France Supporters: Play Nasri and Evra

June 6th, 2008 | by: jeff | View Comments

Can Raymond Domenech be bothered to update his first 11 for Euro 2008?

Some vocal France Supporters think Domenech might bottle his team selection by not picking the best players available.

Malouda and Abidal are reliable, versatile players, ready when called upon, but Evra and Nasri inspire a bit more confidence among supporters that they can produce at international level, on the big Euro-2008 stage.

The case of Evra is a particular no-brainer. Anyone who has been watching Evra play for Manchester United during their back-to-back title-winning seasons knows that it would be hard to find a better left back anywhere, and Abidal is certainly not inspiring anywhere near the same degree of confidence among supporters who have watched both of them play recently.

Nasri’s case is a hampered a bit by his club’s form. While Evra has been running riot, terrorizing opponents in England and Europe, winning the coveted league and Champions League double, Nasri’s Marseille have been up and down. But several France supporters who have carefully observed the performances of Nasri and Malouda for France since the 2006 World Cup dream of seeing Nasri in the first 11 for the big show, with Malouda available to come on in support – especially in his unique role as a holding left midfielder. You want that, sometimes, you want a left midfielder who sits deep, and offers protection for the left back, especially if it’s Abidal and he’s looking shaky.

What of this case that Malouda and Abidal have a brilliant understanding? Based on watching them play together for France, I’d classify their having played together at club level in the past as a net minus. They mimic each other in playing really reserved and saving their energy.

Nasri captures the imagination with his clever touches, plus, he could be in the Arsenal squad for next season, and he’ll want to be in the first 11 for France if he wants to increase his chances at Arsenal. Hand on heart, I think Nasri offers more to the side than Malouda, going forward and overall, but especially going forward which is key when you have two holding midfielders in the middle. Plus Nasri likes to play centrally, while Ribery, Henry, and Benzema all like the left channel.

From where I sit, it looks like like an easy decision.

Still, I’m left a little anxious by the lingering question: Does Domenech know what he’s doing? We’ll be finding out soon.

If Domenech persists with Malouda and Abidal, that puts more pressure on the central midfielder playing next to Makalele to push forward and help with offense, but none of the options there look like a sure thing. Better would be to let Toulalan play with less pressure to adapt to an attacking role, because the word going around is that he’s a defensive central midfielder at heart.