Help Wanted: Poacher. Apply France National Team

June 8th, 2007 | by: Laurie |

So much talent. So much skill. So few goals. That’s the sad story of three of the four halves of the past week.

What we need is a poacher. A guy who likes to hang out in front of the goal and exists to drive in well-aimed crosses. A guy like… David Trezeguet? GFC of The Beantown Frog makes a good case:

France have had difficulty with the aerial game, both defensively on the offensive side. When healthy, Henry is not a force scoring with his head. Anelka is okay but not known for this part of his game, neither is Cisse, or Saha. And you are not going to win many aerial battles with Malouda, Ribery or Nasri…..However you know you are playing two teams that will most likely pack in the defense making passing in the last 20 meters extremely difficult (the one goal against Georgia, there were at least 6 Georgian players in the box against only 3 French players), so why not get a striker who can score on crosses and is a pure poacher, someone who can latch on to rebounds and does not need the “perfect” pass to score? And that player is….Trezeguet….I realize that the last few games in Blue he has not been at the top of his game, but these are exactly the types of games a player of his talent can blow open the match. I watched the French get plenty of space on the wings yesterday, time to cross, but no one comfortable calling for the ball. It was clear that Nasri and Ribery could run through most of the high Georgian defense but did not have the targets to pass at the end of their runs. Anelka was dangerous but always appeared to have at least two defenders on him, another striker such as Trezeguet may have created more space in the “scoring zone.” The point may be moot, with France securing 6 points after the last two games they head into the summer break exactly where they need to be, and it is clear that Domenech does not value his Juventus striker as much as this blogger does.

And for those who may have forgotten what Trezeguet is actually capable of, (and for those who consider him merely the master of being in the right place at the right time), check out this compilation of goals.

(P.S. Raymond? I’ll say it again: Trezeguet-Anelka. Try it for just one half. If it doesn’t work I’ll shut up.)

David Trezeguet 100 goals
Uploaded by NicoASM7

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http://lyon.theoffside.com Inara

Trezeguet could become our Super Pipo! Seriously.

Inzaghi doesn’t do anything besides scoring goals. He doesn’t create them. He doesn’t help defensively. He can’t dribble to save his life. He’s old too – I mean, he started playing professionally when I was in first grade (and I’m 23 now).

But he gets the ball into the net. He gets the job done. That’s what poachers do, and that’s what France needs.

I say bring back Trezeguet. If we need to make room, I say we dump Cisse.
http://france.worldcupblog.org Laurie

And the good thing about a poacher is that his shelf life is longer than that of your average Henry-type striker. Pippo Inzaghi is 33, but he personally won the Champions League for Milan. Trezeguet isn’t even thirty yet. He’s got loads of time.
Seb

I can’t agree more with Inara. Cissé these days, anyway, looks a poor man’s Anelka (with the exception of Anelka on Wednesday). This does make me think, though, that besides the dual nationality thing, this could be why Higuaín was called up earlier this year (though to no avail). In any case, all of the French papers have Trezegol leaving Juve. Considering Domenech’s apparent dislike for actually playing Serie A stars (Mexès, Frey, arguably Gourcuff), this could be a good thing for Trez in terms of Les Bleus.
sandrahn

Arsenal Arsenal Arsenal. It’s all exactly like Arsenal.

Now you know what we gooners have been going thru this last season.

Imagine watching that kind of game nearly every week (sometimes twice a week) for a whole season.

It makes you want to knock several heads together, chew the sheets at night, kill your fingernails, yell hysterically at the TV set before destroying it…it also gives you major migraines and sleepless nights, introduces your stomach to the joys of ulcers, and just makes life utterly miserable to anyone around you.
sandrahn

And Inara, your Pipo analogy is exactly on-target. Doesn’t matter that Trez doesn’t create or defend. Certainly doesn’t matter for Pipo, who’s scored a sh*tload of goals throughout his career.