Give Me Your Euro XI

January 3rd, 2008 | by: Laurie |

Okay, ladies and gents, it’s now 2008 and time to get the party (and the blog) going again. Hope you all had wonderful holidays. I did, and now I’m thrilled they’re over.

I want to know your preferred starting XI for Euros. I’m not listing mine just yet, but I’ll throw out some names. I’m going by memory here, so I know I’ll leave some out. Forgive me in advance. I’m also not going to go too far back in time with options, but if you are a dreamer and want to include guys like Giuly or Pires in your own lists, feel free.

Also tell me what formation you prefer. I tend to go with 4-4-2 because that seems to be where my brain automatically goes, plus I like our strikers and automatically want to see two on the field at all times, just because I don’t want them benched. But before the final set of qualifiers, some source (l’Equipe, maybe?) pointed out that France tends to lose only when they’re playing 4-4-2. Of course, they do win in 4-4-2 also. But is that something we should keep in mind?

Here are some options to get you started. (They’re in the order my brain pulled them up in, and I’m too lazy to alphabetize.) And if I’m remembering a player playing in more than one spot recently, I’ll list him in both, just for fun. And if I’ve gotten anybody in the wrong place, which is a possiblity despite the fact that I like to think I’m infallible, leave me a note and I’ll fix it.

Goalkeeper: Coupet, Landreau, Frey, other?

Leftback: Abidal, Evra, Clichy, Escudé, other?

Central Defense: Thuram, Gallas, Mexès, Escudé, Squillaci, Givet, other?

Rightback: Sagnol, Clerc, L. Diarra, Chimbonda, Réveillère, other?

Holding Midfield: Makélélé, Vieira, Mavuba, Diaby, L. Diarra, A. Diarra, Flamini, Toulalan, other?

Attacking Midfield/Wingers: Govou, Nasri, Ribéry, Malouda, Rothen, Ben Arfa, Menez, other?

Strikers: Anelka, Henry, Benzema, Wiltord, Trezeguet, Briand, Cissé, Saha, Piquionne, other?

I’m looking forward to seeing your picks.

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wushugene

Jeremy Menez?
http://france.worldcupblog.org Laurie

I’ve got Clichy in there as my own bit of wishful thinking, so I’ll add Menez to the list too.
http://canada.worldcupblog.org Sam

Coupet, Lloris, Mandanda (that’s right. Landreau sucks this year, it’s time to actually put the young guys right into it.)

Abidal, Evra, Gallas, Escudé, Squillaci, Mexès, Sagnol, Chimbonda

Viera, Diarra x2, Diaby, Nasri, Ribéry, Ben Arfa, Malouda

Benzema, Anelka, Henry, Saha

Youth crew!
wushugene

Actually, isn’t Frey a hot commodity in Serie A? I’d stick him over Landreau anyways.
http://france.worldcupblog.org Laurie

I really hope Frey can get past that bobble in the Ukraine game and get a second chance. What a tough break in your first game.
Jean-Michel

coupet

sagnol gallas abidal

makelele viera toulalan

ribery malouda

henry anelka
Jean-Michel

thats my starting squad. if trezeguet stays hot, domenech would be a fool not to at least have him as a reserve. not so sure about briand, piquionne, & cisse (probably not).
Patrick

———Coupet——–
Sagnol-Mexès-Gallas-Abidal
—-Makélélé-Toulalan—–
Govou————- Ribéry
—–Anelka–Henry——
http://www.worldcupblog.org/daily-dose/daily-dose-010408.html Daily Dose 01.04.08 – World Cup Blog

[...] Making an early start on picking the Euro 2008 starters (France Blog) [...]
Mr. Domenech

———-Coupet———-
Thuram-Mexes-Gallas-Abidal
—–Viera—Toulalan—–
Ribery————-Malouda
—–Henry—Benzema——

Subs:
Frey
Lloris
Clichy
Ben Arfa
Nasri
Sagnol
Evra
Govou
Anelka
Makelele
Clerc
Trezeguet
http://www.theoffside.com Ronan

Guys, heres my view-
GK-COUPET,FREY,MANDANDA
RB-CLERC,SAGNOL,CHIMBONDA
CB-PUYGRENIER,MEXES,GALLAS,ESCUDE
LB-ABIDAL,SILVESTRE,EVRA
DM-BODMER,TOULALAN,VIEIRA,L.DIARRA
AM-GOVOU,NASRI,MALOUDA,BENARFA.GIULY,RIBERY
ST-BENZEMA,HENRY,ANELKA,SAHA
http://ghana.worldcupblog.org Inara

I like the players you listed, Laurie, except I doubt Chimbonda, Menez, Clichy, Diaby, Mavuba, Piquionne, Reveillere, and Briand will make it. A BIG if on Trezeguet, Saha, Cisse, and Flamini. My guess is that Domenech will go with one of Trez, Saha, or Cisse, and Flamini or Alou Diarra.

Ben Arfa and Rothen have to work a bit harder to get onto the roster but I think they will manage.

I don’t anticipate Domenech shaking up his goalkeeper pecking order until after the Euros.

The squad I would like to see start:

Coupet
Sagnol – Gallas – Mexes – Abidal
Makelele/Vieira – Toulalan
Ribery – Nasri – Malouda
Henry – Benzema
Patrick

But, unfortunately, Laurie, that’s 12 players!
Patrick

Oops, of course I meant Inara!!!
Brandon

Coupet
Sagnol – Thuram – Gallas – Abidal
Ribery – Toulalan/Nasri – Makelele/Vieira – Malouda
Henry – Benzema
http://france.worldcupblog.org Laurie

I was going to mention the twelve players, but then I thought, “Shh. Maybe the refs won’t notice.”
http://ghana.worldcupblog.org Inara

Oops!

I was playing around with different formations and decided to stick with the 4-4-2, but I forgot to erase Nasri from my revised lineup! It should look like this:

Coupet
Sagnol – Gallas – Mexes – Abidal
Ribery – Toulalan – Makelele – Malouda
Henry – Benzema

Though I wouldn’t mind this either:

Coupet
Sagnol – Gallas – Mexes – Abidal
Makelele – Toulalan
Ribery – Nasri – Malouda
Henry