Les Bleus need to get their core established early this international season, first they need to do so to have the best chance to qualify, and second they need to be ready, if they do qualify, to have a core of players who know they are heading to South Africa. I am not convinced hoping that Vieira somehow discovers a rebirth is a good strategy. Domenech needs to determine if he has a player that can act as a Vieira, a box to box midfielder that can shoulder a more traditionaly holding/defensive midfielder. Could Sissoko be the answer? Maybe, but he is only a tender 19 years old, a lot to ask of a young player.
Then again if he can replicated these types of runs, get him in the line up now!!
2 comments:
What about Diaby is he also injured?
Anyways it shouldn't matter what players les bleus use they still should get 3 points from the Faroe islands.
i predict 3-0 Gignac,Henry,Benzema
You know that is a good question about Diaby. I would just assume he is hurt, I have not seen him in any of the Arsenal games during the pre-season. He is incredibly frustrating, so much talent and potential but simply cannot stay fit.
Agree, the Faroe Islands should be an easy 3 points...if it is not then we have much bigger problems. But Domenech needs to use this time to think about what will be HUGE tests versus Romania and Serbia, that is where this campaign will be decided.
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