Domenech vs. the Universe

March 21st, 2007 | by: Laurie |

I wasn’t all that surprised to see that coach Raymond Domenech has pissed off a manager of a club in yet another country. (After already infuriating managers Gerard Houllier in France and Arsene Wenger in England.) And I wasn’t surprised to see that this manager was in Italy. But I expected it would be Inter manager Roberto Mancini. When I read last week that Les Bleus’ injured captain Patrick Vieira had transferred his care from the doctors of Inter to the doctors of the France National Team, I was thinking, “Here we go again. They’ll get him better enough to play for France, but send him home to Inter broken for the rest of the season. And then there will be hell to pay. Again.”

Didn’t happen, though. Apparently the France doc’s baguette magique wasn’t quite powerful enough to put Patrick together again, so he wasn’t called up. So now, instead, we have the pissed off manager Didier Deschamps of Juventus. Didier’s upset that Domenech said David Trezeguet wasn’t called up this time around because he’s playing in Serie B.

“David is disappointed, not so much because he wasn’t called up but rather for the reason the coach decided to leave him out,” Deschamps was quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday. “When he (Domenech) says he hasn’t called him up because he is playing in Serie B and he doesn’t consider this a sufficient level to play in the national team, it is offensive both to the player and the club. “Domenech is forgetting that Juventus remains a top-level club,” continued Deschamps. “According to his logic, neither (Italy international Gianluigi) Buffon, (Mauro) Camoranesi, (Alessandro) Del Piero and (Bulgarian international Valeri) Bojinov should receive international call-ups. “As well as that, he is the only coach that doesn’t call coaches to make sure of the physical condition of national team players. I’ve never heard from him, and neither have the others.”

I’ve written about Raymond’s poor communication skills before. I don’t think he was listening.

But he did finally respond to Arsene Wenger’s attacks:

“Mr Wenger’s problem is seriously starting to tire me,” Domenech said. “He [Wenger] does not know everything and is not the only one with the right to exist in football,” Domenech said. “Even [UEFA president] Michel Platini has noted that his remarks were stupid. He [Wenger] is saying that a match in August can explain an injury in March. But it has to be known that every time Henry has played for France, he was playing for Arsenal three days later. We have a clear conscience because we have never made our players take risks,” Domenech added.

And then, to give us the other side, reader Sandrahn offered up this fascinating podcast that came from Arsenal’s Arseblog. In it you’ll hear an interview with someone from Football.fr whose name I couldn’t catch. Philippe…? Something like Eauclaire, maybe? (If anybody has the full name, let me know.) Fascinating interview with someone who considers Domenech “quite mad.” Listen and tell me what you think. Arseblog Interview

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http://www.insearchoffootball.wordpress.com Marco

Domenech has got no idea at all … He was going to get the sack, but then France decided to pull a Liverpool and make it all the way to the final of the world cup … and y way i hope they do not make it to Euro so they can give him the sack … has got no idea, and leaves top players out of his squad!
Rach

Great blog post Laurie! I actually find this all kind of amusing. What I find interesting is that it was Aime Jacquet who supported Domenech’s appointment to NT coach. At the time Jacquet said the team needed someone with a strong personality. Whatever you say can about Domenech he is someone with a strong will and there really are times when you need that in a coach, especially when it’s the NT.

At the end of the day the results speak for themselves and I guess we will really need to wait till Euro 2008 to see if there is method in his madness, or if reaching the World Cup final in 2006 was more down to the return of the senior players.
Gian Luca

Even though I can’t figure Domenech out, I have to say he is a great coach. He’s put together a great team, with or without Zidane.

If you put someone in charge, you have to give them carte blanche (do you like my French?). He doesn’t call his players? That may be one style of coaching (empathic), but does that define a good coach? How many sucky coaches out there call everyone and their mothers, and then can’t produce results on the field?
http://france.worldcupblog.org Laurie

I guess I’m with Rach. I’m still undecided on Domenech and waiting on results. I can’t decide if he’s brilliant or insane or both. He does have high entertainment value, though, and it’s kind of fun to see somebody who can’t be pushed around.

I’m especially looking forward to seeing what he’ll do with Henry unable to play, since so much of his offensive strategy seems to have revolved around Henry. I think we have several equally talented players out there, and we just need to see the right combination.
Luis

I fear that the Universe will lose.
Inara

There is such a huge wealth of French footballing talent, that the only thing to do is try them all out and find the best combination of 22 players.

Unlike Steve McClaren, for example, who has to look really hard to find NT-worthy players for England, Domenech has too many options and is faced with an embarrassment of choices. Trezeguet’s omission, while sad, is necessary if Domenech wants to see what else is out there. It might turn out that Piquionne will be a goal-scoring machine. And perhaps Cisse will be given the boot.

Changes are important, especially in the forward department because they are ultimately responsible for scoring the goals. Domenech, while controversial, at least is trying. The golden generation of Zidane, Barthez, etc, is over, and it’s time to move on, even if we don’t recognize the faces.

Thuram, Makelele, Viera, Henry, and Trez will be gone soon. There is no point in building the team around them, and I think Domenech knows that.
http://france.worldcupblog.org Laurie

About Trezeguet. I was wondering if Didier and Co. would feel better if Domenech had said, “David, you’ve kind of sucked recently for France. I can’t be about building up your confidence any more because I have to focus on results.” Which I think is probably closer to the actual truth than the Serie B thing.

The funny thing is, it’s almost like he was trying to be tactful for once, and look where it got him!
sandrahn

I have no problem with a manager who’s difficult, egomaniacal, arrogant, etc., etc. Some of history’s greatest artists, leaders and coaches are exactly like that. My favorite manager–Wenger–is not what you’d call nice and lovable.

My problem with Domenech is that I think it’s absolutely ludicrous that he does not maintain reasonable communications with club managers. Guys like Lippi, Scolari, Dunga, McLaren, Donadoni, Jacquet, Klinsman, you name it—all of them make it a point to maintain a vital line of direct communications with the managers of the clubs with players of their national squad. It is utterly inexcusable that Domenech has not once ever attempted to contact Wenger personally to talk about Henry. I think it’s bad management. When a very reasonable, sane coach like Houllier makes the same complaint I think people should listen.

I don’t say Domenech is a bad manager — I think he can definitely be effective, he does good have skills in certain areas. I just think his flaws can seriously risk a team’s results. The astrology thing is the most obvious example.