France qualify!!!!! for the second place play offs.....

Well what we all have accepted is now official - Les Bleus have qualified for the second place play off for the World Cup, with a rather easy 5-0 victory over the 185th ranked team according to FIFA. Sigh. What could have, should have, might have been...so let us look at the last match from Les Bleus:

The Good:

• The win - ok the result should never have been in question, but the fact that Les Bleus have not been shining during these qualifiers - only getting a simple 1-0 win away to the Faroe's - and the fact the Faroe Islands just secured their first win of the campaign over Lithuania 2-1. There was a undertone of nervousness heading into the game, even some of the French players were questioning if they could some how find a victory having to play on the smaller pitch at Guingamp. So France secured the essential, getting the 3 points, scoring goals, and assuring themselves that the game against Austria is a friendly...albeit an important one with the 2nd place playoffs looming.
• Titi Henry once again demonstrated that he will lead this side. His work rate in the second half was outstanding, he was basically playing the role of the #10 for Les Bleus. He was not afraid to use his pace to take on defenders but was also clearly seeking his teammates out with a number of clinical passes. His free kick at the end of the first half should have resulted in a goal from Gallas, who tried to make his attempt too perfect only to see his header skim off the cross bar. He did find Gallas again later for the third goal. In the second half, the Barcelona man was at the center of most of the offensive action. While he still attacked mostly from his preferred left side, he drifted to the middle truly looking like a #10.
• Scoring a brace means that you did something well...Gignac clearly likes playing this nation, since he opened his account with Les Bleus when France first met the Faroe Islands in August. The first goal today was a true predator's goal, getting a nice square pass from Anelka, he pivoted and fired a shot that caught the Mikkelsen wrong footed. The second goal was a pure individual effort, after a long distribution from Mandanda, Gignac took on, what appeared to be, the entire defensive back line, raced to the 18 yard box and hit an unstoppable right footed shot that nestled right inside the far post. He had a few opportunities to get his hat trick only to have the Faroe keeper make some solid saves. Has the Toulouse man solidified his place in the hierarchy? I think that to Domenech he has...meaning Benzema is condemned to being a super sub. Does he deserve this? To me Gignac is a solid stiker but I am not sure he has the ability of a Benzema. Gignac has a deadly right foot...but not sure he trusts his left foot or has enough of an aerial game. I read a statistic that all but one of his league leading goals he scored last season for Toulouse was with his right foot! I do like him playing for Les Bleus, but I have to see him doing this against more formidable opposition. But for this match...very good.
• Speaking of Gignac and Benzema, the young Real Madrid striker responded well to the clouds that were gathering in the press between himself and Domenech. Once again coming in late in the match, to replace the above mentioned Gignac, Benzema played with pace and power that we have come to expect from him when he plays for club. In the last quarter hour he played he had an assist and a goal. However more than these statistics, Benzema was very active on the offensive end, clearly wanting to show his desire and ability. Maybe wanting to give Domenech something to think about!
  
  
  
  

• One Faroe player to point out was Mikkelsen, the keeper. Yes he gave up 5 goals, but made a number of outstanding saves to keep the score line where it was. He made emergency saves on Gignac on a first half break away, against Anelka one on one in the second half, on a point blank effort from Henry in the second half, just to name a few. Without his heroics the game might have ended 7-0 or worse.
• It was good to see Malouda and Sissoko getting time on the pitch. The former used to play for En Avant Guingamp, so being able to play for Les Bleus on his old pitch was a well deserved honor. The latter made his first appearance for the A side. A much deserved honor. He did not have much to do, so was not able to show of his skill set, but I hope this match is the first of many for him under the Blue kit.
  

The Bad:

• From France's point of view nothing bad...other than this offensive punch should have been seen earlier in the World Cup qualifiers!

The Ugly:

• Even when Les Bleus win by 5 goals...I must point out Domenech's lack of managerial ability. What do I mean by this? I realize without a true #10 (no Gourcuff, no Nasri, no Ribery) that the team went back to a 4-4-2 formation...but why have TWO holding midfielders in that formation? I realize that Toulalan played a solid game, but neither he nor Lass were really needed to "stem the tide" of Faroe attacks! What was telling was watching Gallas dribble at the Faroe defense, in their own 1/3 of the field on more than one occasion...if one of you center backs is pretending to be Messi, then do you need 2 holding midfielders??? France were basically playing a 4-3-3 at the end of the match, with Henry-Benzema-Anelka up front, being supported by Gouvou-Diarra-Sissoko, clearly the Faroe Islands had no answers to that formation. One might argue that it was the 70 minutes of defending they were forced to do that allowed this formation to have success, to which I would say...BS....if France had employed this formation it might have been 5-0 at half time...there is no way this team could have defended against those three French strikers up front. However, once again Domenech demonstrates a complete lack of vision. I am sure some might say - they did win 5-0 so he was doing something right. But to me this is a reflection of what is wrong with the French manager, and inflexibility and unwillingness to change his style even though the players at his disposal may warrant such a change.

Anyways, Les Bleus head to the playoffs, and based on what could happen, it would appear they will face Bosnia, Ukraine, Slovenia, or Ireland (as of right now and having not looked at the latest FIFA rankings) Of which either Ireland or Ukraine would be the most difficult, heading to play in those nations would not be a cup of tea. An expected win by Les Bleus, now need to get ready for the play offs.