Repeat of World Cup 2002 as France and Uruguay share dull draw.

Yep, once again we drew with Uruguay in what was an unsatisfying and rather ill-tempered game at the Stade de France.

It was a frustrating first half, as expected, with the Uruguayans showing very little attacking intent and defending very aggressively. I always find it baffling when I watch them play and think to myself what are they doing? Is it some training ground exercise – show as little attacking intent as possible, don’t try to keep the ball and just tackle and hustle the crap out of your opposition! What on earth does that accomplish?

The play was choppy with the Uruguayans constantly breaking the game down and stopping France from getting any momentum. Still, France were very slick and very active and showed a lot of positive intent and as a result got themselves in many good positions but unfortunately couldn’t make the most of moments.

At half time Domenech brought of Alou Diarra for Vieira and Savidan got his controversial cap, Anelka making way after a pretty decent first half.

But the second half was more of the same and as the half wore on France got more and more frustrated. After that Benzema came on for Ribery, who had to go off injured, and then later Briand came on for Henry and Nasri for Gourcuff.

It made little difference, however, as the minutes continued to fly by as nothing happened. There was one entertaining moment, however, when Savidan tried a crazy bicycle kick off a deep Fanni cross! It was hilarious and if it had come off we’d all have been saying this guy has to play again!!

At 80 minutes it was already clear that France weren’t going to score and thats how it turned out. If you asked me what Domenech has learnt from playing these unique opponents I really wouldn’t be able to say. It was all a pointless affair.

I don’t think this was the best of experiences for us as a team as it was a rather frustrating evening. Individually we looked quite good. Anelka is still sharp, Henry is looking like the old Henry and Ribery and Gourcuff still share that spark.

At the back Mexes and Gallas didn’t cock up, which was nice and Lloris was pretty okay, without being really tested. Fanni was a monster in the first half and caused the Uruguayans all sorts of problems! And thats saying something considering the way the Uruguayans defended. But our man Rod just barged his way through them. I think one thing this game showed just how much skill and strength the kid has!

So, have we learned to play the South Americans? No, we haven’t. Although I must say we showed a lot more penetration than we did last time we played them – so thats something at least. But we still didn’t score.

When the draw for the World Cup comes Uruguay will be one team I definitely won’t want to face – and good luck to anyone who does!

-J.P. de Rosnay

France:

H. Lloris, W. Gallas, P. Mexes, P. Evra, R. Fanni, P. Vieira, J. Toulalan, Y. Gourcuff, T. Henry, N. Anelka, F. Ribéry

Uruguay:

F. Carini, D. Godin, D. Lugano, M. Cáceres, B. Silva, W. Gargano, M. Pereira ,C. Rodriguez, A. Pereira, D. Forlan, L. Suárez

Uruguay comes to town to face an ever-rebuilding France

Ho-hum here come the Uruguyans for some fun.

Uruguay?

That’s right, in the midst of a tougher than expected European World Cup Qualyfing campaign (or was it expected?), where we’re having trouble dealing with teams from our own continent, we’ve invited some South Americans over. Oh, Argentina? No, that’s next February. Brazil? Nope. We’ve asked one of the more anti-flowing South Americans teams (if that’s even possible!) to come and stockpile their half of the pitch, to lunge in with late tackles and generally try and avoid having too much fun.

Oh, oh, but i forget, as ol Doms points out, “they are a unique side [clearly] and can present a tough challenge in the World Cup”.

Ahem, World Cup? How about we first figure out how to handle teams that are supposedly beneath us (Austria are 80 ranking spots below us, according to Mr. Blatter), and then we’ll worry about those “unique” sides.

But, I suppose that’s too negative from me so let’s move on–wait, aren’t there other European teams who have friendly dates tomorrow? England play Germany, why can’t we play a high quality opponent? This whole arrangement with Uruguay smacks of “well all your [Uruguay] players are based in Europe so why don’t we do you a favour…we left it too late anyway”.

OK, back to the actual game. Couple of injuries have thinned are squad…Sagna, L. Diarra and Escudé are all out. While Doms has brought in BoumBoum for “support” (i thought i said our squad was already thinned??) he has not replaced Sagna. So the only right back by left is Fanni, making him poised to earn his 2nd cap–and 2nd start in a row! The Rennes man was brilliant the last time out and he has a real shot at cementing himself as Sagna’s backup, especially with the news coming out that Sagnol will call his international career if he doesn’t recover from his current injury (and even he does, apparently). Add to that Francois Clerc’s long term injury, and Fanni has a real chance here.

The big surprise though is the inclusion of the 30 year old Caen striker Steve Savidan. A career lower league journeyman, Savidan helped Valenciennes gain several promotions to LIgue 1 and impressed enough to be transferred to Caen, where he already has 7 goals this season. Doms is keen to see if “he can raise his game another level”. It’s an odd choice, we have younger strikers who weren’t picked, like Sinama-Pongolle, as well as some who have been (Briand) but who’ve never been given a real shot. And now here’s Savidan. And he could play too (why pick him if he won’t play?). At today’s press conference at Clairefontaine, Doms, answered that thought with “nothing’s impossible”. Although he also mentioned that when asked about the apparent synchronicity between Savidan and Ribéry, “yes, both players could be on the pitch together–or on the bench!”.

Vieira is back in the squad, and barring any last minutes setbacks I expect him to play.

There are questions in central defense…who will pair with Gallas? Will Mexes be given another chance? Probably. Although Silvestre has sneaked into the squad…

There’s also some debate at goalkeeper. Mandanda was virtually handed the #1 shirt after the summer, but hasn’t convincing of late, while Hugo Lloris has been in impeccable form for Lyon. A change there, albeit possibly temporary, would be no surprise.

Malouda and Ben Arfa were left out of the attack, but Doms did not seem too concerned as he dished the proverbial “not everyone can always be picked, their time will come again”. He even went so far as to say that Ben Arfa would be in for the Argentina game since it’s taking place in Marseille.

Nasri gets the nod off the back of his impressive game vs Manchester United and Gourcuff seems like he’s already undroppable.

The rest of the attack isn’t a surprise, it will just be a question of who starts…

Score prediction: 3-1

Full squad:

Keepers: Mandanda, Lloris, Pelé
Defenders: Clichy, Escudé, Gallas, Mexès, Evra, Fanni, Sagna, Silvestre, Boumsong
Midfielders: A Diarra, L. Diarra, Gourcuff, Nasri, Toulalan, Vieira
Forwards: Anelka, Henry, Benzema, Briand, Ribéry, Savidan

Last night France fought back from two goals down to rescue a point against Romania. Florentin Petre stunned Les Bleus on 6 minutes by putting the hosts ahead with a right-footed shot and they doubled their lead 11 minutes later when Dorin Goian scored from a header.

17 minutes played and already 2-0 down (against Romania of all teams!) and it already looked unlikely that France were going to be able salvage anything from this game. But Les Bleus came back well, scoring in the 37th minute through Ribery.

In the second half France were dominant and put constant pressure on the Romanian . Gourcuff also came into his own, pulling strings in the midfield and feeding Ribery with perfectly measured balls, allowing him to terrorize the defenders. The pressure finally told and in the 69th minute Gourcuff scored with a 35 yard shot and ultimately earning France a point in Constanta. 

Its hard to know what to take from that game… Obviously its good that we managed to draw in the end, but then its worrying that we went behind by so many goals so quickly. Also, would we have played with such fluency and aggression had we not gone behind so early? 3 games in and there is still no sign if a new France has begun to emerge.

Thankfully results elsewhere were favourable for France, with leaders Lithuania being spanked by Serbia and Austria slipping up with an embarrassing draw against the Faroe Islands! Lithuania and Serbia are now the joint leaders on 6 points, with France, Romania and Austria all on 4 points.

As good as the other results in the group were it is unlikely, however, that this is what the FFF were expecting when they had their little sit-down with Domenech after the Euros! Its been an extremely up-and-down experience over for us in Group 7 – even by France’s usual inconsistent standards! There have certainly been some positive moments but there have also been some very alarming ones and its extremely worrying that after 3 games all we can muster is 4 points in a group containing Lithuania, Austria, Romania and Serbia!

Henry has quickly come out in support for Domenech and said that they were inspired to come back for him. He also said that a probation system isn’t good for the team, calling instead for the FFF to commit to Domenech for the full campaign. On Wednesday we’ll see whether the old man manages to hold on to his job.

-J.P. de Rosnay

This is probably one of the most straight-forward previews I’ve had to do. My opinion on tonight is simple – France have to be positive and aggressive. They have to be creative and score goals In a word, France have to badass. Nothing else will do. Thats because this is Romania.

Our draw in the opening game of Euro 2008 against Romania four months ago was symptomatic of all that had been wrong with France Football over the last two years (or even since the beginning of Domenech’s reign, according to some). That result was criminal and our attitude baffling. One point against Romania is professional suicide in a group containing Italy and Holland and yet our team played for a draw with alarming determination and focus.

That game typified the negativity of France’s play over the last two years – an attitude which had been present even as far back as four years ago. If France are to show that they have adopted a new footballing philosophy then a positive display from them tonight is imperative. We cannot go back to playing like that again. And nothing will indicate that nothing has changed like another negative game against Romania.

And if the FFF are serious about their ultimatum that they gave Domenech then they will have to fire him were tonight to be a repeat of Euro 2008. I personally don’t see how they would get away with not sacking him and I can’t imagine that Domenech doesn’t know this. And for that matter too, the team must also know that the guillotine is poised.

The only way that I can see a weak result being palatable is if its a very open draw, with us playing creative and attacking football and having a host of chances. But even that may be a “bad” result too many after our embarrassing loss against Austria.

So for those reasons the only result I can see tonight is a good win. Anything else would make me seriously question the intelligence and commitment of Domenech and our team.

The Team

We’ve suffered a big loss in William Gallas having to withdraw, which means that we will have two relatively new centre-backs playing side by side.  Govou, Diarra and Nasri will also be absent and Anelka and Ben Arfa are doubts.

But there is good news too as France welcome back Ribery and Vieira – two of the most talismanic players in the current squad. Boumsong comes in for Gallas and Jimmy Briand has comes in for cover.

At the back it’ll probably be Sagna, Mexes, Abidal and Evra (although Boumsong could also start) and all eyes will be focused on our inexperienced centre-back pairing.

In the middle it is likely to be Vieira and Toodles in the centre, with Ribery and Gourcuff filling in the creative roles. Vieira’s return could be key. When fit he is a very inspirational player and his aggressive game can be a powerful catalyst for our play. Gourcuff is showing much promise so far and Ribery is the man for France at the moment.

Up front we should see Henry and Benzema and it’ll be very important for us to have our strikers impose themselves and hopefully score again as they did against Serbia. Henry will have taken a lot of confidence from the Serbia game and I expect him to do well tonight.

Domenech could also go with just Henry up front, with Ribery and probably Malouda supporting him. And, if fit, Anelka will hopefully feature.

-J.P. de Rosnay

Encouraging play earns relieves pressure on Domenech

Greetings from Munich!

Just a quick post as I’m on limited internet time…

Well it wasn’t the crushing win we were hoping for, but it was apparently very encouraging.

Domenech replaced Mexes with–gulp–Abidal, yet there was thankfully no repeat of his Italy performance. It would have been a huge confidence boost for him. Clichy also came in for Evra and had some dynamite runs down the flank. Perhaps most importantly though, Doms handed the young Gourcuff (Bordeaux) his first start in place of Nasri and he looked every bit the playmaker we’ve desperately needed, pulling the strings and going for goal (he hit the crossbar in the 72nd minute).

Both goals came in the second half, the first by Henry off a Govou pass and the second by Anelka, after Gourcuff had done the work. Anelka had come on at halftime for Benzema.

We annoyingly allowed another set piece goal as the Serbs pulled one back–and it wasn’t the only time in the game we looked weak on set pieces. But, our overall play should give us some good hope going into the Romania game, who themselves had trouble beating the Faroes 1-0.

In other games, Lithuania took the group lead by beating Austria 2-0.

–Stéphane F.

France suffer humiliating defeat in Vienna

Sigh. Hello fellow sufferers. Sorry about not venting any sooner, but I just couldn’t get myself to put this post together…and with JP off getting burnt in Greece for the week, I’m afraid the blog got neglected!!!

I won’t dwell too much on the game, as you’ll have surely read some reports about it already. To be honest I’m finding it a bit hard to completely fault Domenech for this performance. I mean, if you have seen the goals, you’ll have seen our defense doing some incredibly basic errors, that cannot be attributed to the coach. What Mexes and Gallas are doing on those first two goals, i have no idea. Why are they backpedaling, instead of trying to meet the cross? In both instances, Mexes/Gallas end up between Mandanda and the goal scorer. What is that about? That is basic defending stuff. I can’t really blame Steve either because his defenders are so far back, so close to him, that he can’t push out.

And the penalty Mexes gave away, that’s just inexcusable really. You do see that kind of thing ignored a lot of the time. And in fact the french commentators had this exchange after it was awarded: “How can he [Mexes] expect to get away with that?”, “because he has done all game”. But why Mexes, a very good defender, felt the need to rugby tackle a player of a much lesser skill level, I have no idea.

We did have a nice passage of play before/after Govou’s goal (who’s really been playing well lately and finishing at a high level), but that’s obviously not enough. Why we struggled to score against a team like Austria, I don’t know. We can’t blame Malouda…he’d been banshed to the stands by Doms for his comments earlier in the week. Offensively, those were the players we wanted in there (well Ribéry aside of course). It was clear that we desperately need a playmaker like Ribs. Yet he’s not really that kind of player. He slashes, yes, and creates opportunities, but he’s not a central midfielder who is going to pull the strings.

I will criticize Doms and say that we must stop playing with two defensive midfielders. This is insane to have Toulalan and Diarra chilling out in the back. Diarra has had 2 games now and hasn’t really impressed, so it’s time to give someone else a chance. Flamini? Maybe. More importantly we need someone who is going to be allowed to push forward. Doms can hide behind the fact that we were playing away and so maybe there’s a need to play more conservatively, but on Wednesday, there’s nowhere to hide…at home to Serbia, we must win and look good doing it. I’m talking about 2-0 or 3-1. Anything else and this black cloud will still be heavy upon us.

Still it’s not all bad. Romania somehow lost 3-0, at home to Lithuania. Serbia had England-style trouble in defeating the Faroe Islands. And we know the Austrians are going to be hard pressed in keeping this up. So we have a lot of games left, but we need to shake things up. This is pretty much the last gasp for Doms–and my trust in him. We should be cruising through this group with the talent we have. Hopefully the Austria game will be a wake-up call (as if we needed another one!) for the players to show them that just because we’re playing more “attacking” football, that doesn’t mean we’re going to waltz this group. Players still need to be personally accountable and maintain 100% concentration…especially on these damn set-pieces!

I won’t be able to report on the Serbia game, as I’m in Germany from tomorrow till Sunday. Hopefully, I’ll enjoy reading L’Equipe Thursday morning. Allez Les Bleus!

–Stéphane F.

Raymond Domenech today released his list of 22 players for the two upcoming World Cup qualifying clashes with Austria (in Vienna on September 6th) and Serbia (Stade de France on September 10th).

Not really any surprises, but Boumsong is dropped and Abidal recalled (even though he’s still suspended for the Austria game). No one really knows if Abidal would go straight back into the starting lineup, say in place of Evra, so the Austria game will give Patrice one more chance to make it impossible for Doms to drop him (which you would think was obvious given that this new attacking play totally suits Evra more, but never you mind). If anything Abidal provides decent cover at left-back and centre-back. Squillaci is also back in for more training groun depth. The Rod Fanni (Rennes) even keeps his squad place, though it’s unlikely he’ll get his first cap.

Ben Arfa and Nasri (2 goals in 3 games for Arsenal) are back in, let’s hope Nasri stays fit for the next few weeks.

Interestingly, Makelele is left off the squad. Even though he’s retired internationally (for the second time) Domenech made it very clear he does not adhere to such things when he sent Makelele a notice of his possible call-up. Doms followed that up in the press by saying that he’s the one who chooses who plays and who doesn’t, not the players. Technically he’s right, players cannot refuse international call-ups if they are fit. Of course, a player’s motivation and fitness come into play, so Doms isn’t about to call up any old dude. And it always seemed that Maks was a bit torn…so whether he’s been left off due to his fitness or if aks has finally told Doms “enough if enough” is anyone’s guess. Again, great opportunity for someone else to cement a place. I’m not sure we’ve the last of Maks though, Doms also said he values his experience and that it could be needed in the squad. Does that mean a possible bit-part role for Maks in the future? Possibly…

Keeper-wise, Mandanda and Lloris are still 1-2, respectively. With Coupet playing back-up at Atletico Madrid and Frey taking his international retirement (after 2 measly caps–thanks for nothing Seb), those 2 young keepers could be locked in a duel from now till South Africa.

Squad:

Keepers: Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Hugo Lloris (Lyon)
Defenders: Eric Abidal (FC Barcelona), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), William Gallas (Arsenal), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Rod Fanni (Rennes), Philippe Mexès (AS Roma), Gaël Clichy (Arsenal), Sébastien Squillaci (FC Sevilla)
Midfielders : Mathieu Flamini (AC Milan), Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth), Jérémy Toulalan (Lyon), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Hatem Ben Arfa (Marseille), Alou Diarra (Bordeaux), Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux), Sidney Govou (Lyon), Samir Nasri (Arsenal)
Strikers: Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Karim Benzema (Lyon)

Sacré bleu!

Not 1, not 2, but 3 goals for our boys in blue!!! My oh my, how long has it been since that has happened?! Almost a year to be exact!!! Not since a 6-0 drubbing of our part-time buddies the Faroes Islands have we put 3 goals past an opponent. And before that, you have to go back to the 3-1 win over Italy about 2 years ago…this blog didn’t even exist then!

Start of a new era? The players and coaches would have you believe it. I suppose it’s a start but let’s stay realistic. Optimistic but realistic.

We’ve still got defensive issues, that’s for sure. And to me it’s team defending, not just the back 4.

Before we get too into it, let me apologize as I was only able to watch the 2nd half. I saw the goals from the 1st half but I can only go by what the announcers were saying of the gameplay in that first 45 minutes.

Certainly it was a bad start. 5 minutes in and old man Larsson reminds us he could still play in a top league if he wanted to, as he volleys one in from 10 yards out off a cross. No chance for Stevie-boy. Still this “new look” seemed to be producing the goods and the boys were obviously gelling pretty well. Fruits of our labors confirmed on 19 minutes as Sagna bolts down his sideline and crosses one for Benzema to power home! All right! That’s the goal JP was clamoring for! Well there was more where that came from my friend!

After about 15 minutes of Swedish pressure to start the second half, we started to control the game more and more. And our athleticism really shone bright. I don’t think anyone could tell this was the first game of the season. You had Henry zipping past people (very encouraging); Evra and Sagna getting down when they needed to; Lassana combining skill and power; even Toodles making people look silly (ok, only once to be fair); and of course the Benzecedes doing his thing. It all culminated in a great 2nd goal on 61 minutes, a goal that started at the half way line and took but mere seconds to unfold. Toodles showed he’s not just a defensive mid as he sidefooted a ball towards the sideline where Malouda (who according to the French announcers “hadn’t played this well in a while”) got on it and one-timed a cross between back-pedaling defenders and Isaksson and onto an onrushing Govou who slotted home first time from the edge of the box. Fantastic! The kind of goal you want to score.

Govou wasn’t done though, nor was our stylish play as on 77 minutes Henry collected a ball deep in the box but outside the 6 yard box. His backheel flick fell perfectly to Govou who just had to make contact with the ball. It bounced off Isaksson and back off Govou into the net. A great goal as you could see the players really enjoying themselves, which is a relief after the summer they (we) had. It also confirmed that Henry looks very good. Very quick and his timing is there. He could have scored himself a few minutes later with one of his trademark far post flicks, but the ball just didn’t sit right for him.

It’s a shame we gave away the penalty in the end. It was unnecessary. Alou Diarra, a sub for Malouda, in the game to add some midfield muscle, made a bad challenge as he tried to come back and help his defenders–who probably had it covered anyway. But I won’t dwell on it too much. As Raymond (more or less) said after the game: “if we open ourselves up more to attack, we’re going to give away chances. If you asked me how I’d rather win, 1-0 or 3-2, I’d take 3-2 every time”. Agreed.

Ok, it wasn’t all roses…our team defending needs improving. I’m not passing too much judgment because there’s bound to be some growing pains if we’re trying to get forward more. Still, we finished the game poorly from that penalty (85th min) onwards. We couldn’t hold the ball and we gave it away a lot. You’d think a midfield duo of Toodles and Lassana would control that.

The Mexes-Gallas partnership wasn’t too bad, they had some excellent tackles and the determination was there. As I said I think (at least in the 2nd half) it was our team defense that let us down. But apparently the first half saw more close calls.

It was great to see Stevie boy step up to the challenge. He looked really good. Good command and strong and decisive.

I was also pleased to see Doms not make many changes. We need to gel quickly and get a feel for this new approach. Too many subs would have disrupted that. In the end, he made only 1 significant change as Alou Diarra replaced Malouda. The young Gourcuff did come on for 30 seconds to claim his first cap, prompting the announcers to wonder if he was going to shower after the game, let alone get a touch (he didn’t).

I think it’s safe to say this is most likely the team that will play vs Austria (who tonight blew a 2-0 lead over Italy but held on for a 2-2 draw) September 6th. That to me would be very good news! Sagna and Evra looked great, no need to bring Abidal in (he has suspended for this game due to you know what). I was a bit disappointed with Lassana. To me it didn’t seem that he was too involved. The Benzecedes-Henry pairing looks potentially lethal up front.

Now I can’t say for sure, maybe Annabelle can help out, but did TF1 always do on-field interviews with Doms at halftime and after the game? Or is this part of the new “transparency” we’re supposed to be seeing? If it is, it’s great. It’s always cool to hear his thoughts, and especially now he’s not bullshitting as much. He pretty much echoed the whole “new era” thing and was pleased with the offensive display while accepting that this new approach would cause more nervous moments at the back…

All in all, a very good start and confidence boost ahead of the qualifiers. But that’s all it is still–a start.

–Stéphane F.

Here’s the line-up that Domenech has announced:

Mandanda

Sagna, Mexes, Gallas, Evra

Govou, Toodles, L. Diarra, Malouda

Henry (c), Benzema

Really cool to see Sagna in there, but otherwise not too adventurous from Domenech. I really hope that he doesn’t think that Diarra and Toodles are going to be his new Makelele and Vieira, ’cause Toodles is a poor man’s Vieira (and really much better used in a different capacity) and Diarra can be a lot more useful than simply a Makelele player.

And Malouda. Well, if that punk knows whats good for him he’ll play his heart out or he won’t set foot on that pitch. I’ve never been driven to hate-mail but Malouda is pushing me close.

-J.P. de Rosnay

The preparation for the World Cup starts here.

The Euros? What happened? I’ve forgotten. Thats over. Lets look forward to the next two years and hopefully a good summer in 2010!

And, boy, have we got a squad of talent to work with! So I’m really looking forward to seeing how our team evolves. It’s also going to be interesting to see what Domenech does. Stephane and I, while not disciples of the man, have faith that he can do a good job. Whether he will or not will soon become apparent. At the very least, however, he’s certainly a man with a few ideas in that curly-topped head of his!

It’s rather odd playing so early, however. Football in August?! I’m still thinking about cricket! Its going to be weird seeing our boys so soon again and I hope they’ve all had good summers and are suitably refreshed.

The Squad

As ever, our little thunderbirds man has thrown in some interesting caps!

Goalkeepers: Mandanda (Marseille), Lloris (Lyon)

Defenders : Boumsong (Lyon), Sagna (Arsenal), Gallas (Arsenal), Evra (Manchester United), Fanni (Rennes), Mexès (AS Rome), Clichy (Arsenal)

Midfielders: Flamini (AC Milan), L. Diarra (Portsmouth), Toulalan (Lyon), Malouda (Chelsea), A. Diarra (Bordeaux), Gourcuff (Bordeaux), Govou (Lyon)

Forwards: Henry (Barcelone), Anelka (Chelsea), Benzema (Lyon)

The first thing that stands out is Mandanda there – and none of the other three keepers that went to the euros! Apparently Doms didn’t include Frey ’cause Serie A hasn’t started yet – but then whats Mexes doing there…? Anyway, Mandanda is the man with the number 1 jersey, and thats a lot of faith in the man. But everyone in the game has been raving about this guy and we’ve all been wanting to have a look at him in the France jersey, so its going to be very cool to see him play.

Other than that there aren’t too many new faces except for Fanni and Gourcuff. Gourcuff I’m particularly interested in seeing as I think one of the most important positions we need to fill is that of the midfield playmaker -as at the moment the only one we have is Nasri!

Ben Arfa was meant to be in the squad but he’s pulled out and as a result Nasri was called up but now he’s also been ruled out because of injury. Domenech has said he won’t be getting another replacement.

How will we play? Well, its a blank canvas really. Anything can happen. But the absence of Vieira and Makelele already gives our team much more mobility, so I’m hoping to see a more dynamic midfield. I’d love to see Flamini get a run-out and one would think that playing for Milan can only help his chances of getting into the first team.

Up front the main thing I hope for is for our boys to have gotten over the Euros. Our strikers had a tough tournament and by the end of it their confidence was shot. A goal from a striker would be a great tonic to all that heartache, but failing that even some good movement and an assist would help.

It’ll be interesting to see who starts at the back, as except for Gallas, none of those players is guaranteed a start. There are some exciting prospects at left and right back (in the absence of the ambling Abidal and the aging Sagnol), but its on the centre of defence that all our eyes will be focused. Just thinking about our central defence brings back shocking nightmare memories… All I can say is to echo Stephane’s sentiments, and that is that we need a top-class centre-back – and fast!

Our Opponents

Sweden are a good team for us to play at this juncture. Sweden are a team who are good enough to keep you on your toes, while still being very beatable. We want to play a team that won’t be so weak as to give us a false sense of security, but that’ll be strong enough to be a good test of our ability – and Sweden fits the bill nicely.

They had a rather tragic European Championship (well, not by our standards, of course – but still tragic). After comfortably beating Greece, they were drawing 1-1 with Spain up to the 90th minute, only to finally lose to a Villa goal. And after that they were blown away by a Russian hurricane which took everyone by surprise. But had they held on to that draw against Spain then things could’ve been very different.

Their main threats are Ibrahimovich and Kallstrom, but beyond those two there aren’t any other players that should bother us too much. But its as a unit that the Swedes are tough to play, as they are very well organised and focused.

I think it’ll be fairly well-contested game but i don’t see it having too much cut and thrust about it. Sweden are a careful team and won’t be running at us from all corners so I think it might turn out to be a boring game and will probably result in a draw. If we can beat Sweden away it’d certainly be a good result!

-J.P. de Rosnay