Comments on: France Team Euros Barometer: Who’s Rising, Falling?

By: Laurie

Laurie — Sat, 17 May 2008 07:18:00 +0000

Right. I considered the Henry “rising” rating to be a reflection of the fact that he was a bench or non-starting player all season but has suddenly scored four goals in three games.

By: Inara

Inara — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:41:15 +0000

Also, considering it’s a weekly thing, I would say that Benzema is “falling” this week. He looks tired and exhausted and is suffering a poor patch of form.

By: Inara

Inara — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:40:41 +0000

They have a barometer every week or so, so I think when they say rising and falling, they are looking at the current form and not over the season or even the last few weeks. So in that case, Henry has been doing well as well as Thuram in the last few Barca games I though.

By: Jean-Michel

Jean-Michel — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:25:59 +0000

Not sure how you can be on the “falling” list and be the Serie A leading goal scorer @ Trez. Maybe he means falling out of favor with Domenech or falling off the list for Euro ‘08.

By: sandrahn

sandrahn — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:02:31 +0000

hmmm….indeed where is Benzema?

“Rising: Franck Ribéry, Patrice Evra, Gaël Clichy, Grégory Coupet, Thierry Henry, Philippe Méxès, Rio Antonio Mavuba, Mathieu Flamini, Patrick Vieira, Sebastien Frey;”

Can’t speak with any authority on Mavuba but Henry and Vieira? Henry’s current club form is definitely mixed, some good performances in and out of games but overall not impressive (tho Rijkaard has hardly used him to his best advantage). Vieira? A few good performances, mostly unmemorable in any way. Why does he keep popping up on these lists? The rest, I can accept. Except Sagna definitely belongs on the “Rising” list. Absolutely remarkable player, my player of the season for Arsenal.

“Stable: William Gallas, Eric Abidal, Bakary Sagna, Claude Makélélé, Alou Diarra, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Mathieu Bodmer, Mickaël Landreau, Nicolas Anelka, Willy Sagnol, Jimmy Briand, Samir Nasri, Anthony Réveillère, Lassana Diarra, Lilian Thuram, Steve Mandanda, Florent Malouda, Hatem Ben Arfa;”

Gallas, ok. Abidal? Sorry, I’m just not convinced by this guy. Makelele? Are you kdding me? I love the guy but his legs are gone, he should retire now. Anelka, yes — ignore how indifferent he’s been with chelsea, he’s been poorly used. And Thuram??? Again, I just don’t get why he and Makelele continue to be on any of these lists at all. I love them both but the national team simply cannot nor should it rely on them anymore. The rest I can agree with.

“Falling: Djibril Cissé, Louis Saha, Jerome Rothen, Julien Escudé, François Clerc, David Trézéguet, Rowed Ulrich.”

Pity about Cisse, he’s had some good performances this season. Too bad about Trez, he’s been fantastic with Juve. Why so down with Clerc and Rothen, I think they should both be in the squad. And Saha….*sigh*…kills me to see such a fine player unable to show the world what he can do because his body simply won’t cooperate.

By: outa control

outa control — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:56:56 +0000

hey, has any one been watching juve lately, i think trezeguet deserve to be atleast on the steady list. he have game fitness he played regularly compared to henry and anelka,i think every one got on the coach’s band wagon (they dont see eye to eye)i would start him.
i sneak a peak at the facebook article, i think bakary sagna should be up there the guy is among if not the best right full back in the epl before his injury, look at what happen to arsenal when he got injured……..
finally if we are going to rely on gallas and turam at central defense, we will be in trouble at the euros.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:52:20 +0000

Alex, it’s been all about injuries for Saha. He’s injured, and then he’s better for a game or two, then he’s reinjured. I think he’s played only a handful of games for ManU this year, which is sad. Such potential, and nothing to show for it.

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:33:27 +0000

What happened with Saha? He was so good last year before he got injured! Wasn’t he leading the premier league in goals at one point?

By: Yaz

Yaz — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:27:15 +0000

Honestly, I don’t know. I think the three friendly matches will answer us about Benzema.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:01:00 +0000

Sam, my thoughts exactly.

And Benjamin, you’re right. Where IS Benzema? I just went back and checked the original article to see if I missed something, and he’s not there either, even mentioned in the text.

Where would we classify him? Rising or stable?