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Lyon, Champions League and The French Game

March 7th, 2007 | By: Laurie | 7 Comments »

I would have posted yesterday, but first I was too busy watching Lyon play Roma, and then I was too busy being depressed. What was up with that?

Seriously, Lyon played with what I am sadly starting to think of as “The French Style.” Complete domination of possession, beautiful control of the ball, occasional major and huge lapses and a complete inability to put it in the net.

I know that sounds harsh. I LOVE these guys — both Lyon and Les Bleus — and Lyon has done quite well domestially. And in my opinion there is nothing more beautiful than watching the French style of play. But beauty is not gonna get the team very far in Euro ‘08 and beyond. I think they’ll probably qualify, but unless they can figure out how to score a little bit more they won’t get much beyond that.

Or maybe I’m wrong. But think about it. France-Argentina: Beautiful play, couldn’t score. France-Greece was better — that 1-0 win — but I just rewatched the game (partly for the sheer joy of watching Nicolas Anelka be so damn good at being bad) — and they didn’t win by nearly as much as they should have. Faroe Islands ended well, but after 60 minutes with their top two striker choices — Henry and Saha — they were up only 2-0. And France-Scotland was France-Argentina, except that Scotland didn’t even play that well.

Even World Cup was way too dependent on free kicks and penalties for my comfort. Why do we so rarely see France marauding down the field to score, the way Roma did for Totti’s goal yesterday?

So what’s the solution? I really don’t know. I look at the team and don’t really see any one weak link. (Although I would personally like to see a little less reliance on Henry.) What do you think? Are there players who need to be replaced? Or is it a style thing? Should the team maybe turn a little away from the French style of play — perhaps by recruiting less from Lyon and more from other leagues? Or is there something I’m missing?

Or is this all in my mind? Am I just suffering from selective memory and forgetting a lot of the good stuff? Or can France really survive on beauty and penalty kicks? I’d like your opinion.

And maybe we’ll get some kind of answer in the next few months.

Tags: Champions League, France, Lyon, Roma

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Comments

By sandrahn | March 7th, 2007 at 5:11 pm

Arsenal just lost to PSV because of the exact same reason - Arsenal’s entire season has been characterized by the same qualities you describe about the French game. Mind you, Arsenal DID at least score — but not enuf to qualify for the next round of the Champions League. My other 2 favorite clubs–Barca & Lyon–were also eliminated. I don’t know. It’s incredibly frustrating.

Yet in past seasons Arsenal and Wenger did play the beautiful game and STILL have that killer instinct for goals — they had guys like Bergkamp, Vieira and Pires. With the loss of those guys, Arsenal has lost its bite.

It’s all incredibly frustrating.

Posted from United States

By Jersey_bleus | March 7th, 2007 at 9:01 pm

Laurie,

I hate to make you jealous, but I will have an update on Lyon playing style, as I procured Lyon-Nancy tickets for the 17th! I can’t even express in words my joy. I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures, talk to locals and try to convey the entire atmosphere of a Ligue 1 game.

A+,

Spring Breaking L’Américain

Posted from United States

By Laurie | March 7th, 2007 at 10:53 pm

JB: “I hate to make you jealous.”

Oh, yeah, right. You’re thriving on my jealousy right now, aren’t you?

My husband owes me a trip to Paris. Seriously, we had it planned, and then his work interfered. So now he OWES me. (Ask his sister, his secretary, and all the other women in his life.) We won’t get there till next season, but i’m thinking I deserve a soccer tour of the country. Lyon, PSG, Marseille, etc. etc. etc. (He doesn’t even like soccer.)

What do you think?

Posted from United States

By Laurie | March 7th, 2007 at 10:57 pm

Sandra, I so feel for you!! I was thinking of my “France style of play” post throughout the entire Arsenal game. (I was bouncing back and forth between Munich-Madrid and Arsenal-PSV, and Arsenal was by FAR the best team of the four.)

The one thing you have in your favor is that so many of the Arsenal players are so young. Imagine Clichy, Denilson and Adebayor in three or four years.

Boggles the mind, doesn’t it?

Posted from United States

By Luis | March 8th, 2007 at 12:02 pm

Laurie - that “France style of play” was once called the “Portugal style of play” - all flare and grace but no results. Thankfully PT is getting results these days too. Have a martini, it will pass.

Posted from United States

By Pedro P | March 8th, 2007 at 1:18 pm

You’re gonna hate me, Laurie, but I must back Luis here… One of these days people might also start saying “they” are/were called the brazillians of Europe…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/football/features/newsid_3691000/3691419.stm
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/18/sports/web.0618WCport.iran.php

Anyway, I was also hoping Lyon would go through, but they didn’t… I imagine also the problem with Lyon is that they still haven’t got the “tradition” in these competitions, so they have the quality but not the experience. I’m talking as a club, a structure, etc… But, I imagine their dominion of french foot will last a couple of years more, so there’s more Champs next year… Martinis do work wonders…

Posted from Netherlands

By sandrahn | March 8th, 2007 at 4:08 pm

Laurie, I’m still depressed. True, Arsenal has some wonderful young players and the future looks bright — but at the moment it’s all dark and gloom for me. I adore Wenger but he’s just not a great tactician, it pains me to say that.

Look at the CL now — nearly all the good attacking teams have been eliminated by boring defensive sides. The only ones left who are worth watching are Milan and ManU. It’s the world cup all over again, and it’s the plague of the modern game: open, positive, attacking football is dying a slow death.

Posted from United States

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