Henry Out Injured

Thierry Henry won’t play when France meet the Faroe Islands in a couple days, because, according to Barcelona, he has pain in both Achilles tendons.

Henry is still one of France’s best players, but given that he’s likely to be missing more games in the future due to injury at this stage in his career, it would be timely for another attacking player to step forward.

Domenech had been using Henry well recently, as a left forward, the same position he plays for Barcelona, and the position he essentially played for Arsenal. The whole look of the team was starting to come together, something like this:

Anelka
Henry Gourcuff Ribery
Toulalan L.Diarra
Evra Gallas Squillaci Sagna
Mandanda

For Wednesday, Ribery is coming off an injury and probably won’t start, and now Henry’s out. Playing against a relatively modest side in the Faroe Islands, we could probably line up with a simple 4-4-2 and get the victory we need:

Anelka Benzema
Malouda Toulalan L. Diarra Gourcuff
Evra Gallas Squillaci Sagna
Keeper

With our fragile confidence, though, any change seems like a risk. Asking Gourcuff to play wide instead of in the middle could be the talking point after the match, with calls for Domenech to be sacked, and a statement from the FFF that Domenech has their complete confidence, but if Gourcuff is going to be a big player for us, and himself keep in the side, he should be able to adapt to different formations and positions.

It’s ridiculous to have to be so worried about France putting in a decent performance, but that’s what’s it come to.

Anelka – Leading scoring last season in the Premier League winning the Golden Boot in the last match of the season with one of the top ten goals of the season.

Benzema – 30 million pound acquisition of Real Madrid over the summer.

Malouda – Frequent starter and reliable player for Chelsea.

Gourcuff – Player of the season in Ligue 1.

I could go on. League titles won by Toulalan with Lyon. L. Diarra playing for Real Madrid. Ever-present Evra’s trophy haul with Manchester United.

France have players who have never had a call up, Steed Malbranque-types, who might be the Captain for Faroe Islands, yet a couple days ahead of the match, the prospect of missing two of our players with the best track record for putting in decent performances has me fearing the worst.

I really shouldn’t have to be worried. A simple 4-4-2 should work like a charm. The idea of 11 players playing with passion and desire seems a little far-fetched, but if they did, France would stroll to victory. What’s more likely is that a few players will try to coast through the match, which might still be ok, but if there’s no spark at all, I hope Domenech will have the sense to make early substitutions before it gets too far out of hand.

Malouda, Benzema, and possibly Gourcuff are the ones I’m worried about. Gourcuff hasn’t done anything to deserve such doubt, but the pattern for so many players is to have a dip in form after a promising start (see Malouda and Benzema).

An early goal could help France tremendously, and get the players out of the mindset that they sometimes seem to get into, that playing for France is sort of a drag, and get them into the mindset of how much fun it is to score goals.

For the goalkeeper, it looks to me like Mandanda might not be the best choice for the number 1. I like him, and I’d keep him on as a backup, for now, at least, while somebody else, like Hugo Lloris, gets a chance. That said, a lot of our commenters are more knowledgeable on the respective merits of these Ligue 1 keepers than I am.