France-Norway Preview

August 9th, 2010 | by: Jean-François | View Comments

August is already here and it’s time for Blanc to put his cards on the table. More importantly, its time for Les Bleus to prove to us that they’re worthy of wearing the French colors.

Personally I think that the only way we can get past this fiasco is by winning games. As most of you know, Blanc requested that the FFF drop all 23 Mondialists from the World Cup for this match. The replacement squad that Blanc called up is very inexperienced. Of the 22 men, 13 have never received a cap. A few of these players were only called up to fill the roster. Although there are a few names on this list that many are happy to see. Samir Nasri and Phillipe Mexes are two players that Domenech shunned wrongfully, and they deserve this chance. Some, including Christian Gourcuff, have already criticized Blanc over the exclusion of Laurent Koscielny, however I feel it’s best, as he needs to adapt to his new club first. Also, there are no players from the U19 squad who just became European Champions, Blanc said it is because of their lack of club experience.

It’s been a long time since we faced Norway. The last time we played them was in 1998, and they proved to be a tough opponent. In fact, during that match, French coach Laurent Blanc scored a goal. His goal was soon dwarfed by what may have been Zizou’s finest goal in his French Career. The final score was 3-3. France’s overall record with Norway is 6-4-4.

Based on what I could find by doing some simple research, it seems like Carew will be playing up front for Norway. Their most experienced players are John Arne Risse(DF), John Carew(ST), and Steffen Iversen (ST) each having about 80 caps. Carew is their current highest goal scorer with 22 goals in 82 matches. That doesn’t seem like that many until you notice that it is more goals than this whole French squad has combined. If you know anything about the Norwegians please let me know. I really hope they’re strong on their right side so they’ll have to face Trémoulinas or Cissokho.

I think that Norway is a formidable opponent for this young squad. It seems like they are one of many European sides that are growing stronger. Their recent form is WWWDW. Their FIFA Ranking is 22. I do not know how much experimenting this side will do against Les Bleus. They also have 2012 Qualifying ahead of them, but I think that we will see their usual XI/Formation. Which means we will be facing an experienced Norwegian side.

Over the past few weeks the two formations that have been linked the most with l’Equipe de France are the 4-2-3-1 and the 4-1-3-2. I hope to see Blanc use both of these, perhaps using one each half. Rumor has it (based on training) that this will be the starting XI: Ruffier, Fanni, Rami, Mexès, Cissokho, MVila, L.Diarra, M.Sissoko, N’Zogbia, Nasri, Hoarau.

I’ve only heard the names, but not the specific formation. The surprise exclusion in this would be Karim Benzema. Some might be upset/thrilled not to see Ben-Arfa.

My predictions? I think that these young players will be eager to show their stuff to Laurent Blanc. We should expect about 5 or 6 substitutions. There will be moments of brilliance and there will also be a few severe blunders. However, I have faith that this squad can squeeze a victory over the Norwegians. A 2-1 Triumph over Norway.

That’s all I have to say, now it’s your turn. What are your predictions? Starting XI? Expectations? Please let us know by commenting below.

P.S. – We may do a liveblog during this match. If you are interested please let us know.

P.S.S. – The match should be on TF1 in France. However I do not think it will be available in the United States. I have heard it will be available on ESPN 3. If your ISP isn’t subscribed to ESPN 3 you will have to find an online stream.