France 1 - Romania 1...same old story

I have no idea where to start....in a game that Les Bleus had to win, in a game that was crucial in order to make this weeks game in Serbia mean something, Domenech's band once again teased with world class talent and then disappointed with the tin man's heart. France had the better run of play and scoring chances, really no surprise there, but once again failed where failure was not an option and left 2 crucial points on the pitch.

Les Bleus started out the match and played the bulk of the first half with their hair on fire. They demonstrated a collective will to win the game that we would want to see every match from this side. The second half proved a tale of two cities, while they came out and scored rapidly after the restart, they seemed to play as if the hard work was all done after being up 1-0 only to see a terrible own goal. Les Bleus then just sat back and accepted their fate...ugh. Let us dissect the match:

The Good:

• I have to start with the Romania keeper, Coman he made big save after big save. Did the necessary on crosses. His save on Henry in the first 10 minutes set the tone for the match, while the shot was not a bullet, it was very well placed and came through a screen of players. Coman could have just as easily reacted a split second later allowing the ball to find the back of the net. He also made a finger tip save on an Henry cross which may have otherwise found its way to an onrushing Anelka, another save on an Henry header from a free kick, a solid save on Gignac's side volley, an aggressive on-rushing save into the feet of Ribery in the second half, as well as on numerous other occasions he saved his side. In hockey terms, he would be the #1 star of the game.
• Bakary Sagna played a solid match in his right side channel. He filled the right side flank with solid overlapping runs and defended very well. He even contributed with a bursting run into the box only to smash his shot wide, at the tail end of the first half. His energy and pace rendered, gave life to the right side of the French attack. He still needs to work on his understanding with Anelka or which ever right sided offensive player Domenech decides on. Sagna did have a moment of mis-communication, on a high ball, with Gallas late in the second half, somewhat surprising since they are teammates at Arsenal.
• The French captain, Titi Henry was also good, almost the Titi of old. He showed the pace and offensive threat that made him the world class striker we have enjoyed seeing playing at Arsenal and Barca. Playing in his preferred left channel he was dangerous all night taking on defenders, was not afraid to take the play to the Romanians and was even dangerous on two occasions with his aerial game (granted the second occasion where he scored a great goal from a Sagna cross was not allowed because Henry decided to walk back to an on side position...and was too slow in doing so....frustrating). Titi was unfortunate to not bag the brace. Clearly he still has some mazy runs left in his 32 year old legs.
• Lass Diarra, as he is known at Real, had a solid game. He was solid in defending, as we have come to expect, but what made him stand out was his nose for the offense. He attempted an ambitious long distance shot in the beginning of the match and had some fantastic passes all through out. He wears the #10 for Real, maybe that has given him a little extra in his game to play like a #10.
• The French fans in Stade de France. Much has been written and commented that the fans tend to sour on Les Bleus and do not encourage their team enough. While there is merit to this accusation, the fans were clearly behind their team this match, understanding the importance of the 3 points. Right from the beginning, they sang the anthem with much heart and feeling, and the chant "Allez les Bleus" constantly rang out during the match. Hats off to the fans, they did their part. A nice reminder of how the atmosphere can be -

The Bad:

• This might be a little harsh, but I need to call out Evra. Ok he was not entirely bad. Actually very solid offensively, making deep runs on the left side, taking on defenders, and offering a series of nice crosses into the box. Granted some of the crosses ended up falling harmlessly onto Romania defender's feet, but blame that more on the fact the French were not getting to threatening positions fast enough on the offensive end. So I cannot say he was completely in the bad category. Where I do have call out the Manchester United defender is in the fact numerous counters came from his side of the pitch. I realize he pushes high, but at times I felt he was not recovering fast enough therefore allowing his marker to latch on to through balls and really create serious threats to the French goal. In particular the first half, where at least 3 serious counter attacks came from his channel. Overall I would say his performance was superb on the offensive side, a bit lacking on defense.
• Again this too might be a little harsh, but I need to call out Toulalan as well. He has always given 110% for the team, making the hard tackles, doing lots of the dirty work in the midfield, and he gave this type of performance again this go around. But I will be critical since I felt it was not at the level we expect from the Lyon player. He appeared late on challenges, appeared to be chasing the play too much. He has some moments of brilliance with his passing, but just did not seem at his usual level.
• Gourcuff also did not seem to be at his top level. We have come to expect a lot from the young midfielder for both club and country. I will caution anyone who has called him the next "Zidane"to be very careful in that comparison. Zidane is arguably one of the top 5 players of all time, Gourcuff has a world of talent in his legs, but those are lofty comparisons. To me it appeared that some of that pressure and expectations were too much for the play maker. He had some solid run of play and worked well with his strikers. However he missed kicked a few solid opportunities in the first half. One was a sitter that he inexplicably tried to hit it with the outside of his foot and rather than simply putting it on goal it ballooned wide. He did strike a nice free kick onto the on rushing Henry, forcing yet another save from Coman. However I felt his corner kicks were always the same, and always fell harmlessly away. Maybe one should change their approach to set pieces when the 3rd fails to render the proper result. I think being taken out end of the game is what indicated to me that he was not at his usual best. I have no fear that Gourcuff will continue to grow and has a very bright future, but tonight was not one of those matches for him.

The Ugly:

• The French Keepers - Lloris and Mandanda - ok the OM man did not play in this match so why am I being critical of him? Maybe it is a cumulative effect of the matches between both keepers. Now what is ugly is not the lack of talent or ability at the keeper position for France, but the clear fact that neither player has successfully taken the #1 position. Both keepers have the talent and ability to claim to be the rightful owners of France's #1 strip, but neither have shown the mental toughness or leadership needed to earn this position. Why this has become ugly, is that France need to have this position solidified, and more importantly Les Bleus have been "messing" up the keeper position since the World Cup in Germany, and what do I mean by this? Domenech has, in my opinion, handled the keeper spot horribly during his tenure, not entirely surprising because he has demonstrated a lack of management with other positions as well. So here is how I see the errors - Coupet was clearly the #1 in Germany, he was having a world class year for Lyon and everyone, well almost everyone, felt he would be in goal for France. Instead, Domenech relied on a well-past-his-prime keeper in Barthez. This created strife during the preparation of the world cup. I would even argue that the playing of Barthez cost France the title. This snowballed - France should have had Coupet, Frey, and Landreau in Germany, giving the second two a chance to vie for the #1 job. During Euro qualifiers, it appeared as if Landreau was the #2 getting starts in a few games. Frey gets a start in the last match, gives up a poor goal but still holds his spot for the Euros, however Landreau gets canned in favor of Mandanda....which made very little sense. So now we all expect Frey to be the #1 after the Euros, but instead he gets the boot and we bring on two talented, but very green keepers - Lloris and Mandanda...what???? Had Domenech utilized some common sense, Coupet would have backstopped France during the last two major tournaments with Frey and Landreau deciding who was the next in line. Frey and Landreau would be your top 2 keepers now and you would be grooming Lloris and Mandanda, both of whom are still very young. Let us not forget that Lloris and Mandanda have high level Ligue 1 experience of only a few seasons. Frey should be the #1!!! He has bags of talent in his gloves, loads of experience back stopping Fiorentina (let us not over look that he captains the Serie A side), and is better prepared to shoulder the pressure that comes with these types of matches. Lloris and Mandanda will have their day, no doubt, but time is not on France's side.

• Escude, wow that was not pretty. I cannot fault him entirely for the OG, watching that play again, it was clear that Lloris needed to take ownership of the ball. The cross was slicing away from Escude and if it gets by him Lloris would be facing an impossible shot to save. The keeper had to come off his line and attack that ball. But back to the Sevilla central defender. Why his performance was ugly was the fact he appeared nervous, unsure of himself and those traits are deadly when it comes to a defender, let a lone a central defender. He was completely turned around end of the first half on a play that should have resulted in a Romanian goal. Marica completely had Escude tripping over his own feet and almost forced Escude to pull him down in the box. Terrible from an international defender,when you also know you have cover from Gallas behind you! He looked tentative in the air, heading back a ball in the first half that almost led to a Romanian break...again another French player who cannot translate his club success into performance for country. I question why he was chosen over his teammate Squillaci who had some good performances recently with Les Bleus, and again why Mexes is not there...could have done any worse?
• Ok I will save the ugliest for last...Domenech. This should come as no surprise to anyone who reads the Frog, but the French manager once again gave an ugly demonstration on many fronts. First, in not bringing a natural right winger, Domenech was forced to have essentially a 4-2-1-3 on the pitch to start. With Anelka on the right wing, Henry on the left and Gignac at the point you essentially had 3 natural strikers on the pitch. Not necessarily a bad thing, but when you are asking your team to have 3 offensive midfielders your formation means those two outside wingers need to come back deeper for the ball and play more defense than a traditional striker is accustom or desires to do. So what happens? At times there was a HUGE gap in the middle of the park. Diarra and Toulalan cannot be expected to cover that much territory, when the wingers do not fall back you leave a lot of room for opposing player to carry the play.It becomes even more dangerous when your wide fullbacks are pushing up, if they get caught up field you are in a pure man to man marking situation in the back and one of your central defenders/midfielders will have to drift to those wings, thereby leaving your center vulnerable as well. In addition, Gourcuff's tendency is to drift high to fill the gap behind the stiker opening up even more space behind the offense where the opponent can counter. Second, I really question his constant resilience to take out a defensive midfielder at the end of the game when you know you must win and your opponent is just packing in the defense. Why not take out Toulalan with 15 minutes to go? He has run hard and you need another goal...throw on a Remy who will give you a natural outside winger. Instead Domenech goes for 1 for 1 subs, taking out a striker for a striker, or an offensive player for another. How is that for creativity! Finally I just question his ability to manage and motivate, his teams have a tendency to look flat, show little creativity and lack imagination. Maybe he has a master plan, but he has had plenty of time to demonstrate it and no one has really seen it. Many, myself included, question Jacquet back in the day when he stubbornly stuck to his ideas and principles, jettisoning players like Cantona and Ginola to instead build from the back to the front. Aime knew what system he wanted to deploy and therefore ensured he has the players that would fit that system. He recognized that he has a world class player in Zizou and built a team behind him that would allow him to free lance and leverage his genius for the team. Granted Domenech does not have such a player, but the cupboard is far from empty. France is no longer the footballing nation it was up to the early 80s, a nation with some decent talent, from time to time world class talent (Kopa, Fontaine, etc). France has a world class developmental system, world class talent at the youth level, world class players at the senior level playing in the world's biggest leagues, yet a manager that appears to have neither the ability nor the capacity to put in place a system that will allow these talented players to succeed. I too pray, Raymond, that you figure this out sooner rather than later....alas I fear that time is no longer on our side.

Well at least France did not lose...how is that for being positive! France appears destined to fight to maintain its place in the second place play offs (Scotland is currently on 10 pts with 1 game to go, meaning they can only hope to have 13 total points and cannot be a higher ranked 2nd place team than France who is on 14 points with 3 games to go). Les Bleus face a tough match against Serbia in Belgrade this Wednesday, a win is crucial to maintain any hope of finishing first, but more realistic France need at least a draw to stay ahead of Austria for the second place in the group. Short of a monumental melt down, France should be secure in second place. France could lose this Wednesday, then face Faroe Islands in France where they should....uhhhmmmmm....get the full 3 points and at worst head into the final game against Austria, at Stade de France, 1 point ahead of Austria (assuming Austria wins their two next matches against Romania and Lithuania).

So the math is in France's favor...barely...let us not forget it was in France's favor when they were qualifying for World Cup 1990 as well....and we all know how that turned out. So Les Bleus hold on to their chances. Up to them to seize the moment....albeit a fleeting moment.