Euro qualifying groups - Les Bleus facing Eastern Bloc

So the qualifying groups for the Euro in Ukraine/Poland have been announced and Les Bleus will face a very Eastern Bloc flavor of a group -

Groupe D :
Luxembourg
Albanie
Biélorussie
Bosnie
Roumanie
France

Clearly the teams to fear are Bosnia and Romania. France faced the Romanians during the last World Cup qualifying campaign earning two draws...the away match to Romania saw France go down 2-0 very early on only to see Gourcuff and Ribery rally the team back to a draw.



The return leg was marked by a horrible own goal from Escude, and an overall poor match by the Sevilla man to allow a clearly dominated Romania escape Paris with a point. Romania will pose a challenge but Les Bleus should fare better this time around, plus Romania will most likely be without their best player - Mutu - who once again faces a length suspension due to illegal substance abuse. Bosnia will also pose a threat. They missed out on the World Cup, although barely, losing to favorite Portugal in the play off round. Bosnia had hit a few posts late in their first match away to Portugal which could have seen a very different final result. Bosnia will be a dangerous team - with the likes of Dzeko, Pjanic and Misimovic. France have historically struggled with Eastern Bloc teams so this will be a test for Les Bleus.

The other nations should not challenge but will also not be push overs - see Luxembourg's 2-1 victory versus World Cup bound Switzerland this year (that match was in Zurich as well)!

France are the favorites to emerge from this group, however what will be crucial is how quickly the new France manager (rumored to be Laurent Blanc) will be to integrate a new generation of players. With the likes of Henry, Anelka and Gallas to name a few that are potential retirees from the national side, the new manager will have to determine who will take leadership of the squad as well as the formation and tactics for the squad.

The new manager will not have the luxury of time, the difficult task of international football is that there is no rebuilding for nations such as France. Les Bleus have the talent, hopefully the new manager will have the ability to create the proper chemistry and tactics quickly.