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Thierry Henry the link-up man for Karim Benzema

June 4th, 2008 | By: jeff | 10 Comments »

I enjoyed France’s final Euro 2008 warm-up game against Columbia. I really hope the opening game against Romania will be good, open football.

I like the new-look front two. I’ve got a crush on the Henry-Benzema partnership. With the sweet passes in tight spaces around the box, I’m on Cloud 9.

A unanimous opinion held among knowledgeable football supporters everywhere is that Thierry Henry is not as fast as he used to be. Not so long ago, he was very fast. It was often embarrassing for opposing right backs. And by often, I mean every single time Henry ran at them.

I love watching Henry and Benzema together. Henry, when he’s in form, sets up as many goals as he scores himself. Now that he’s lost some of his pace, he can devote more of his focus to his set-up play, and with France’s already-iconic-at-age-20 striker Karim Benzema, he has a good target-man playing next to him.

Benzema is the creme de la creme of strikers to set up. Fast as a whip. Huge energy. Can score all kinds of goals. A real Number 9. Just loves to put his boot through the ball. And Henry looks like his new goal in life is to be the link-up man with Benzema. Everybody is right behind Benzema with support, and pressure, but with Henry in there, Henry takes a lot of that pressure away, not that it would necessarily bother Benzema, who seems much more interested in ripping the back of the net than managing expectations.

I thought Toulalan looked ok against Columbia. I recently watched the goal that Vieira scored against Spain in 2006 (Don’t get me started on that goal against Togo), and I would understand if Domenech wanted to put a healthy Vieira in that spot. As an Arsenal supporter, I’m a huge fan of Cesc, and I’m hoping that Toulalan, if he gets a run, can bring France a little bit of the quality that Cesc brings Arsenal, playing in the same position in central midfield alongside a deeper-lying holding midfielder. I’ve been told by some of Toulalan’s loyal supporters that I underrate the player, but I thought he looked ok in this game.

I have a new take on Malouda. It dawned on me because of something that happened in the game when Ribery, Benzema, and Henry were all making runs down the left wing at the same time: we need a left midfielder who stays out of the way. Maybe he’s back there steadying the defense, I’m not sure I know. He goes through long segments of matches without catching my notice.

Benzema rarely goes 90 seconds without being involved in a chance on goal.

Ribery is a joy to watch. I love that guy.

I want to see more goal-threat out of Makalele.

That was a joke. But we need the other central midfielder to push up and get us two or three of those tasty open goals.

I’m happy with Coupet in there. I’m still pumped that Mandanda got the #1 jersey, even if he didn’t get the #1 position.

Can anyone tell me the numbers for all the positions? I sure can’t. I have an excuse. I’m American. But I’ve asked a few people who should be more knowledgeable (non-Americans), and I’ve received conflicting opinions.

Take your classic 4-4-2. You got your keeper as your number 1. Right back as #2, no? You tell me. What’s the logic. Huge bonus, 50 points, if you can give a logical explanation for why the central defenders are so often considered numbers 5 and 6, while a midfielder is 4!

If the system proves to be as arcane as I now believe it to be, I propose a new system:

Keeeper – 1
Right Back – 2
Right Central Defender – 3
Left Central Defender -4
Left Back -5
Defensive Midfielder – 6
Right Wing -7
Left Wing – 8
Attacking Midfielder – 9
Forwards – 10 and 11

Zidane was like a true 10 when he played behind Henry in France’s 2006 4-4-1-1.

In this post-Zidane era, Henry now has a chance to drop nicely into that number 10 spot that he’s quietly wanted for some time. He’s a player who doesn’t even take the penalties that he earns. In his heart, he wants to be a great set-up player, and Benzema looks all set to play his role, with a few goals. Hopefully a few winners.

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Comments

By Jean-Michel | June 4th, 2008 at 7:23 am

Jeff,
I slightly disagree with your Malouda take. If Malouda is an attacking midfielder then he should attack. I mean what the hell do we have 2 DM’s for? Unless Domenech is specifically telling him “no, you stay back” I don’t understand why he doesn’t impose himself more on the left. The more pressure on the opposing defense the better I think. Columbia exposed our vulnerability to counter attacks but again thats what the 2 DM’s are for. We’ve got the numbers in the back so pushing forward to me seems logical.

Posted from United States

By Daniel | June 4th, 2008 at 9:13 am

Hi Jeff,

Nice observations on the french side (I’m a Dane, rooting for Italy and our neighbours Sweden). I agree that France can play quite intriguing at times and the front pair is intimidating – I still think that if Anelka should start and score in the opening game he could get the momentum that would make him awesome in the campaign.
I think that France might have issues in the back, since especially the elderly Sagnol and Thuram have lost more speed than their routine can make up for. It’s going to be an interesting group with four strong sides.

Being American you might have a tendency to link numbers with positions as they do in the NFL, and it used to be pretty much the same in soccer – but times have changed and you can no longer see a players position from the number on his back.
I have made a few adjustments to your suggestion though, and I think it pretty much fits with the days of yore now – then again, at that time you would play with other tactics primarily – with wingbacks and so on, but lets not get into that )

Keeeper – 1
Right Back – 2
Right Central Defender – 4
Left Central Defender -5
Left Back -3
Defensive Midfielder – 6
Right Wing -7
Left Wing – 8
Attacking Midfielder – 10
Forwards – 9 and 11

Posted from United States

By jean pierre | June 4th, 2008 at 10:10 am

as i understand it, part of the problem is the fact that the 4-4-2 wasn’t in popular use when they started numbering shirts.

so you only had one striker – number 9 – with 7 & 11 the wings and 8 & 10 supporting midfielders. here’s a link to the early england team football numbering system, which may have become the blueprint for numbering (?):

http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamUnif/UnifNosNames.html

what has happened since, of course, is that different formations have come into use, and yet teams still try to impose the numbers 1-11 on them. furthermore, as you’ve probably thought about, talismanic shirt numbers also cause confusion with some clubs (not all). so you can have an inspirational winger in the traditional number 7, and then your next inspirational player inherits the number 7, even though they’re a central midfielder, and so the lines get blurred.

some numbers are universally recognised, of course. its a little more universal with the defenders and the number 7 – but everything in between gets a little confusing.

i quite like it that the numbering is all over the place. it makes it fun for me. also a lot of clubs have very strict philosophies regarding their numbering systems, so for them it makes sense.

also, because of the amount of different formations, i don’t think its really feasible to develop a strict numbering system as the numbers for a 4-4-2 won’t be applicable for a 3-5-2, or a 4-3-3 or a 3-4-2-1 etc.

its a mystery, however, why number 4s are always mids and never defenders! haha! i’ve always wondered where that started myself!

Posted from United Kingdom

By jean pierre | June 4th, 2008 at 10:12 am

ah, meant to say its universal with the defenders and the number 9 (not 7).

Posted from United Kingdom

By sandrahn | June 4th, 2008 at 11:45 am

Fascinating blog post, Jeff. I certainly hope your optimism about Henry proves right.

The numbering system has gotten blurred in so many areas. How the hell does Arsene give Gallas the #10, ffs!! Nothing against Gallas but as a Brazilian who holds the #10 player as a sacred gift to the sport (a sadly declining breed), that’s an insult!

I’m confused about your comments re Cesc and Toulalan. I’m a gooner too and of course Cesc is a god to me. I also love Toulalan but he’s a DM. Toulalan could not perform like Cesc, who’s a playmaker. Too bad we can’t ever see them paired up in midfield, but I wouldn’t want Lyon to lose Toulalan anyway. I like Lyon and want to see their best players stay where they are.

Posted from United States

By princedesparcs | June 4th, 2008 at 3:47 pm

Re Titi …

His vision, still better-than-average pace, and passing and scoring skills could make him an ideal #10. In this sense, he could be ZZ’s truest successor, even through 2010. So … Bench Malouda, slot Titi in front of the two DM’s, put Ribery on his preferred left and Benzema and Anelka up front … 4-2-1-1-2?

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By jeff | June 4th, 2008 at 5:05 pm

JP – You get 50 points for the link to the sweet diagram with the 2-3-5 formation. You need that, soemtimes; you need 5 in the front line.

Sandrahn – I think France is going to need a push forward from central midfield. Cesc is brilliant because he’s a complete midfielder: box to box. I’m hopeful that Toulalan can push forward and nick a few goals. I’m expecting very little from Malouda and Makalele in terms of sustained offense pressure. Pat nicked a couple key goals in 2006, and if Toulalan steps in there, the expectation would be for him to contribute likewise, no?

Daniel – Italy?

By jean pierre | June 4th, 2008 at 5:14 pm

haha!

yeah, what a weird formation! we look at some modern day ones and think “ah, they’re messing with things too much, they should go back to how it was in the good ol’ days” and yet there are some crazy-ass formations in the good ol’ days!!

meant to add (but got too carried away with the whole formations thing) that i’m totally with you on what you say about the our players – especially about ribery! he’s an absolute joy to watch

By Antoine | June 4th, 2008 at 5:26 pm

I love the French lineup this yr but I”m worried that they might be a team that has the french attitude of the early 90’s!!!! I did hear Shemus Malin say one time that the only team that can beat the French are the French THEMSELVES and that might be true this yr to……put i pray that they will come together like a veteran team

Posted from Canada