Welcome to the "Frog," my little piece of cyberspace to talk about my passion - le foot (or soccer for my North American friends) especially anything around French football. Of course I will have some guest contributors that might want to discuss other aspects of footy!
I support Les Bleus, Arsenal and PSG but really just love watching, analyzing and following the beautiful game.
"You have to trust your teammates, always. If not we are lost."
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Malouda to wear the arm band for Les Bleus? Would be a great choice
A good blog post about the potential for Malouda being France's captain in the short term and maybe longer. Bottom line from the article is spot on, Malouda has become one of France's best players and this after suffering during the Domenech tenure criticism and silly mind games that only made sense in the fantasy land of Domenech.
Malouda and Ribery were important parts of the team that made its run to the World Cup finals in 2006 - supporting Zidane in the midfield. Then inexplicably he was "banished" from the squad by Domenech only to return and then being yo yo'ed continuously. Again without much rhyme or reason. With the re-inclusion of the World Cup players for the Sept 3rd game, Malouda emerges as one of the most veteran and experienced players on the roster. Could he be the captain? Yes. He was the best player in Ligue 1 when he played at Lyon and has emerged as one of the key players for Chelsea. His comportment during the Domenech era was commendable, especially considering the way others acted in light of Domenech's ineptitude.
Malouda could be the captain. Depends on how Blanc approaches this decision, I could see Mexes being given the arm band as well. Blanc might want to make a clean break from Domenech and the World Cup side, and maybe wearing the arm band for someone like Mexes is an added motivational tool for the AS Roma center back. Too be determined.
3 comments:
Anonymous
said...
It's an interesting problem. It would probably be good to have some consistency in the choice of captain, so a regular starter should wear the armband. ADiarra would be an interesting choice, as he was captain for BDX when Blanc was the manager. But will he start consistently for les bleus? Does he have authority with other players? What about Mexes? Is he definitely the starter at CB? He hasn't necessarily played great in the blue shirt.
In my view, Malouda should be captain. He is the best player on teh team. He has authority b/c he played very well in the 2006 WC. And he seems to be well-liked.
I agree that ADiarra would be an interesting choice since he captained Bordeaux under Blanc, as you point out, and also captained France against South Africa in the last World Cup game. Not that means a whole lot...I think the main issue with Diarra is that, again as you point out, he is not a sure bet to start for France. Especially with the current love fest around M'Vila.
There are so many reasons why Malouda is France's best option. One major reason is he is respected by just about everyone. He also is VERY articulate in his press conferences, which is something we need. He is really just overall a good person. I like him a lot, my favorite player (& Nasri).
3 comments:
It's an interesting problem. It would probably be good to have some consistency in the choice of captain, so a regular starter should wear the armband. ADiarra would be an interesting choice, as he was captain for BDX when Blanc was the manager. But will he start consistently for les bleus? Does he have authority with other players? What about Mexes? Is he definitely the starter at CB? He hasn't necessarily played great in the blue shirt.
In my view, Malouda should be captain. He is the best player on teh team. He has authority b/c he played very well in the 2006 WC. And he seems to be well-liked.
I agree that ADiarra would be an interesting choice since he captained Bordeaux under Blanc, as you point out, and also captained France against South Africa in the last World Cup game. Not that means a whole lot...I think the main issue with Diarra is that, again as you point out, he is not a sure bet to start for France. Especially with the current love fest around M'Vila.
There are so many reasons why Malouda is France's best option. One major reason is he is respected by just about everyone. He also is VERY articulate in his press conferences, which is something we need. He is really just overall a good person. I like him a lot, my favorite player (& Nasri).
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