DISGRACEFUL - France v Mexico - the better team won

What can you say...France looked completely flat, had no heart, no desire and no idea what they were doing on the pitch. From the start it was clear that Mexico came to play and knew what they had to do to get the result. This result encapsulates what has proven to be a wasted 2+ years with this team and manager.

The Good:

• Only one more game with Dumbenech at the helm. The friendly that will be played on Tuesday between the host and France will be the final game of Domenech's tenure and based on what I am seeing today I would not be surprised if the hosts got a victory. Laurent Blanc you have a monumental task ahead of you, but there is only one way and that is up!
• Mexico. Kudos to El Tri, they came out firing on all cylinders took it to the French defense and were not
  
  afraid to take their chances when offered to them. Unlike their first game when they escaped the tie fortunate to have not lost to South Africa they were clearly the better team this match and earned their rightful 3 points. Dos Santos was completely unstoppable, he was eating Gallas' lunch and dinner at will. Salcido was making dangerous runs from his fullback spot and kept catching France out of position - forcing Sagna to make emergency covering runs.   

The Bad:

• Complete lack of game by France. There was nothing on the pitch today. Ribery as the "creative" player nothing, Anelka as the lone striker nothing, Govou on the right less than nothing, Gallas terrible, Sagna looked out of sorts....France played incredibly poorly. There was clearly no strategy or system of game that the French players were aware of or were attempting to execute on.
• We know there is no leadership on the side line, there was clearly none on the pitch. Domenech looked like a defeated man from the start. No energy. No passion. He just stood there like a befuddled statue watching after France went down by a goal. And he leaves a sub on the bench! Hey dummy you are down 2-0 just getting a goal back could be huge but instead you leave - Henry and Cisse on the bench - TAKE OUT TOULALAN or a DEFENDER!!! Again I really should not blame Domenech anymore he cannot help himself and his ineptitude - Escalettes this is all on you!
• No pride from the French players. None of the players appeared to care that they were completely dominated by Mexico and that they will be on a plane back to France in less than a week. Back to the leadership issue, this is what happens when you have a team run by a complete idiotic moron. 4 years ago you had players such as Thuram, Vieira, Makelele and Zidane who could at least lead from the pitch. This time there is neither.

The Ugly:

• The ugly ugly part of all this is the wasted 2+ years France has had to suffer with Domenech at the helm. It is borderline criminal what the FFF and Escalettes have forced France to suffer by sticking with Inspector Clouseau. Let's face it, had France not shocked the footballing world 4 years ago Domenech's job was already on the line! After 2008 and a disastrous Euro he should have been sacked immediately upon leaving the pitch against Italy, go propose to your girlfriend....you're fired. It is not as if France did not have some options to be the national team manager. So what we have had to suffer was a wasted 2+ years. Players such as Vieira, Henry, Trezeguet and Coupet to name a few have been mishandled and will most likely have ended their career for France under a dark cloud - created by Domenech. It is also disgraceful how poorly the next generation has been handled - Mexes, Benzema, Nasri, Menez, Ben Arfa to name a few - have been constantly shuttled into the squad and then out without any real reason. Malouda was banished for a while only to be brought back as a starter. The fact that Dumbenech asked Makelele to come back for the World Cup is SHOCKING. With the likes of Toulalan, LDiarra, ADiarra, Diaby, Flamini, Mavuba just to name a few it is not as if France had a shortage of players at the holding spot. Just inexplicable. Add to this the inexcusable selecting of players such as Govou and Boumsong and it is baffling how Domenech has lasted this long. He has shown no ability to manage his team from a player perspective, on the field tactics, long term strategy or basic PR. Clearly his players have no respect for him and are not buying what he his selling. At least the Argentine players want to try and give efforts for Maradona! As my friend Sam stated, Domenech has been TRYING TO GET FIRED yet no one upstairs realized this. Alas my fellow supporters of Les Bleus, we have had to suffer with this idiot at the helm of our team, we cannot blame him too much since he cannot get out of his own way...we need to blame Escalettes for sticking by him for this long. Probably the only man on the planet who wanted to keep Inspector Clouseau this long.

DUMB AND DUMBER

So I sit here and turn my eyes and thoughts to Wednesday when Laurent Blanc will start his tenure as manager of Les Bleus. He has a mountain of task ahead of him, but the cupboard is clearly not bare, by any stretch of the imagination. Let us face it, there is only one way to go, that is up.  The Euro qualifiers will be difficult, they always are, but France have a manageable group.

We have wasted over 2 years with this bumbling idiot running the team. It is a shame. It is painful. But things can only go up from here. Sometimes ineptitude gets rewarded this is a perfect case of that happening. I will not be surprised if South Africa beat Les Bleus on Tuesday and that France will challenge for the worst team in this tournament. It seems clear that being a supporter of Les Bleus the past few seasons is a combination of incredible highs - 1998 victory, 2006 finals and incredible lows - 2002 World Cup exit and the current iteration of the team. I guess we are due for a better outcome next time....one can hope.