Line-ups

Laurent Blanc had a bit of a re-shuffled line-up for us—some changes enforced and some experimentation. With Mexès still recovering from knee surgery and Rami facing a suspension in the next Euro 2012 qualifier, it made sense to pair 2 defenders together vs Chile who will continue that partnership vs Albania next month.

It seemed logical to go with the young Sakho alongside the Franco-Klingon Kaboul, but with the PSG captain struggling, Blanc went for another known quantity in Abidal.

*TANGENT: Now, I remember the dark Euro 2008 days when Domenech was lambasted for playing Abidal—a left back—as a CB, and he duly showed why: some awful defending (think last group game vs Italy but don’t think too long!). But, we also know that Abidal is in some serious form for club and country that not even liver surgery could derail and I do think he’s got the skills to play there (although he’s still more devastating as a fullback).*

Anyway, that left his usual left back spot open and with Evra apparently injured, Clichy was recalled. Sagna of course remains on the right side (note to self, ask Santa for some right back competition for Christmas, ta).

There was a small surprise in midfield where Martin partnered with Nasri in front of a lone DM, M’Vlia. What’s that?? Only 1 DM, and 2 super-technical ninjas? *Bless* Thank you baby jeebus! I was positively salivating as this point.

According to French TV, the PSG coach, Antoine Kambouaré, had a chat with Blanc about limiting his players’ time on the pitch, so Rémy was favoured to Ménez. Florent “6 goals in 69 appearances” Malouda was out there too and of course Karim “back from fat camp” Benzema (more on that later!).

Game timeline

Oh, 1 more thing (sorry, I love table setting!), did anyone else notice how NO ONE sang La Marseillaise?? OK, there a few lips moving, whispering, but really, what happened to the whole “everyone has to sing the national anthem” mantra? Even Blanc was subdued. And Platini was tight lipped in the stands too. And before you say “well he’s a UEFA man so he can’t be patriotic”, if that were the case he’d have been watching Germany-Brazil or Italy-Spain. The French TV guys noticed this non-signing too but didn’t pass judement…

Ok, THE GAME!

Good pace to start with, with both sides pressing high—I was pleased to see us doing this. It was evident though, that Martin had been told to remember his defensive duties while Nasri could go walkabouts. Martin was helping M’Vlia out a lot—but he was getting forward too so I wasn’t complaining too much.

Despite the good match rhythm, there were missed touches in the opening 10mins and the first chance didn’t come until a Benzema over-the-bar-curler in the 8^th minute. Tepid.

The Chileans were really playing well though—their high pressure forcing us into errors as we tried to play from the back. In fact, Chile were playing 3-5-2! WTF?! That is cool, I kinda wish we had it in us to do that.

Just like that though, MARTIN with a sweet pass onto Rémy who does his usual awkward 1 on 1 moves, fails to spot the man on the back post and falls over. Hmm. I’m not sold on Rémy—yet. His Ligue 1 stats look good, his physique looks great, but his play looks…awkward, almost like a gangly teenager after a growth spurt (if you’re a Rémy fan, don’t worry we make up later on).

Still, France had weathered the Chilean mini-storm and was controlling the game. Another half-chance followed as Martin shot over the bar (13^th minute).

The deadlock was broken on 20 minutes as Nasri sent a great through ball towards the corner flag for Benzema to chase, collect and whip a low cross in. Rémy got in front of his man and headed in. Bingo! Rémy does have great aerial ability—as proven in his opening Ligue 1 goal at the weekend. THAT, we have lacked.

And what can you say about Benzema? He shed 6-7 kilos during the off-season and looks amazing. Darting in all over the place, great touch, always looking to take people on and shoot. If his pre-season is anything to go by (6 or 7 gols I believe?) he could have a HUGE season for Madrid.

The whole goal move took less than 10 seconds—starting from Lloris. I like!

The game broke down a bit after that with Chile gaining possession. But the France defence was solid and composed even though Chile did well to get men in the box.

A clumsy Rémy foul in 1^st half added time allowed Chile to go for goal, but the free kick sailed over.

HT 1-0 France.

Oh snap—Alexis Sanchez is on now. I may have forgot to mention that he was a sub to start the game. And it’s clear right away that the 1^st half may have been a different story if he had started the match. He’s quick, very quick, and his passes find gaps. eek.

So, just like the opening of the match, Chile are on top, but 10mins of pressure is soaked up and on 55 minutes Clichy bounds forward to release Malouda who…shoots over. Side note: If Ribéry can ever get healthy and regain his top level, Malouda will drop to the bench.

The pressure is ON though, and Rémy—you beauty! Separates himself in the 6 yard box and meets Martin’s corner with a one time backheel against the crossbar! I think Bravo, the Chilean keeper, was as stunned as anyone! He had no chance. Saved by the bar.

THERE IT WAS! That was it, chance to go 2 up and put the game away. 62^nd minute, Benzema slicing through, but he takes maybe 1 dribble too many and his shot goes straight at Bravo who parries it away. The move deserved a goal and so did Benzema for his overall play…but he’s got to put those away. Rémy did put the rebound in the back of the net but he was offside. Never mind…

68^th minute, cue triple substitution. Gameiro, Ménez, Cabaye all on, Benzema, Nasri, Malouda all off.

75^th minute. There is lots of space now, Chile are completely stretched. All of a sudden the pitch opens up for M’Vlia, who after picking up a pass in his own half, bursts forward (side note: I have a man-crush on M’Vlia. That is all.). Gameiro is ahead in space, the lone defender out of position to cover him—surely M’Vlia sees him?! *crunch* Beausejour with the professional foul from behind on M’Vlia. Yellow card. No goal chance. Gutted.

That’s followed by another disallowed goal—this time it’s dodgy. The ball definitely comes off backwards from a Chilean defender and then Gameiro pounces and takes an early shot from the top of the box—right by Bravo. Great goal! But no, it’s offside. Was he though when the initial pass was made? To be honest I don’t know.

Obvisouly, Chile then go up and score. Nifty passing down the left and Sanchez whips it in the box and Cordova places it beyond Lloris. It was a really nice move and you just hope he either stuffs the shot or Lloris channels the power of Stretch Armstrong. Neither happened. 77^th minute.

Martin off, Matuidi on, so now there really is no chance we will snatch something from ‘nothing’. At this point, I’m sulking, the girlfriend is asking what the score is, well it should be 3-1, really.

The game ends with France camping in front of the Chile goal, but it’s Arsenal-type stuff and no one really threatens.

Thoughts

So, that’s 11 in a row for Les Bleus *yay* but there are a few draws starting to pepper that streak.

I’m not expecting miracles out there so the start/stop nature of our fluidity is understandable. It was a friendly, with friendly-type substitutions, but while that can excuse the lack of goals, it doesn’t excuse conceding that late. It’s a shame. To top it off, it was Sanchez who made the goal, the only player who really threatened us. Why didn’t have someone shadow him the minute he came on?

I’m not fretting over the following qualifiers, even though they are away from home—France actually seem to play better away. And the main ingredients are there. At some point, though we need to kick it up a gear.

Player ratings and musings

Lloris: Strangely I haven’t been as impressed with him the last few times out. He seems a bit less confident than usual. He didn’t have a lot to do in this game. There was a half save or 2 and then the disappointing goal, but he’s not really to blame there. However, his distribution was poor. 5/10

Sagna: This is getting to be a broken record. He defended very well, but offered nothing going forward. Oh, slide tackle was too late on the Cordova goal 5.5/10

Abidal: Solid, very calm on the ball. Walkabout on the Cordova goal? 6/10

Kaboul: He’s big and mean looking, which is rare for Les Bleus. Threw his body around and was well positioned to deal with speedy players like Sanchez. Late getting to Cordova. 6/10

Clichy: I cringed when I saw him in the starting line-up. But he didn’t have any “Clichy moments”! And he got forward every now and then, including a nice little run to set up Malouda. 6.5/10

M’Vlia: The boy runs his socks off. Physical, yet not as clumsy in his challenges as Diarra. He did the business defending and was OK in his distribution. 6/10

Martin: Clearly, Blanc wants to see if he can establish himself in the team. He’s got bags of talent and provided some delightful passes and crosses. Gets pushed around a bit though, needs to get stronger like Nasri has. Big upcoming season for him. 6/10

Nasri: Started the goal scoring move with a pass to Benzema. Didn’t do a lot else. That’s a few average games in a row for him. At times held on to the ball for ages without creating anything. Blanc was quoted post-game as saying he was disappointed in him (but still confident in him)—you won’t hear Wenger say stuff like that! Still, he’s our diamond going forward. 6.5/10

Malouda: That’s 70 caps now. 70. Not even a goal every 10 games! He’s brilliant for Chelsea but average for France. The play tended to go through Rémy all night. Skied his one shot. I get the feeling he’s in there as a ‘veteran’ to balance out some of the youth in the squad. Be interesting to compare his season vs Ribs. 4/10

Rémy: Rémy, Rémy, Rémy…will you be a new Thierry Henry? Or a Carlton Cole? The jury is definitely still deliberating. Devastating pace all night, very good positioning for his goal and the backheel/crossbar attempt. Poor touches and ugly 1 on 1s. Interesting to see he played the whole game, I’d start him vs Albania. 6.5/10

Benzema: Star of the night and he only played 60 odd minutes. Always moving and making himself available. Perfect cross for the goal. A few shots on target including the disappointing finish before he came off. Seems super confident. 7/10

Subs: Nothing stands out really. The game became very disjointed with the 5 subs. Gameiro was lively and unlucky on his ‘goal’ (he’s adamant he was onside). I really wanted him to score because France are desperate for a 2nd striker to step up. Menez was running all over the place, without going anywhere. Matuidi offered nothing. Cabaye had no influence on the game. Reveillere actually got more forward than Sagna but then we were camping out by then.

Coaching: No great masterstroke from Blanc this time, but then he played his wild card (Martin) from the start. Organised defence was crucial. 6/10

–Stéphane F.

Embarrassing isn’t quite the right word…

No, cathartic is more like it!

Les Bleus are a whisker away from World Cup elimination–and just as close to entering the post-Domenech era!

There’s no other way to look at it. An efficient Mexico side exposed a LOT shortcomings in this France side:

• inept attack
• defensive lapses
• lack of desire
• poor tactics
• low morale

Pretty much every sector was negative. Goes to show it doesn’t matter how many world class players you have, if you can’t bring them together.

Like Wormtongue from LOTR, Domenech has finally been completely exposed and will now be banished…hurrah! And it only took sacrificing TWO major tournaments, but he’s finally gone.

It doesn’t matter what happens Tuesday–although a goal would be nice!

I’d say I felt bad for the players whose talents have been wasted but they clearly didn’t even want to be there. Some of their international careers are over–think Abidal, Gallas, Henry, maybe even Toulalan and Govou. The Domenech favorites won’t survive the cull.

Every empire crumbles, but at least there is definitely a bright light at the fast-approaching-end of this tunnel.

Time for le Président to start his term!

–Stéphane F.

Today’s training revealed that Gourcuff will almost certainly start on the bench vs Mexico (he trained with the backups today). His exclusion means 2 things: a tactical change and Malouda gets his starting place back.

France will most likely start in the familiar 4-2-3-1, albeit with a slight twist. Ribéry will play behind the striker (Anelka). Malouda is set to start in his natural left winger position. However, Govou seems likely to continue on the right.

There were rumors swirling that he would also be dropped, with Anelka taking his position and then either Henry or Gignac starting up front. That could still happen but under Domenech the final training session has often been the most revelatory in terms of his starting 11.

It seems so obvious that the disappointing Govou should be dropped…and moving Anelka back to the right–a position he occupied during the qualifiers and with Chelsea–a natural choice, especially with the way he keeps dropping back. After all that would surely balance out the team’s attack.

I’m personally excited to see Ribéry given a somewhat free role that should see him darting all over the pitch. What worries me is that we’re just trying this out now…how well will the players perform given that they’ve never played in this fashion before?

An early goal would ease things so dramatically–but I fear there is a real mental block surrounding scoring goals.

With Uruguay thumping South Africa tonight it’s imperative to beat Mexico by at least 2 goals. Looking ahead we can’t afford to face Argentina in the knock out round…we’re just not ready yet.

So, it’s important to play the most attack minded team we can…I’d go for Gignac up front and Anelka on the right. The Toulouse man isn’t the most skillful but he’ll give us something to aim and could just poach a goal early on, especially in a ragged moment withing the 6 yard box.

I’d usually be agianst 2 defensive midfielders (for reasons just stated) but Diaby has played so well that I’m confident he’ll be pushing forwards. That leaves Toodles to just protect the back line.

So, perhaps things are converging just at the right time.

Probable lineup vs Mexico:

lloris, Sagna, Gallas Abidal, Evra, Toulalan, Diaby, Malouda, Govou, Ribéry, Anelka.

–Stéphane F.

Between classic Domenech mis-tactics (late subs, players in wrong positions) and a poor performance in the final third by France’s wingers and forwards, Les Bleus have managed to blow a golden opportunity.

Here are my player captions.

Starters:

Lloris: Didn’t have much to do but when he did he was brilliant–as we’ve come to expect. 1st half save off Forlan’s shot was key. Did well on Forlan’s 2nd half free kick which bounced right in front of him. 7/10.

Sagna: Solid defensively as usual and a bit better offensively–but still needs to get forward more and deliver better crosses. 6/10

Gallas: Probably the worst I’ve seen Gallas play in a long time. Seemed late on almost every challenge and out of position. Didn’t make any crucial mistakes though so I’ll let him off with a 5/10…but he must improve.

Abidal: Ironically, probably the best I’ve seen Abidal play as a centre back! He was decisive and confident–everything Gallas was not. 7/10

Evra: Dodgy spell to open the game, including a yellow card. He might have been trying too hard as  this was his first ‘real’ game as captain. Eventually settled down to deliver a good 2nd half performance both defensively and offensively. 6/10

Toulalan: Vintage Toulalan–tenacious and hard working. Even gave away his classic “yellow card to stop a counter attack” foul. 6/10

Gourcuff: Average free kicks. Tried to unleash a few long range efforts but with little effect. Didn’t seem to provide that decisive final ball to the forwards. 5/10

Diaby: Surprise inclusion to the detriment of Malouda and he did not disappoint, winning lots of balls and going by defenders easily. Slowed down a bit by the end but then he’s not used to playing 90 minutes at this level! 7/10 MAN OF THE MATCH

Ribéry: Not the same player he was during the warmup games. Didn’t see as much of the ball and couldn’t seem to find a way past the Uruguayan defense after that initial cross to Govou. Didn’t get into the box. Credit to Uruguay for consistently sticking 2 defenders on him whenever he got the ball. 5/10

Govou: Obviously low on confidence and his early howler in front of goal wouldn’t have helped. Somehow played 85 minutes despite offering nothing at all. Admitted before the World Cup he was not at his best–what will he say now? Will he bench himself? 4/10

Anelka: Still dropping back for the ball (though at least Govou was filling in for him when he did, albeit unsuccessfully). Didn’t get any noteworthy shots off. Tried to do too much on his own–obviously too excited/nervous about his 1st World Cup game. Not at his best. 5/10

Subs:

Henry: Strangely a like for like replacement for Anelka, he offered nothing at all–save a mishit which almost cruelly went for a handball against the Uruguayans. No real spark. 4/10

Malouda: His wasted talent on the bench, he finally made his entrance after 75 minutes. Was unfortunately played through the middle and as such not able to make his trademarks runs, or crosses, from the wing. Should have started. 5/10

Gignac: Another tactical oddity, he was put on the right wing but wasn’t quite fast enough to get by defenders and put in crosses (he’s a centre forward after all!). Saw plenty of ball and tried hard. 6/10

Coach:

Domenech: Got things wrong from the start as he benched Malouda–although Diaby somewhat bailed him out by playing extremely well. There’s an argument for Diaby and Malouda to start with Govou being benched. Left the latter in far too long. Waited too long to make his subs and as such they didn’t have an impact. Went for like for like subs instead of going for more attack when it was clear a tiring 10 man Uruguay would sit back and go for a draw.

–Stéphane F.

A 0-0 draw of course! Same as the last time they played, and the time before that…

It wouldn’t feel so bad if it were not for

a) the earlier draw between South Africa and Mexico leaving the group wide open

b) a greater share of possession in France’s favour

c) the red card which left the tiring South Americans down to 10 men and there for the taking

and d) the totally inept tactics by Domenech

The latter include:

• leaving Govou on for 85 minutes despite his only contribution a missed sitter in the 7th minute
• waiting until the 71st minute to make a sub–and then do that by taking Anelka off
• bringing on Gignac, a natural centre forward, and playing him on the wing while natural wingers Ribéry & Malouda stayed central–thus ensuring no crosses were being supplied
• generally leaving Malouda out of the team, despite his sensational play this season, until the 75th minute

France could have been in the driver’s seat but instead are left behind at the station…along with the rest of Group A.

–Stéphane F.

That’s France.

Just when some positivity starts kicking in, thanks to the new 4-3-3 formation, Domenech’s dodos show up to the party.

The president of the dodos is of course William Gallas who refuses to integrate socially into the group and is well known to be a loner. And then when Evra is chosen as captain, cause you know he talks to people, Gallas gets all uppity and refuses to talk to the media. That’s the least of it when you learn that he actually doesn’t follow any of Domenech’s orders on the pitch! Nope, our King dodo does just fine on his own, thank you very much! Things got so testy during the Tunisia game (like 5 martinis testy) that Henry, Ribery and Evra had to calm his Highness down after the game in order to avoid a Shining type moment.

Other party tricks these dodos  like to pull are:

• tackling hard during training and refusing to listen to teammates and coaches requests to calm it down (see Malouda in yesterday’s training)
• forming divisive groups in order to try and get Domenech to drop a player in favour of another (Diaby for Gourcuff, led by Anelka and Ribéry)

France are about to sabotage one of their most talented teams…all in the name of being the life of the party…

–Stéphane F.

France have a lot of redeeming to do, bottoming out at Euro 2008 and then continuing their soulless displays through qualifying before briefly waking up to secure 2nd place in their group.

With the emotional gap between supporters and team a virtual chasm, would the stubborn Domench attempt to be the hero in his French managerial swan-song?

That looks to be a much likelier headline now that he has ‘revolutionised’ France’s play by turning to a 4-3-3 formation–a far cry from the defensive doldrums of the 4-2-3-1 days.

With the football gods perhaps now smiling down on Les Bleus, the squad was blessed with gorgeous Alpine weather at their preparatory stage in Tignes allowing them to not only train comfortably but also to partake in the various team bonding exercises that Domenech had cooked up. These included glacier climbing, cycling and go-karting, the latter proving the week’s highlight: Gallas’s comedy crash which resulted in that crucial spontaneous ‘we’re all having fun, hey we’re a team!’ moment. Egos and pride appear sincerely mended since the divisive Euro 2008 campaign.

The squad looked good in training with French journalists waxing lyrical about the suddenly bright, inventive play.

Now, the friendlies have come and two polarising trends have appeared:

France are going to have defenders chasing shadows.
France are also going to give opponents every chance of matching those attacking fireworks.

The positives? The wing play is frenetic and piercing. Ribery has got his mojo back and looks like scoring every time he touches the ball. Malouda has cemented a place in the starting XI and is probably THE in form left midfielder in the world, showing no let down from his Chelsea season. Gourcuff–often the odd man out in Domenech’s old system–now has room to play and is confident. The latter is having a very positive influence on his free kicks, as evidenced by his delivery on the Gallas goal vs Tunisia. Virtually every substitution made has had a positive impact, especially Valbuena and Diaby’s contributions. To me, this shows a team whose players have accepted their roles and are mentally ready to come in and play.

The worries? 2 games, 2 goals conceded in the first 10 minutes. That’s a serious trend when faced with the prospect of an in-form Uruguay (7 goals in last 2 games) and a Mexican side which has shown real attacking intent in losses to England and Holland.

Yes, the Costa Rican goal was Mandanda’s fault–and he won’t be between the posts on June 11th (Lloris, saviour vs Ireland and Europe’s best young keeper will be). But, the lack of closing down on the shot points to 2 things:

a) no one closed down the shot
b) no one closed down the shot because no one was quite sure who should be closing down the shot.

This is one of the risks of installing a new system 2 weeks before the World Cup. The players aren’t quite sure who should be doing what in every situation.

Add to that the suspect centre back paring of Gallas and Abidal, and you get problems.

Domenech is convinced Gallas and Abidal should keep opponents at bay. But on what basis? They have had little time together and Abidal isn’t even a central defender by trade and is consistent in his defensive lapses. As for Gallas, he’s the obvious #1 choice–except his match fitness is in question as he recovers from a calf injury. In the first halves of both recent friendlies the French defence was noticeably shaky, which in my mind stems from a tentative defensive line. The cross which led to the Tunisian goal flashed right across the face of goal with no one asserting themselves.

At the moment, France are defending with possession and I don’t think that is going to be enough against World Cup sides.

For all the good the attacking play is providing, it naturally creates counterattacking chances for opponents. And again, World Cup sides will be more efficient than Costa Rica and Tunisia. Abidal’s mental acumen and Gallas’s physical fitness will be tested.

It wouldn’t be totally fair to say that when Squillaci has been on the pitch France have been more solid at the back–he’s benefited from better overall play in those second halves. But his profile and past displays should leave no doubt that not only can he and Gallas form a successful partnership, but that he is also a wiser choice than Abidal.

France have come a long way in the last 2 weeks–a fact which while welcome, is upsetting when you consider the level of talent in the squad.

But is it too little too late?

Some of the offensive displays–particularly from Ribery and Malouda–has been tantalising. And the wave after waves of attacks are sight for sore French eyes. But, 3 goals vs Costa Rica and Tunisia isn’t much to show for it. Is that unlucky? Maybe. Against Costa Rica France forced 9 saves, including Squillaci’s point blank effort. Yet they still needed Valbuena’s magic to save the game. With Anelka the seeming starting centre forward, France are at times virtually playing a 4-6-0 since he often drops back to be more of a provider than scorer. So, it’s crucial those around him score.

Is Domenech asking too much of his players to all of a sudden set nets on fire? With one week of training and one friendly left–against, ahem, China–there is little time left to start scoring. It’s painfully obvious this new system should have been implemented during the qualifying campaign.

Don’t get me wrong, the 4-3-3 is a godsend. France’s strength is in it’s wing play and forwards, and this formation gets the best players on the pitch together. The fact that no one seems to be stepping on anyone’s toes in these 2 games is a sign that the players are comfortable. Add to that a sudden togetherness and France should be looking to breeze through their group.

But it’s no use aiming high if you’ve got cracks in the foundation.

Stephane F.

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

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

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