A new Zizou for Les Bleus

Interesting news coming out of Clairefontaine - Enzo Fernandez (Zidane) - has been called up and will be going to a FFF U19 camp. This might not sound like big news - was there ever really any question that the son of one of the greatest French players not play for his native land??? Reality is there was, and continues to be questions as to whether Enzo doesn't allow himself to be courted by the Spanish national team.

Enzo was born in France, but has spent a considerable amount of time in Spain since his legendary father played for Los Blancos. The young Zizou as been on the Real Madrid youth set up since 2004. There was a lot of debate as to where Enzo would end up. He has chosen playing for Les Bleus...for now. But before we go too crazy, let us pump the breaks

At least we know he has his father's temper

  on this.

There is little argument that Zidane is considered one of the greatest, maybe the greatest player for France (I actually would slot him second behind Platini and in front of Kopa). And one of the greatest players of all time (off the top of my head the top 5 all time players - Pele, Maradonna, Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Puskas....throw in Yashin, have to pick a GK!) I cannot imagine the pressure that the young Enzo faces - probably why he goes by Enzo Fernandez (mother's maiden name) rather than Zidane. The fact he is playing for the youth set up for Real Madrid is already a major achievement, the fact he has been called up for the Spanish U15 and now the France U19 is another amazing achievement...but that is a far far far cry from achieving the heights his father reached.

Youth set ups and international teams churn through young talent on a regular basis, you might argue it is a bit of a meat grinder - actually a real meat grinder. The percentage of those players that a)are able to play football professionally to put food on the table is very small b)the honor of being able to play for your nation's A side is even smaller. I remember watching a show about the Nantes youth set up, they interviewed Zidane for some segments where he said, and I paraphrase: "Of all the players at the Cannes youth academy that started with me, I was the only one to go on to play professionally." Don't forget that the Cannes youth set up is one of the best in France - so already pulling in the cream of the crop into the set up. Bottom line, Enzo has all the genes and pedigree to succeed. He is already on a path that sets him up to succeed. But that is not guaranteed...by any stretch of the imagination. It is a nice news story.

But let's not get overly excited, let's not start calling for him to be called up for the Brazil World Cup and let's not expect that he will achieve what his father did. He needs to be allowed to be his player, develop to the level he can achieve. Of course that is easier said than done. Over-hyped youth players come and go - remember a certain Freddy Adu? Let us pump the brakes on Enzo. Wish him the best, and let him achieve what he can, he has enough pressure having the Zidane name...

Zidane, plan B for Les Bleus?

Hmmmm....after Deschamps asked the FFF to give him some time to reflect, the latest is that the heat has been turned up on Zizou. Is this is little gamesmanship on the part of Le Graet? Giving Deschamps a small kick in the back end, not allow him to waffle too long. Or is Le Graet serious...how about Zidane? Zizou has made it clear recently that taking the reigns of France is something he would be interested in doing...but not necessarily today.

France's next manager?

To me I think Zidane is not ready to take over the reigns for France. Both Blanc and Deschamps cut their teeth at the club level before Blanc ended up taking over Les Bleus, and Deschamps looks like he might follow those footsteps. Zizou's ability on the pitch is without question, arguably one of the top 5 players of all time, but that does not necessarily translate to the management role. Like in many sports, it is usually the non-super stars that make the best managers - they are more students of the game, they did not have the superhuman natural ability that made them so good. Of course this is not a hard rule -

• Platini managed Les Bleus to a 100% qualifying campaign, with victories over Spain and Czechoslovakia. A 19 game unbeaten streak led to Platini getting manager of the year awards, but the 1992 Euros saw France crash out after the group stages.
• Beckenbauer managed the German national team to the 1990 World Cup title as well as the 1986 runner up finish, his first managerial role. Not bad.

The difference is both these players were leaders on the field with their talents and also in the dressing room...I am not sure Zizou was all that great at the latter.

I think that Le Graet really wants to see Deschamp running the national team, this smells like a ruse to get DD to sign on the dotted line. If he has to try an persuade Zidane to manage the national team, it would not be a PR move. Just not sure the results will come on the pitch.

Joyeaux Anniversaire Zizou!

For the Frog's 1000th post...we wish Zidane a happy birthday! On the day of Zizou's 40th birthday, a little reminder of what happened last time France faced Spain as the underdog. Unfortunately I do not think that #10 will be emerging from the dressing room today.

The "Christmas Tree" option for Les Blues

My cousin Benjamin can attest, when we face off on FIFA 12, that I sometimes employ "le sapin" or the "Christmas tree" formation. The formation is a 4-3-2-1 (looks like a christmas tree). Ancelotti was famous for using this when he managed at Milan and used a similar formation with PSG. What got me thinking was is this an option for Blanc? I realize that seeing Blanc change from a 4-2-3-1 is about as likely as seeing Uruguay qualify for the Euros, but it does have some potential.

Just add presents under the tree

First a little history lesson. Les Bleus won the 1998 world cup by employing such a formation. I realize that they probably argue they had a traditional 4-4-2 formation...but with Deschamps, Karembeu and Petit on the field together you had 3 holding/defensive midfielders. Zidane and Djorkaeff acted as the two offensive midfielders with Guivarch as the "striker"....(quotes because he was really just a warm body not really an international striker). So why not with this side?

The biggest headache for Blanc - he doesn't have a real #10...so why not look for the creativity to come from your wide players, aka your fullbacks pushing up and allow your three pure offensive players to free lance...the formation could look like the following:

Lloris
Evra, Mexes, Rami, Debuchy - the two full backs will push high on the pitch and both have good offensive instincts and skill
M'Vila, Diarra, Cabaye - granted the Newcastle man is not a pure defensive midfielder but he plays a deep lying role and his a good passer from deep. Diarra and M'Vila would be there to do the dirty work.
Ribery, Menez (or Nasri or Ben Arfa) - allow the two offensive midfielders space and freedom to switch wings. They would also have the potential to cut into the field and allow their fullbacks to push into the vacated space to add width.
Benzema - can play well as the lone striker, but can also drop deeper to pick up the ball or allow one of the midfielders to push higher.

Just a thought for Blanc. The advantage of this formation is France could really clog up and block the midfield and hit teams on the counter. Without a true #10, they do not really have a player that can be the outlet and the creator in the middle of the park. Granted when France ran this in 1998, they had one of the greatest players of all time in Zidane...they had a #10 that would always act as the safety valve for Les Bleus.

Something to think about Laurent!

Allez les Bleus!!!

Zizou back with Les Bleus?

A story that made some minor waves were the comments made by Zidane around his future and the possibility of he becoming the French manager, click here. It would be nice to see the former captain becoming more involved with the FFF, of course there is no guarantee that he would be a good manager...but he has made some shrewd moves with Real Madrid, in particular spotting the young Varane and his potential.

Maybe if Zizou managed France there would be no questioning of where his son might play at the international level!

Zizou's next career

Great story on Zizou and his active role with Real Madrid, click here to read. Since his infamous head butt in Berlin...I still get a bit depressed whenever I think about that game...Zizou has been very active in the world of football. He was a key figure in Qatar's successful bid to host a world cup. Efforts for which Zidane came under considerable criticism about doing this simply for a financial windfall. Zidane stated he was interested in seeing an Arab nation host the global tournament and even if it were simply for money...what is wrong with that? It is not as if he was supporting Qatar's bid going up against a bid for his homeland France.

He has also played an active role with Real Madrid. And based on what the article outlines has done considerable work behind the scenes. The former player of the year has the Special One's respect, and that goes a long way in the game. Zidane clearly has the respect of the Real Madrid brass as well as players. His son also plays for the youth set up and is already in a tug of war between the Spanish and French national teams (I personally think it would be a tragedy if the former France captain's child plays for anyone other than Les Bleus).

Zizou makes it all right for Real Madrid

Zidane mentions wanting to run a club some day, I would hope that teams in Ligue 1 are paying attention. The French league would be well served trying to attract back into the fold some of France's big name exports. I would love to suggest PSG look to bring Zizou in to run the club, but he is from Marseilles and not sure he would want to take over the Parisian club when his heart is in the Velodrome. So why not Marseilles? OM could do worse than having Zizou play an active role in the club. Marseilles, and this pains me to say, is the only French club with true global potential. Lyon, PSG, Bordeaux, Lille to name a few are all clubs with real aspirations and relative strengths, but Marseilles is the only French club that has the cache. The fact they are the only ones with a Champions League title doesn't hurt either. Adding the likes of Zizou to their front office could propel OM into another orbit. It would also be great for Ligue 1 to have a favorite son back. Add Wenger to PSG and Ligue 1 might start to truly begin to live up to their potential.

I realize these might be pipe dreams, but one can always hope. With the other French favorite son - Platini - running UEFA and potentially FIFA one day, French soccer exports are doing well. But let us try to get some of that talent back into Ligue 1.

Zidane back for France!!!

Zidane back with Les Bleus - training under the eyes for other 98ers

Zidane is back for Les Bleus!!! Okay okay it was just a visit from the French legend to Clairefontaine to train with the squad as they prepare for the start of Euro qualifiers. His presence was a morale boost to the players and a chance for many of them to be on the pitch with one of the all time greatest footballers. What is encouraging to me is the fact that Blanc is not afraid to have someone of Zizou's stature come to his training. Granted, they were team mates and won trophies together. But other managers might not be comfortable enough to allow this to happen 48 hours before they start qualifiers. I highly doubt Domenech would have ever even considered let alone permitted this to occur.

From the sounds of it, the presence of another World Cup champion did nothing but give the team an added morale boost and motivation as they prepare for Belarus. Good for them, good for Blanc and happy to see Zizou wearing the blue strip again...even if it is only the practice kit.

On another note, Cabaye had to declare forfeit and was replaced by Saint-Etienne midfielder Matuidi. After the forfeit of LDiarra, Blanc has shown his pecking order for the holding midfielder slot, does this push Toulalan as I had written in an earlier post, even further into international Siberia?

France - better days - Zidane and Platini

Had to watch this, remind myself of the better times with Les Bleus -

Zizou looking more Brazilian than Brazil!

A young Zizou always speaks fondly of being at Stade Velodrome to witness this epic semi final. I also remember vividly watching in front of the the TV in my grandmother's house outside of Paris in the Marne region. Those were the days!

Chink in the Spanish armor?

Spain heads to South Africa as one of the heavy favorites to lift the Jules Remit trophy (I still call it that I realize that trophy was "retired') on July 11th. However could Espana have suffered a minor blow to their aspirations? News out of the Spanish camp is that Iniesta picked up a ding during their complete destruction of Polska in their last friendly. Iniesta has been battling this injury during the tail end of the Barcelona season. Word is the injury is minor thigh injury, but not a tear. We shall see. Clearly the Spanish midfielder has not fully recovered from this nick that has been bothering him enough so to force him out a number of Barcelona matches. The problem with any injury, as minor as it might be thought, to the thigh is that it always appears to be difficult for a footballer to properly heal while still keeping up a high level of training. It is a painful reminder for me about what happened to Zidane in 2002 and the subsequent impact it had on Les Bleus. Zizou picked up a minor thigh injury, a small tear, which basically made him a non factor as France crashed out of the World Cup.

While I do not foresee such a dramatic impact on the Spanish side, a side that is ridiculously deep, the one player that would be difficult to replace is Iniesta. Something to keep an eye on. Spain have time to get things right, they do not start their tournament until the 16th when they face the Swiss. I am sure that Spain will look to secure their place to the knock out stages as soon as possible to allow Iniesta et al to get more rest.

Newcastle's gaff - Zizou "not good enough"

Blackburn also passed on signing Zizou back in the day, because they already had Tim Sherwood...but this is great (Zizou did wear the black and white kit...but the one of Juve not Newcastle!) - from ESPN:


Zidane chased out of Toon

Agents. They talk a lot. Most, if not all, of what they say can be easily disregarded but Barry Silkman served up a dose of self promotion so large it was impossible to ignore when he claimed that he offered Zinedine Zidane to Newcastle United, only to be turned down. The future World Player of the Year proved to be the 'one that got away' from a rueful Bazza when Zizou was looking for a way out of French Ligue 1 side Bordeaux back in the 90's. "I offered him [Zidane] to Newcastle at the beginning of the 1996 season for £1.2 million,'' he said. ''And they watched him and said that he wasn't good enough to play in the First Division which is the Championship now. Three months later he went to Juventus for £1.2 million and two years later he went for £48 million. So I think the people at Newcastle got it slightly wrong." Somebody certainly got it wrong. Could Kevin Keegan really have turned down the chance to sign the French international playmaker and successor to Eric Cantona, who was winning the Premier League title with Manchester United at time, for a mere £1.2 million?

A good chuckle for the weekend. What are your thoughts on some other horrible misses?

How playstation gave me the idea for Les Bleus

Ok I will admit that I have been playing Fifa 07 on my PS2 to feed my footie fix (my team had an off day on Sunday due to Labor Day) and as I was playing I came to realization that Domenech or hopefully the new manager...wink wink....post Belgrade should learning something from one of the formation that I like to use in Fifa - the 4-1-2-1-2, basically the 1-2-1 plays in a diamond formation in the midfield, see the figure below:



Here is why the new manager...wink wink....should think about this formation:

• Do we really need 2 holding midfielders? Diarra and Toulalan seem to be overkill. I realize that some would argue, well Zidane played with THREE holding midfielders - Petit, Deschamps, Karembeu - however I would state that first Zidane was a special talent (understatement alert) and was able to function with this time of freedom and space. Additionally, Petit and Karembeu were, what I would consider, hybrid holding midfielders. Both had a high work rate, both were not afraid to push up and help offensively, while both were not goal scorers (7 total goals between the two under the France jersey) they had the ability to pressure the opponent's penalty box. Petit of the two, had a decent shot from distance. Toulalan is much more in the Makelele role - work hard, tackle, and win the ball -but offensively lacking. This worked well when Makelele was shouldering Vieira, a player that can score and does score. I think that Diarra has the chance to be more like Vieira than Makelele - more offensive than the tackling machine that is Makelele. However in the current form, I do not see why Les Bleus need the additional holding midfielder.
• This formation calls upon your right and left fullback to make deep runs offensively to bring width to your formation...Evra/Clichy/Sagna/Fanni/Abidal all the options at full back have the ability to bring width to the offense. One thing I noticed during the Romania game was the ability for Sagna and Evra to jump into the play offensively offering crosses and offensive pressure when need be. With the diamond formation, there should be more space on the wide channels for Evra and Sagna to push up the field.
• The top of the formation, top of the midfield diamond and the 2 strikers, gives Les Bleus greater flexibility to have more of their talent on the pitch - Gourcuff sitting behind Henry/Anelka? Or Henry/Benzema...or Gignac/Henry....the ability to have a striker tandem up front allows for more offensive talent on the pitch.
• Allowing to have Henry slot higher, but still on the left, allows Les Bleus to slot a Ribery back on the left side of the midfield, or have Malouda on the left and Ribery on the right, but with more room to work with. With a player like Malouda, who came up as a full back, you have a player that understands the importance of defending and back tracking. There are also options to have Ribery on the left and a Remy or Luyindula on the right side of the diamond.

Granted, this formation takes some muscle out of the midfield, but with more offensive talent on the pitch it should pressure opponents and score more goals than in this current formation. Players like Lass will have increased responsibilities defensively, however also more freedom to push up the pitch, similar to what he did with Portsmouth and now with Real Madrid. Ribery and Malouda would have more room to be creative in the midfield, and Gourcuff would be pushed higher with 2 offensive options at his disposal.

Just an idea for France's new manager....

Sagnol retires...merci

Willy Sagnol has announced his retirement from professional football, for the most part this was not by his choice. A nagging injury has caused the Bayern man to leave the scene. A converted winger, Sagnol always gave Les Bleus an extra element when he would come up the right wing supporting the offense. I also think during France's run in 2006 in the Germany World Cup, he was the best crosser of the ball France had. He almost got the assist when his cross to Zidane forced a terrific save from Buffon late in the finals.



Sagnol was an important part of France's success during that run. Unfortunately we might remember him more for staying longer with Les Bleus. During the 2008 European Cup, it was evident that Sagnol and the rest of the old guard could not keep up with speed from teams such as Holland. That should not be his legacy.

Sagnol was a solid international defender. You could always see the influence he carried over from his early days as a winger. He will be missed, but I think that his retirement will allow Domenech to move on, go with Sagna as France's right back.

Merci Willy