- Had Wenger not stuck to his - no long term contract for players over 30 policy - could the Gunners have benefited from the veteran French international the past few seasons? I will say yes. I realize that Pires was not the player that Wenger first brought to north London from OM as a 26 year old. Pires became a vital cog in the Arsenal machine and I will contend that had he not injured a knee in 2002 he would have given Les Bleus great cover for Zidane during the World Cup and Les Bleus would have made a run in South Korea/Japan. Having said that, I also think Arsenal would have benefited from having the veteran for the past 4 seasons. Would he have been an uncontested starter? No. But spot starting and being leveraged off the bench would have given Wenger a valuable, trusted and solid option in the midfield.
- The apparent "snubbing" of the MLS and the Philadelphia Union, is ironic on many levels. First because Pires claims to have turned down the MLS side because the city was not beautiful enough....and now he is going to Birmingham. However who can blame him? Rather than moving to a Tier 2 domestic league (at best) he is heading back to one of the most popular domestic football leagues in the world and playing for a solid team with aspirations for Champions League football and beyond. I realize that players such as Henry and Marquez sought the MLS, but in the case of Titi he clearly wanted to enjoy life in America and specifically New York City. I would doubt that Henry or Marquez made the moves because they wanted to play in a more competitive league than La Liga or the EPL...then again according to Alexi Lalas the MLS would do more than hold their own in the EPL.
Showing posts with label Houllier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Houllier. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Pires back in the EPL
Former Arsenal winger, Robert Pires, will join the Villans this week after being let go by his Spanish side Villarreal earlier this season. The 37 year old winger is clearly on the down slope of his career but can still bring some veteran leadership to the Birmingham side. After having trained with his former side Arsenal he has found himself a new footballing home. A couple of aspects of this move struck me:
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Domenech gets "vote of confidence"
Oh yes, the dreaded vote of confidence from the association! So it appears that Raymond will be with Les Bleus through thick and thin. Interesting. A couple of things to consider:
- If France lose this Wednesday in Belgrade will Raymond remain with the squad? As I stated in my post yesterday, France should...hopefully...still qualify for the 2nd place play off even if they drop all 3 points against Serbia. However would the FFF reconsider their stance and think about inserting a new manager to allow them some time to get their system together for the last two group matches and then prepare for the play offs? That would seem like proper timing.
- The television contract with the FFF is up for renewal this season....if France do not make the World Cup the potential money from that contract will take a serious hit. The powers that be must be aware of the repercussions that will be suffered if Les Bleus do not turn things around in a hurry. This might motivate the FFF to make a change if things do not go well this Wednesday.
To me this vote of confidence was a shot across the bow of Domenech, he better come back from Belgrade with 3 points or he should update his resume. The other question becomes - does the FFF have any options in mind? Deschamps or Blanc, two alumni of the 98ers, appear to be t
he best candidates, both men making it clear that they would be open to the position. However, the former just started at OM while the latter just secured Bordeaux's first league title and has a solid sqaud for this season. Neither might be ready to make the move. How about an outside like LeGuen? He just took over at Cameroon, so not likely to leave already! How about Houllier, he has managed France before and still works at the FFF? He has also expressed interest in managing at the international level before. What about Wenger? He clearly has the pulse on the talent being produced at the youth levels in France. Or how about this one...Mourinho...I am sure the French FA has enough cash, especially after signing a kit deal with Nike, to lure the brash Portuguese to France. Now that would be interesting!
Unfortunately I think that the FFF is stubborn, almost as much as their head coach. So short of disaster, meaning losing at Serbia, heading into the final match against Austria and losing that to fall out of 2nd place, I cannot see Domenech sacked after Belgrade. Unfortunately. France is stuck with their head coach for the play offs, and if France emerge from that to head to South Africa I cannot see the FFF sacking him prior to the tournament....sigh.
So just for fun, and because I am a footie junkie, I started playing around with the potential match ups for the 2nd place playoffs. First, I misspoke last post, France is not guaranteed a spot as one of the top 8 2nd place teams. Let us say France head into the last game against Austria on 11 points (the results against the worst team in the group do not count towards the best 2nd place teams...since Scotland's group, group 9, only has 5 teams, so take away the 6 points from the Faroe Islands) and France draws with Austria, finishing in second with the adjusted 12 points and Scotland beats Holland....they would be at 13 points.....Assuming all the other teams lose the same ratio of points France is sitting in the middle of the pack as it currently stands:
For fun let us assume the following nations make the playoffs, based on current standings and guestimates:
Sweden, Greece, Northern Ireland, Russia, Bosnia, Croatia, France, and Ireland.
Pool 1:
France
Sweden
Croatia
Russia
Pool 2:
Greece
Northern Ireland
Bosnia
Ireland
Short of facing Northern Ireland none of those nations are easy play off opponents. Heading to Bosnia, no thanks. Playing Ireland? France struggled last time in qualifiers with the Irish. Greece? Their style is exaclty what France cannot deal with - tough defensive block, that counters and looks to score on set pieces. Well maybe this will give Domenech 2 more games for his resume.
France have the talent, no doubt, do they have the inspiration to over come a deficient head coach?
he best candidates, both men making it clear that they would be open to the position. However, the former just started at OM while the latter just secured Bordeaux's first league title and has a solid sqaud for this season. Neither might be ready to make the move. How about an outside like LeGuen? He just took over at Cameroon, so not likely to leave already! How about Houllier, he has managed France before and still works at the FFF? He has also expressed interest in managing at the international level before. What about Wenger? He clearly has the pulse on the talent being produced at the youth levels in France. Or how about this one...Mourinho...I am sure the French FA has enough cash, especially after signing a kit deal with Nike, to lure the brash Portuguese to France. Now that would be interesting!Unfortunately I think that the FFF is stubborn, almost as much as their head coach. So short of disaster, meaning losing at Serbia, heading into the final match against Austria and losing that to fall out of 2nd place, I cannot see Domenech sacked after Belgrade. Unfortunately. France is stuck with their head coach for the play offs, and if France emerge from that to head to South Africa I cannot see the FFF sacking him prior to the tournament....sigh.
So just for fun, and because I am a footie junkie, I started playing around with the potential match ups for the 2nd place playoffs. First, I misspoke last post, France is not guaranteed a spot as one of the top 8 2nd place teams. Let us say France head into the last game against Austria on 11 points (the results against the worst team in the group do not count towards the best 2nd place teams...since Scotland's group, group 9, only has 5 teams, so take away the 6 points from the Faroe Islands) and France draws with Austria, finishing in second with the adjusted 12 points and Scotland beats Holland....they would be at 13 points.....Assuming all the other teams lose the same ratio of points France is sitting in the middle of the pack as it currently stands:
| Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | |
 | Denmark | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 17 |
 | Hungary | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 13 |
 | Sweden | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 12 |
 | Portugal | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 10 |
 | Albania | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
 | Malta | 8 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 21 | 1 |
| Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | |
 | Switzerland | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 6 | 16 |
 | Greece | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 13 |
 | Latvia | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 13 |
 | Israel | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
 | Luxembourg | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 5 |
 | Moldova | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 2 |
| Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | |
 | Slovakia | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 8 | 16 |
 | Northern Ireland | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 14 |
 | Poland | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 19 | 8 | 11 |
 | Slovenia | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 11 |
 | Czech Republic | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 9 |
 | San Marino | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 37 | 0 |
| Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | |
 | Germany | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 4 | 19 |
 | Russia | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 18 |
 | Finland | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 13 |
 | Wales | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
 | Azerbaijan | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 1 |
 | Liechtenstein | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 18 | 1 |
| Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | |
 | Spain | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 21 |
 | Bosnia-Herzegovina | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 7 | 15 |
 | Turkey | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 11 |
 | Belgium | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 7 |
 | Estonia | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 19 | 5 |
 | Armenia | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 1 |
| Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | |
 | England | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 4 | 21 |
 | Croatia | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 7 | 17 |
 | Ukraine | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 6 | 14 |
 | Belarus | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 11 | 9 |
 | Kazakhstan | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 22 | 3 |
 | Andorra | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 30 | 0 |
| Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | |
 | Serbia | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 5 | 18 |
 | France | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 14 |
 | Austria | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
 | Lithuania | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 9 |
 | Romania | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 8 |
 | Faroe Islands | 7 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 1 |
| Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | |
 | Italy | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 17 |
 | Republic of Ireland | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 16 |
 | Bulgaria | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 11 |
 | Cyprus | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 5 |
 | Montenegro | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 4 |
 | Georgia | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 3 |
| Team | MP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | |
 | Netherlands * | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 21 |
 | Scotland | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 10 |
 | Norway | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
 | FYR Macedonia | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 7 |
 | Iceland | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 5 |
For fun let us assume the following nations make the playoffs, based on current standings and guestimates:
Sweden, Greece, Northern Ireland, Russia, Bosnia, Croatia, France, and Ireland.
Pool 1:
France
Sweden
Croatia
Russia
Pool 2:
Greece
Northern Ireland
Bosnia
Ireland
Short of facing Northern Ireland none of those nations are easy play off opponents. Heading to Bosnia, no thanks. Playing Ireland? France struggled last time in qualifiers with the Irish. Greece? Their style is exaclty what France cannot deal with - tough defensive block, that counters and looks to score on set pieces. Well maybe this will give Domenech 2 more games for his resume.
France have the talent, no doubt, do they have the inspiration to over come a deficient head coach?
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