Benzema does not feel right with Les Bleus...hmmmmmm

So the latest from Madrid is that French star, Karim Benzema, does not feel at ease with Les Bleus. Shocking! Well really not. When you have a manager such as Domenech who is quirky and changes ideas as often as he changes his briefs, it is difficult for players to gain confidence and more importantly understand where they fit in overall system. Let us look at the Domenech and his actions of the past:

• Takes Trezeguet to Germany for the World Cup. But seems to favor Saha as the first striker off the bench. Has to use Trezegol in the finals since Saha was suspended (I believe that the yellow card against Portugal in the semi finals was one of the underlying reasons Les Bleus did not win the WC. Saha would have come in for Les Bleus rather than Trezegeut and I believe that Petit Louis' game would have lent itself to a goal in extra time for France...). We all know that Trez missed his PK, and somehow Domenech appears to have punished him for that post WC. Trezegol then goes into international exile...but gets called up for a match...he did not even have his boots with him since he never expected the call up, and then he is never to be seen from again.
• What about Malouda? He inexplicably fell off Domenech's radar and now is back on. Was it due to Malouda's lack of first team play with Chelsea? Maybe but when he was first ignored he was still getting in some good run with the London Blues.
• How about the keeper situation? I have ranted about this many times but the handling of the keeper situation from day 1 has been HORRENDOUS!!!! Goalkeeper is the one position in footie that needs special attention, they are creatures of habit, need to know the heirarchy and at times need coddling (this is coming from someone who wears the reusch gloves for his club on sundays!). From Barthez to Coupet to Mananda to Frey, Domenech has shown a complete lack of managerial skills when it comes to his keepers.
• Then there is Mexes, who is an absolute star in Italy, but for France looks like a second division hack.
  
• The "old guard" now I am firm believer that a footie manager, whether for the national team or club, needs to be firm when it comes to turning over his club. There needs to be a balance of experience and youth, and the hardest decision at times is when to replace the experience with youth. However a manager needs to do this while still allowing the old guard to save face and to have the recognition it deserves...neither of which Domenech was able to do with the likes of Pires and Giuly.
• Finally the way he handled Makelele, not allowing the veteran to retire from the international game as he had wanted. Rather threatening to fine him and his club if did not accept the France call ups...of course this had the "special one" saying that Domenech was treating Makelele as a "Slave." While Makelele did return to play for Les Bleus, and clearly gave all he had for France. In the end it was all for naught. Maybe Domenech should have looked for a younger player to fill in that spot rather than force an aging star to continue to battle for club and country.

So what to make of Benzema's comments? While I agree that sometimes these players whine and seem too shy away from responsibilty when they are not performing, I also think one only needs to look at the track record of Domenech to see a manager that instead of getting the most out of his talent, appears to some how take talented players and reduce them to average footballers. I have no problem with managers that are not loved by their players, as long as that manager also puts those footballers in a position to be successful. I have yet to see Domenech being able to do that with what is a very talent pool of players, and I fear that he will have wasted the likes of Ribery, Evra, Diarra, Benzema, Nasri, Mandanda, Lloris, Sagna, Clichy, Gallas, etc. Too bad the French FA does not have the brains to do what is right.

The inigma that is Pat Vieira....

On one of the many web feeds I get, I saw a headline about Pat Vieira and the fact his career with Les Bleus might have come to an end. That got me thinking about the future of Pat, at least with regards to international football. Bottom line...I think we have seen the last of #4 for Les Bleus. Why? A couple of factors -

• When you play for your nation, you really need to look at the viability of a player being able to play at a high level in 2 year increments. Simple math - World Cup and European Cups - these major events give nations a two year window for players. In my opinion, if your player may not be able to play in the tournament, do you really want to rely on them for qualifying? Maybe for a game here or there, but you need to ensure that not only do you qualify, but that you develop the team that will carry you in the tournament.
• Injuries, Pat has not been the model of health for the past few seasons. Every since he left North London he has be fraught with nagging injuries, even having to opt out of the Romania game minutes before kick off due to a knock he picked up during warm ups. The fact that Pat was selected for France during the Euros and played exactly zero minutes is indicative of the injury bug he has been cursed with at this stage of his career. It is suicidal to go into a major tournament with a member of your squad that might not even play due to injury, let alone a player you want to build your midfield around.
  
• Other strong options at the holding midfield role - Toulalan, LDiarra, ADiarra, Flamini just to name a few. One cannot overlook the rise of Blaise Matuidi with St Eteinne. A player that is seen as the next generation of strong holding midfielders in the mold of Makelele. Didier Deschamps has been harping on the midfielders ability and talents, saying he is one of the best players in Ligue 1. When it comes to holding midfielders, I think Deschamps has some first hand knowledge of what it takes to succeed a that position. With all this talent at the holding midfield position, shouldn't France opt to build around one of these pairings rather than hope that somehow Pat regains the form of his glory years?

I think the writing is on the wall for Pat. I pray that Domenech learns from the mistakes Lemerre made during the 2002 world cup...and....Domenech made during the German Euros, holding on to the older generation. Vieira has been one of the greatest players France has played. When it comes to greatest holding midfielders for Les Bleus, I might have him planted at #1. My rankings -

1. Vieira - intimidating tackler and defender. Gets the #1 slot because he was also a goal scoring threat, see game versus Spain in the World Cup as well as the last group game against Togo. During his glory days there was non better a true "box to box" midfielder.
   
2. Deschamps - hard not to give him the #1 slot, but the "water carrier" as Cantona called him, was a hard tackler, controlled the midfield and was a solid captain. Look at how he completely outplayed Dunga in the 1998 world cup finals. He was the cornerstone for the great run Les Bleus enjoyed from 1998 - 2000.
3. Tigana - hero from my youth. I remember watching him play during the 1984 European Cup, it was his incredible work rate that allowed Platini and Giresse to free lance and add their touch in the midfield. His sheer will power won him the ball and set up the cross that allowed Platini to score the winner against Portugal in the 1984 semi finals.
4. Makelele - he did not achieve the lofty levels he did whilst at Real Madrid or Chelsea. Scary that he was left off some sides because of the incredible talent ahead of him - Deschamps, Karembeu, Petit...but was the tackling force for Les Bleus in the World Cup in Germany.
5. Petit - Petit was a forgotten man during France's run in the 1998 World Cup as well as the qualifying campaign for the 2000 European Cup. Manu was perfect shouldering Karembeu and Deschamps in the midfield for Les Bleus. With the amazing talent of Zidane, France was able to play with 3 holding midfielders, but made the system work was that both Petit and Karembeu had more offensive ability than traditional holding midfielders. The one added element for Petit was his threat to score goals and take free kicks.

I hope we see Pat one more time in Blue with the #4 emblazon on his back. I realize seeing him play on the South African pitches might be a long shot, and actually highly unlikely. We may have seen one of France's greatest players step down from the big stage, but what a run he had for Les Bleus.

Si tu quite, merci Pat!

Les Bleus for the opening qualifiers

Domenech has announced the list for Les Bleus for the first two games of the World Cup qualifiers. Not too many changes from the team that won away at Sweden. Here is the list:

La sélection française :
Gardiens : Lloris, Mandanda
Défenseurs : Abidal, Clichy, Evra, Fanni, Gallas, Mexès, Sagna, Squillaci
Milieux : A. Diarra, L. Diarra, Flamini, Nasri, Toulalan
Attaquants : Anelka, Ben Arfa, Benzema, Gourcuff, Govou, Henry, Malouda

Overall nothing too surprising, but here are some thoughts:

The Good:

• Consistency - One thing that I am glad to see, is Domenech keeping a consistent list from the Sweden game. Even retaining folks like Gourcuff and Fanni. The only changes were the addition of Squillaci, Abidal, and Nasri. These players would have most likely been on the squad had they not been injured.
• The Youth - Domenech has also stayed with the youth. He did not bring back Coupet, but rather stayed with the two young keepers, wonder what that means for Greg long term? I do think this is the proper move, while taking Landreau or Frey as well to make them #1 would not have been questioned, I think that Domenech is signaling that he sees the future with the two youngsters in France.
• No Boumson - While I am sure he will rear his head again....thank goodness he is off the list.

The Bad -

• Govou - Okay next to Boumsong he is my favorite whipping boy...but he scored a brace against Sweden so I guess deserves the call up...I guess.
• Makelele - Okay, why is this "bad" because his name keeps coming up...the fact that Domenech or the press keep throwing out his name is bad. The man has been a nothing but a pure professional for Les Bleus. He was unfortunate to be left off both the World Cup and European Cup winning teams...hard when you have Deschamps, Vieira, Karembeau, and Petit blocking your path.
  

The Ugly -

• Nothing.....yup, I cannot really find anything too ugly with the selection. Now when Domenech decides to have Abidal shoulder Gallas rather than Mexes...then I will call that UGLY

This is the beauty of international footie, the European Cup is still fresh in our memories, the club season has just started and we are starting the long process of determining which nations will go to South Africa in 2 years to play for the World Cup. France have a tricky group, one they should win, but one filled with traps and potential pitfalls. On paper you would think that the main competition will come from Roumania, but one needs to becareful of Austria and Serbia. Also, Lithuania will not be an easy 3 point match, especially when traveling away.

France will come into the qualifiers with a tricky match, heading to Austria. Austria just drew at home against Italy in a match they could have won. It is never easy playing away, but I think that Austria will prove a difficult customer, wanting to demonstrate that hosting the Euros was not a fluke (granted they did not get out of the group stages, but some rank them higher than Les Bleus - http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/30062008/58/euro-2008-euro-power-rankings.html ) Austria played Germany very tough in the tournament and should not be overlooked at home.

France will then need to head home to face a difficult test against Serbia. Serbia should prove to be a difficult team to break down with a defense lead by ManU hard man - Vidic. Serbia will open with Faroe Islands so will head to Paris with the full 3 points and look to hold France to a draw. France might be heading into that game sitting with one point and will be desperate to find a win....a recipe for disaster for Les Bleus!

Domenech has a tough task at hand. His first 4 games will see Les Bleus traveling to Austria, Romania and Lithuania. As well as hosting the tough Serbs. In addition, the FFF has said it would revisit the Domenech situation during this run of games, if Les Bleus start slowly it could spell the end of Domenech's run as France manager. I think it will be hard pressed for France to expect to get 12 points from these matches. Les Bleus should beat Austria and Lithuania, and get a win&draw from the Romania - Serbia games. Coming out of these 4 games with 10 points should be seen as a successful run, 8 points will be acceptable....anything less and we might be seeing Deschamps in charge for the return game against Lithuania.

PSG - French international retirement home

The news of the day on the footie transfer from France is that Makelele is about to sign with the team from the capital. Couple that signing with the arrival of Guily from Roma, and the attempted signing of Thuram it appears that PSG is becoming the retirement home for old French Internationals....who can we expect to sign next - Sagnol? Barthez? Giresse?

Joking aside, I think these are good moves for PSG and Le Guen. The team struggled the last two seasons to find any rythm. While Guily and Makelele are on the back 9 of their careers, I think that coupling Guily and Rothen again as they did at Monaco will be a good combo for the Parisian midfield. Makelele still has a lot to bring to the table and without international duty and an easier calendar overall I think he will be able to prolong his career. I think these two veterans will allow PSG's two young midfield stars - Chantome and Sessegnon to learn and develop with these two veterans (an interesting sign is that both these young midfielders were rumored to be heading to Arsenal). PSG should have a decent midfield - with Sessegnon and Chantome patrolling the middle with Makelele protecting the back 4, Rothen and Guily on the wings. I would think Le Guen will play with one striker - either Ngog or Luyindula up front.

I do think PSG still need to find a striker with Pauleta leaving they do not have a consistent goal scoring threat up front. PSG also needs to find some young talent and retain the youth it develops, which why I am glad they did not cave and sell Chantome to Arsenal, while that would have been great for the player as well as the North London club, it is great for PSG to be able to retain him.

Let us hope these moves, and I am sure more moves to come, will allow PSG to hope to be mid table in France rather than battle for relegation survival!