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."
The latest and greatest from team dysfunctional - William Gallas lays the majority of the blame on the South African fiasco at the feet of the manager - Domenech. Easy to do. But not entirely surprising.
The former Arsenal captain states that the players were fed up with the ill prepared and un-motivating gaffer...not a news bulletin there. Gallas also alludes to the fact he found out he was not the captain upon entering the changing room and seeing the arm band on Evra's kit. While this might seem nonsensical, the fact that during a match early in the qualifying campaign, Malouda discovered he would not suit up for the match upon entering the dressing room and not seeing his kit laid out...maybe Domenech doesn't know how to type up his list prior to matches. Finally Domenech told Gallas that he would not make a good captain anyways...this might be a "he said - he said" situation, but if that statement was uttered...then why did you make Gallas your vice-captain to start with??
Clearly Domenech will and should bear the brunt of the blame for what took place in South Africa, Escalettes a close second and not too far behind the players themselves. Laurent Blanc and the rest of the powers that be at the FFF need to allow this to subside and then lay down the law. Make a break from this disaster and move on to the Euro qualifiers. From what I heard in his press conference I think Blanc is fully aware and prepared to do the necessary to ensure this happens.
With Anelka on his way back to Europe, it appears that Gallas and Ribery might be put in detention for the South Africa game. Squillaci might be slotted in place of Gallas while Ribery might start on the bench, most like Malouda taking over the left and Gourcuff back in the center? It would appear that the sulking from Gallas, not being named captain coupled with what appears to be Ribery the egomaniac has become too much for the team.
Happily in a few days some of these headaches will go away - Anelka's career for Les Bleus is over, it was most likely done prior to this situation. Gallas will most likely not be called upon, not sure he was in the plans for France for the Euros. Ribery is another story, Laurent Blanc's first challenge!
Let us see what the next episode is with this soap opera.
The word out of the France camp is that Domenech has succumbed to pressure from the veterans and they are going to stick with the 4-2-3-1. The tragic part is that Gourcuff, apparently, has been forced to the bench and in his place the Malouda - Ribery - Anlka middle 3 with Henry up front has been "preferred." According to the Sport24.com blog, this was done more via politicking rather than sound tactics and strategy.
What the commentator contends is that there has been a mini-coup inside the French camp. The veterans: Abidal, Gallas, Ribery and Malouda all lobbied, successfully it would appear, to get Henry back on the pitch as a starter to the detriment of Gourcuff. If there is any element of truth to this statement, and there definitely has been plenty of smoke around that fire, it is a sad element to this World Cup. Further indication of the complete lack of leadership exhibited by Domenech. There have been rumors that in training the team is about to implode - players refuse to speak to one another, do not pass to specific teammates, Gallas giving the silent treatment after being passed over for captain (even though he was vice-captain) and there is an overall malaise blanketing the team. Again, take those reports with a grain of salt, but many times where there is smoke there is at least a small camp fire. Throw into the mix the rumor that Domenech went to Barcelona to tell Henry that he would not be a starter but if he was okay with that and wanted to come he would be selected for the squad....really? I respect a manager being open with his players, but to ask whether or not he wanted to come? Either you have a use for the player or not. You communicate with the player telling him how you want to use him and that is it. I did not realize the national team was open to Athens style debating.
So the inmates are running the asylum...not really a surprise. Reading these stories makes me sad and angry at the same time. Every national side is full of egos, every player that plays for countries such as France are superstars in their own right, yet only for France do the players seem to run amok. If half of these stories are true, part of me hopes Les Bleus crash out of this World Cup so we can turn the keys over to Laurent Blanc, who will have a huge task, but he clearly has more backbone than Domenech. I think Blanc will know how to instill the right system, select the right players and control the egos - he cannot be worse than Domenech!
I can no longer blame Domenech, he is limited by his stubbornness and complete lack of ability. I have to blame the FFF and Escalettes for keeping Inspector Clouseau on this long as the manager. You reap what you sow.
As we draw closer to the World Cup - less than 50 days until kick off. The injuries are mounting up and taking its toll on some stars of the upcoming tournament. Players such as Gallas, Torres, Essien, Cesc, Davies, Beckham, Adler to name a few are all at risk of missing their respected flights to South Africa. None will carry as much of an impact as Michael Essien.
The Ghana captain is the catalyst for the Black Stars - he is the engine, the leader and the glue that holds the midfield together and makes the team a legitimate threat to advance in the tournament. With a nagging knee injury curtailing his Chelsea season, it is now feared that it might also keep him out for the summer tournament. Ghana has some real belief that it can make some noise this summer, after a run to the African Cup of Nations finals, with a young team, it was thought that add the veteran metal to this side and you have a great combination of youth and veteran talent. Being in group D, with Germany, Serbia and Australia, Ghana will need its dynamic midfielder to carry the Black Stars through what should be a very physical group. Without the Chelsea man, the mountain will get much steeper to climb.
What about Espana? Del Bosque is continuing to watch nervously as his star players deal with injuries - Cesc, Senna, Torres to name a few. While there remains a tremendous amount of talent available, these are players expected to shine at the World Cup. What about Iniesta? Will he be fit in time to partner with his Barcelona teammate, Xavi, to work the midfield? Torres is going to be operated on, Cesc has a broken leg...even if they are fit in time, will they have enough time to get into game shape? Who will hold down the defensive role if Senna is not available? Alonso could slot into the role, but Senna remains the player most capable of holding that slot and allowing Xavi, Iniesta et al to work their offensive magic without concern of defensive responsibilities. Cesc was expected to be a 3rd creative midfielder or a super sub off the bench - without him del Bosque losses one of his key midfield options, one that would have allowed for a rotation keeping his players fresh during the tournament. Finally if Torres does not make it back 100% what will that do for the offense? Granted with Villa in form he can carry a team on his own, but if Spain is looking to reach what many see as a finals appearance if not better they will need the Liverpool striker to be in his usual form. The one good note for Spain is that they should get out of their group with relative ease so may not need to lean on their injured players until later in the tournament.
What about other injuries? Gallas might be out which will only exasperate the problems France have at central defense. If Gallas is out I think the France might not make it out of the group stages...
Germany is without, who many thought, would be their #1 keeper Alder. The US has a gaping hole up front with Davies on the shelf after a horrific car wreck - he is back on his feet but not ready to resume training let alone playing.
There are still some games to go for the top players, so unfortunately more injuries might strike some of the key players and nations. Let us hope that those on the shelf return to good health and no other big names see their World Cup dreams go by way of the trainers' room.
After last week's Champions League battle between Arsenal and Barcelona, which saw Gallas taken off the pitch on a stretcher after re-aggravating his calf injury, France's fabulous gaffer came out and attacked Wenger's decision to play the French international. Granted Gallas had been battling to regain fitness from this injury for 7 weeks, however he was declared fit to play and this was no simple match versus Burnley. Wenger was well within his boundaries to play his central defender. Was he suppose to hold him out for fear that Gallas might not play for France in South Africa? Then should not play any member of his squad that might appear for their nation this summer? Absolutely not. For once I will side with the club in the battle of club vs country. Arsenal is Gallas' employer, and they have just as much interest as France does to see that Gallas is not injured, does it help Wenger's chances for a Premier league title that his central defender is now out for the remainder of the season? Of course not.
Wenger is trying to win games and silverware, as is Gallas when he puts on the Arsenal kit (as well as the France kit). Players need to play through injuries and sometimes they run out when they might not be 100% and understand the risks they assume. Would it have been "acceptable" had Wenger allowed Gallas to train in order to gauge his fitness and he had picked up the injury there?
Domenech clearly has an ax to grind with Wenger and saw an opportunity to fire a shot at the Arsenal manager. Unfortunately, as usual, Domenech demonstrated his complete lack of grasp with the reality of the situation. Once again Domenech looks like the fool in this situation.
Arsenal are on top of the table based on their 4-2 victory over Bolton. As I stated in the beginning of the season I thought Arsenal would finish second to Chelsea. I thought that Manchester United had lost too much in Ronaldo and Tevez, that Liverpool was not going to amount to much thanks to Rafa...but Arsenal had the talent to make a run. However does not have the depth to get past Chelsea. I think that might still be the achilles heel for the Gunners.
What is encouraging is that Arsenal is winning or getting a point from matches in recent campaigns they would lose. Heading to Bolton and finding a way to come home with 3 points after being "Boltoned" all over the pitch...aka goon lined. Being down 2-0 this Wednesday and coming back to win 4-2. These are matches that in the past few seasons Arsenal would roll over and drop the full 3 points. What is especially sweet is that Arsenal did this against Bolton who they have had a history of bad blood - primarily due to the divergent styles of play: Arsenal the beautiful, offensive and free flowing football while Bolton was more of the mucking, kick you in the shins and win ugly style. The Gunners always had problems with Bolton...midseason when pitches are heavy and the muckers can find ways to beat the English Samba Boys. This week was an example of Arsenal gaining some toughness and winning a game against a mucker team like Bolton. What epitomized the win was how Arsenal secured the equalizer yesterday - a hard tackle from Gallas wins the ball back, Arsenal fight the ball into the Bolton 18 yard box and find a way to get the equalizer.
To me the foul was a hard tackle, Gallas did come in from the front so it was not a two footed tackle from behind...did he clip Davies hard...yes. Is that football in England...absolutely. Hats off to the Gunners. Let us hope they can keep the momentum going.
The upcoming weeks will be very telling on how far the Gunners can go - Villa, ManU, Chelsea and Liverpool before starting up Champions League play again. If the Gunners can come out of those 4 games with 7 points or more I think they stand a good chance at the title - 2 victories and a draw...difficult but not impossible.
What is frustrating is that I think Wenger should and needs to buy some established players and he would bring Arsenal that much closer to another title - another striker and midfielder would be nice...and I don't think a teenager from Brazil is what we are thinking of.
st too much in Ronaldo and Tevez, that Liverpool was not going to amount to much thanks to Rafa...but Arsenal had the talent to make a run. However does not have the depth to get past Chelsea. I think that might still be the achilles heel for the Gunners.