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 one time "next great center back" - Younes Kaboul. Received his first call up for the senior France squad as eventual cover for Mexes. The former Auxerre center back received a lot of attention when he moved across the pond to Tottenham, he was seen as a serious contender to become France's pillar at center back. However a few seasons of up and down success have relegated him to an after thought for Les Bleus. Until recently. After moving to Portsmouth and then back to Tottenham, it appears that Kaboul has slowly found his legs in the EPL. His inclusion is a pleasant surprise and I am sure a well deserved pat on the back for the former Auxerre defender. Clearly his ability to also play right back or in the midfield helps his cause, goal this weekend not withstanding, I would argue that Sagna is far from being the undisputed #1 choice at right back for Les Bleus.
It will be interesting to see how Blanc uses the Tottenham man if at all, but at least he is cycling through the options he has with regards to players available to him. Question becomes - was the Arsenal man Koscielny in the conversation to be called up? I am sure the Polish FA is watching this with interest since he could figure for Polska's national squad if Blanc ignores him for much longer.
Henry, Trezeguet, Anelka, Cisse, Saha...an impressive list of strikers. And before you mock the inclusions of Cisse and Saha let us not forget what Saha was doing with Fulham and then Manchester United or the fact that prior to Cisse suffering horrific leg breaks he was one of the most sought after strikers in the world. Some of the goals he scored for Auxerre were absurd and he has lead two domestic leagues as top scorer. What is interesting is that Henry, Trezeguet and Anelka all came up together. The first two making the 1998 World Cup winning squad with the latter being a late cut from the squad.
And since 1998, France have had the luxury of being able to call on this talented pool of strikers. However today it appears Les Bleus have the opposite problem. With the international retirement of both Henry and Anelka, the age of Trezeguet and Saha, and finally the off again on again form from Cisse, Blanc does not appear to have options that Les Bleus otherwise took for granted. Players like Le Tallec, Sinama Pongolle, Aliadiere and Gomis were suppose to provide some fresh blood to the strike force. All have shown some potential but none have come close to the hype.
Even the supposed new golden boy - Benzema - has failed to impress recently struggling at both club and country level to approach the expectations that he established while at Lyon. He is still young - only 22 - so all is not lost. But one has to say that so far he has not lived up to what is clearly enormous potential. It is somewhat disconcerting that your #1 striker is a 10 - 15 minute substitute for his club.
None of the other strikers would be mistaken for Henry or Trezeguet in their prime:
Gameiro - nice player with good pace. But not sure he is a world class international level striker.
Hoarau - won a Ligue 2 scoring title had a great first season with PSG but has struggled with injuries and form. His recent showings for Les Bleus have been useful, but not top notch.
Remy - always compared to Henry, which we should stop doing. A nice player with great pace and good finishing, a real option coming in from a wide position. But again, not sure he has become a top class international striker.
Payet - The inform striker in Ligue 1, although he and St Etienne have cooled off recently, another good striker with pace but appears to better fit the late game substitute than a 90 minute striker.
All of these strikers are young - under 26 - and bring different strengths to the table, however none stand out based on form for either club nor country. Interesting that all 4 listed above still play in Ligue 1....
This is what makes international football so interesting, or frustrating to some like Gooner. Unlike at Arsenal or PSG or Real Madrid, you cannot simply go out and acquire players to fill needs, you have to do what you can with the available national talent. Clearly Les Bleus have the opposite problem when it comes to defensive midfielders: M'Vila, ADiarra, LDiarra, Matuidi, Toulalan, Flamini and Mavuba - have all been called upon to hold up the defensive responsibilities for Les Bleus. Clearly a wealth of options. Even left back - Abidal, Evra and Clichy. Or look at Argentina - Messi, Higuain, Tevez, Milito and Aguero were the striker options at the World Cup - ridiculous depth and talent, yet they could not find serviceable right and left fullbacks!
Clearly international sides have to deal with the talent that comes through the ranks and cannot simply purchase for need. France is dealing with this right now, how to replace the likes of Henry and Trezeguet up front. The cupboard is not bare by any stretch but when you no longer have the services of two of Les Bleus' all time scorers, the task is much more daunting. There is some help on the horizon in the likes of Kakuta, Sunu and Griezmann who have all shown great potential for the U19 squad. However players like N'Gog and Obertan will need to step up soon and integrate with the current crop of forwards waiting for the Kakuta generation to fulfill their potential.
A bright future, but still questions remain for the near term.
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the war to end all wars came to an end. The war that lasted 5 years and devastated the European continent and people - close to 40million casualties - was suppose to be the last great war. How could any country or people dare go through such horror again. Alas the globe suffered another, even more deadly conflict in 1939 and we continue to this day to have war and conflicts.
While today is specifically set aside to remember the brave men and women who are serving and have served and sacrificed so that we could live under the blanket of freedom we should always be thankful for their service and efforts.
I dare not think of how things could be were it not for their actions.
For the last France international of the year, next week in Wembley versus England, Laurent Blanc called many of the same players he has leaned on in his rebuilding project....with some exceptions. The return of Eric Abidal is an interesting inclusion. The list:
Gardiens : Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Cédric Carrasso (Bordeaux)
Défenseurs : Eric Abidal (Barcelone), Gaël Clichy (Arsenal), Bakary Sagna (Arsenal), Philippe Mexès (AS Rome), Adil Rami (Lille), Mamadou Sakho (PSG), Anthony Réveillère (Lyon)
No major surprises in the list. Still no Evra - last game of his FFF suspension - he will be eligible to return for the first match of 2011 against Brazil. Also no Ribery, because he is still recovering from injury. Alou Diarra gets the call even though he has been suspended by Ligue 1 due to his actions towards an official - he had a physical altercation after receiving a red card. Clearly signals that he has the potential to be one of Blanc's core players. It will be interesting to see if he also retains the captain's arm band.
The biggest surprise is the return of Eric Abidal. While the Barcelona defender avoided disciplinary action based on what transpired in South Africa, he found himself in international football Siberia for the first matches of Blanc's tenure. However there has never been any denying in his talents, the main issue was the way Domenech utilized the defender. Rather than playing him at his natural left back, he was always slotted in central defense by Domenech, a role Abidal was clearly not comfortable with. Blanc has made it clear that he selected the left back...to play left back. Clichy has been the left back of choice recently for France and has done an admirable job, however his performances have not cemented him in that position. With Abidal back in the fold, there will be some competition to take over that role. Evra has not had great performances for Manchester United, however assuming he returns closer to form, he will be back in the mix as well for left back. Add to this Tremoulinas and you have a wealth of options for left back, sometimes having too many choices means you have none! But I trust that Blanc and the play on the field will make clear who will take over the left back role for Les Bleus.
Much will be determined during the practices at Clairfontaine see how Blanc will align his team for next week's match. My guess is the following line up will be rolled out onto the pitch, formation will be a 4-2-3-1:
Blanc might go back to the 4-4-2 diamond, take out M'Vila and slot in Gourcuff at the top of the diamond, move Nasri out to the right (similar to his role at Arsenal) and shoulder Benzema with Hourau/Remy and place Valbuena on the substitute bench. Abidal might also be slotted at left back over Clichy, but I think Blanc will lean on many of his Premier League players in his starting line up - Clichy, Sagna, Malouda and Nasri...
It will be an interesting test for Les Bleus. The problem with these friendlies, other than the fact my fellow podcaster Gooner does not like them, is the timing - is that it comes at the end of the international season (a World Cup one at that) and the middle of many tough domestic seasons. Not sure how much the players will have left in their legs as well as in their compete level. The fact it is France v England provides a natural incentive in terms of rivalries.
I hope it is a good game, I hope no one picks up an injury....but I have a feeling we might see a drab 0-0 draw.
Frog and I had a conversation right at the end of our podcast last night about how to improve the Champions League.
Some people might take issue with the idea that the Champions League even needs improving. I'm sympathetic.
During the group stages, there are always a few interesting games. The Final 16 knock-out rounds are incredible. And the final is a fantastic footballing spectacle that they smartly moved to a weekend day so the whole world could more easily enjoy the match. But as the second half of the group stage matches kick off today, none of the big clubs are under any real threat to not make it through. Most of the "minnows" are anchored firmly at the bottom of the table in their respective groups (sorry for the blurry image, click on it for a full-rez version).
Most of the surprise results have come from smaller clubs parking the bus and frustrating the bigger teams. That's fine from a tactics point of view, but it doesn't exactly lead to a dazzling display of football.
So without further ado, here's my proposal: Have two separate group sections of the Champions League. One for the big boys, one for the "outsiders". 24 big clubs from big countries (see below for full breakdown) play the group rounds for 12 slots between them. Then, secondary clubs from big nations (4th place in England, etc.), and the winners of the lesser domestic leagues fill a second group of 24 that plays for the final 4 Round of 16 knock-out slots. 6 Group winners, plus 2 "Wild Cards" would advance to a knock-out round of 8 to determine the 4 that would join the final 16 bracket.
This would create more games, more excitement, more competition. It would guarantee outsider clubs at least 4 slots in the knock-out stages.
What do you think?
Breakdown of the 2 brackets, all derived from current UEFA Coefficient Rankings 24 Big Clubs: 3 each from England, Spain & Germany, 2 each from Italy, France & Portugal, 1 each from Russia, Holland, Turkey, Greece, Ukraine, Denmark, Belgium and Romania ( 24 Outsider Clubs: 4th club from England, Spain, Germany, 3rd club from Italy, France, Portugal, 2nd club from Russia, Holland, Ukraine, Turkey, Greece, Denmark, Belgium 1st club from Scotland, Switzerland, Israel, Austria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia, Norway, Sweden, Belarus, Cyprus
You can find the podcast on iTunes as well. We cover the first quarter of the season in the EPL, Ligue 1, Germany and Spain. We make fun of the Scottish Premier League, comparing it unfavorably to the MLS, and discuss Arsenal's goal-keeping situation at length.
Enjoy. And please share your thoughts on the podcast, good, bad or ugly (to borrow Frog's match report format).
The war of words continues as Rafa Benitez slings more incomprehensible jabs about the man that took over for him at Liverpool - Roy Hodgson. Granted the new Liverpool gaffer has found himself under a certain degree of pressure as the storied club only recently fought itself out of the relegation zone. Hodgson clearly inherited a club laden with failed signings from the Benitez era. Of course Rafa babbles about how he only spent a net 10m pounds and left with 17 internationals on the rosters...but how many new trophies did he add to the Liverpool trophy case with (take away the Champions League miracle)?
Note to Rafa, success at clubs such as Liverpool are measured in the silverware added to the trophy case...not the amount of internationals you have on your roster. What Rafa fails to realize, or admit, is that his tenure at Liverpool was flawed and in reality a failure. During his time he watched hated rival Manchester United equal the Reds in terms of overall league titles, yes he did win a Champions League trophy, but that was due to 15 minutes of insanity versus Milan. He did get a second place finish...but that and $4.00 gets you a latte at Starbucks. Rafa does have a tough task at Inter - following in the footsteps of the Special One and the Inter treble of last season - he has Inter within 4 points of the leader Lazio. Inter is also sits atop Group A in the Champions League and if they win at White Hart Lane, will qualify for the knock out stage. Of course nothing matters unless Inter makes a deep run in the knock out stage.
Meanwhile I am sure Rafa will continue to throw stones at Hodgson, Gillett and Hicks - somehow making everyone but him the reason why he did not succeed at Liverpool. We heard this the past two seasons when he was managing the Reds so why should anything change from the Spaniard???
