Just a couple of quick things.
First off, we’ve started discussion forums over on The Offside for fans to discuss anything about the team that they feel like discussing. Are you tired of waiting for us to write a post on the news you’ve just read? Feel free to start [...]

Here’s the list for our World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Austria. These games make me nervous. After watching Austria in Euros, I’m thinking that they especially are underrated and could deliver a shock. (Like they did in that friendly with Italy last week. As my co-blogger Chris said, they scored [...]

If you’ve been following the conversations in the comments on this blog, you know that last week Sébastien Frey followed in David Trezeguet’s footsteps and announced his international retirement.
You also know that Frey is 28. Which is… Well, it may not be infancy for a goalkeeper, but it’s not exactly retirement [...]

Found this shirt on e-bay. The sale is over now, but I think it came from Thailand. Made me laugh.
I actually considered buying it, and wearing it out in public, and waiting for some snooty person to say, “Ahem. Nicolas Anelka is NOT a number 10.” And then [...]

First thing. I’m thrilled by the win, and thrilled that we scored three goals, and thrilled that the Govou who showed up today was Visible Sidney, as opposed to his more-frequently-present evil twin, Invisible Sidney. And Sagna looks promising, especially offensively, and he and Benzema could be golden together when it comes to [...]

Dastardly Henrik Larsson, I’m still bitter about his 2006 Champions League final cameo, opens the scoring:

France stars of the present and future, Sagna and Benzema, combine to equalize; Toulalan pulling the strings in midfield!

Sidney Govou with a goal? Malouda with an assist? And Toulalan the playmaker again. Are we changing that “Defensive” in [...]

From l’Equipe. No huge surprises for starters, but it’s good to see Mexès starting. And I’m interested to see what Sagna can do, too.
Malouda and Govou feel like a weak attacking midfield. Are either Toulalan or L. Diarra going to help them out, do you think?
Le onze de [...]

Well, Samir, didn’t last long.
He was on The List for less than twenty-four hours. Now he’s off again due to a “slight thigh problem.”
Gotta hate those slight thigh problems.
The final squad is only nineteen. Does this mean that there will be only one player who doesn’t make the bench? [...]

Any woman can tell you that the quickest way to exorcise demons is to get new clothes. That is apparently the France strategy as well. They’ve unveiled this new maillot for the Sweden game.
Because that old new jersey? The one they wore in Euros? I don’t think anybody’s in any hurry [...]

First thing: Check out this beauty of an assist that Hatem ben Arfa pulled off for Marseille in Champions League last week.
Second thing: Hatem is out and Samir Nasri is in for France’s game against Sweden on Wednesday.
What do you think — is there intrigue here, or just one player [...]