If you’re to the point yet where you can laugh about it, this game is hysterical.

http://www.jeu-de-main.com/

this is absurd, what hateful ones?

Posted from  United States

Question for you all, I keep hearing that Domenech should be fired. Can that even happen before 2010? I would love Laurent to be the 2010WC coach.

No Gignac should stay he is not the problem at all. The players are not the problem whatis they are nervous I can see it and im sure most people also. The crowd is very impatient and the players don’t feel comfortable at all maybe its because they feel like they have to please the crowd instead of the crowd helping them.

The players want to play for their country and I can see how excited they are when they do score even when it was against the faroe islands. I think to cure their problem is to please the crowd by getting a new coach.

I personally think part of the problem started out as overconfidence as a nation as a whole, and as overconfidence brought losses, which brought a shattered confidence, the losses continued. Combine this shattered confidence with a terrible coach in which the players know shouldn’t be at the helm…and you have a poor France team.

Having said that, I think the remedy is a win against a big team…but that’s where the problem comes in…

Posted from  United States

Since when do we have left-back woes? Patrice Evra and Eric Abidal are the two best left backs in the world. Full stop. Clichy, Cissokho, and Jeremy Mathieu are class as well. If they aren’t preforming well for the NT it’s not a lack of quality with them but a lack of motivation/poor coaching, both of which are the fault of Domenech.

Which brings me to another point. The motivation and lack of effort in the players is Domenech’s fault. Under a better coach they would try harder, they would be motivated. Domenech appears to be one of the worst motivators out there.

Posted from  United States

I can’t find a flaw in Mark’s analysis.

I don’t buy that motivation is solely Domenech’s job. What is the point in having all these team leaders then? Henry, Gallas, Anelka, etc – aren’t they supposed to be rousing the troops? And isn’t it supposed to be an immense pride wearing a blue shirt? Even if you have the worse manager in the world, shouldn’t the players have the spark of life in them, at all?

Sure, Domenech has man-management issues, and I’m not denying that France could do with a better coach. But I don’t think you can hold Domenech responsible for everything that went wrong last Wednesday. All those missed passes, poor tackles, and horrible targeting – that’s all on the players. Even if they are having confidence issues, both in themselves and in their manager, these are professional players. Most have been playing on the big stages for years and should be used to facing high pressure situations in uncomfortable environments. Of course, even the best teams have one or two bad games, but an entire string of them? The fact that they couldn’t even try to win – forget actually winning – is what disappoints me. If France had gone down fighting, that would be different.

A crappy manager doesn’t absolve the players of their own responsibilities. Otherwise the manager would be the only person who mattered.

Thomas: I have not been impressed with Evra for a year now in his games for France. I agree that he’s a class LB, but he tends to play better for club than for country. I do like Abidal as a LB, but he keeps being played as a CB. I wouldn’t mind seeing Evra dropped to give one of the other potentials a try.

All I have to say is I lost all respect for Thierry Hendry as a player and as a man. He is a cheater, a man with no morals, a disgrace to the game of football. Did I make it plain enough? What he did in that game is criminal as far as I’m concern, the importence of this game for it to come down to someone cheating is a disgrace to the great game. FIFA should be bisbanded if they let this stand because it sends the message “it’s ok to cheat”. Young chilren that play and follow the game will think that all that matters is too win no matter how you win! The referee’s in this game and many other’s are terrible, if this is the best you can do then you need to put another referee on the pitch and 4 linesman on the pitch when it comes to world cup games and qualifiers. There is too mauch at stake for these countries for a game too be decided on such a blatant handball. If France does go through I hope they lose every game to a hand ball goal. Justice for cheaters.

Posted from  United States

I really blame it completely on Domenech’s selection process. Calling up simply the best players is not good enough anymore. Brazil practically killed that strategy at the 06 World Cup with their horrible performance. The more you criticize the horrible performances of the players, world-class they may be, that’s more criticism that should be attributed to Domenech because he’s the one who selected them.

Every time a call up comes around, its the same players all the time. Players like Henry, Abidal, Gallas, Anelka, Ribery, Toulalan, and Lassana Diarra have no motivation and nothing to play for because they know, because of Domenech’s selection style, that they are going to be in the starting eleven. Because of this, they get comfortable and forget about their responsibilities in a competitive game because they know, despite their pathetic performances, they will be in the starting eleven the next game and the next game and so on because of Domenech’s selection style.

A good example would be Hugo Lloris. Lloris knows one screw up or one blunder and Mandanda, whose only two years older, will be in for him. THAT’S COMPETITION at the GK position. At every other position, there’s no competition. Why? Because Domenech eliminated selection. Look at teams like England, Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, hell even Ghana and the Ivory Coast (Ironically they all finished 1st in their groups). All of their coaches show no discrimination when it comes to callups. They select the players who are solely in top form (with a few regulars included) and only that. Had Domenech consistently called up guys like Cheyrou, Nasri, Gomis, Flamini, Chalme, Planus, Cabaye, etc. (and there are many more) around the time they deserved them and made it clear that only the best players in training would play and feature with the team, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Posted from  United States

I totally agree, but again, I feel like Domenech is damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. He’s still facing criticism for not selecting Frey, and remember the uproar over Trezeguet? Pires and Giuly are still whining about it in the press despite it being like five years.

You’re right in that the established order needs a reality check. I wouldn’t mind at all to see the regulars benched or even dropped. But the moment Domemench does so, the French media (which you have to admit is notoriously fickle about this sort of thing) will start blasting Domenech, and if these new players lose a match – it’s like Dom’s experiment is over before it already began.

It’s kind of a weird catch-22 I think. Domenech doesn’t get any support from the fans or the media (which is a situation that is somewhat merited at this point), but he’s never had the kind of power that managers from other countries have. We’ve all heard of what happened at the 2006 World Cup (especially with Zidane’s demands). That probably was a good thing in hindsight, but in reality, players should never have that kind of power over their managers, no matter how incompetent the manager or how great the player. It creates these situations where the power dynamic messes with the team. If certain senior players start believing that they should have a say in how things are run, it doesn’t encourage the younger ones to listen much either.

Good points, however at the end of the day it is the person leading the team that bears the brunt when a squad does not perform up to standard. And that person is Domenech, plain and simple. We all know how hard it is to work for a bad manager, why should it be any different playing for Les Bleus? To me Domenech is the #1, #2 and #3 problem. He is the CEO of this company…and is failing.

More of my rant on Domenech -
http://thebeantownfrog.blogspot.com/2009/11/world-cup-2010-next-9-months-for-les.html

In l’Equipe today, Henry talks about the fact that he felt let down by the FFF after the game. Plus he considered ending his NT carreer, but now wants to fight untill the end, even if “what just happend will stay carved in stone. You can forgive but not always forget”.

Posted from  France

Well, I hate to bring this up, to follow up with Mark, but it’s not like France really owned up to Zidane’s act of thuggery. So many straw men were thrown up in his defense it watered down the offense. Always deflecting is the work of the guilty.

In the case of Henry, yes, it does get to his character. I don’t know where the nuance comes in (and Laurie, really, you do a superb job with the France posting) but it’s pretty black and white to me. His handling of the ball was intentional. He double handled it for crying out loud!

However, where I draw the line is the calls for him – and France – to be “banned” which is pure rubbish. France fans feel bad about it but they shouldn’t beat themselves offer it either. It’s not like Ireland got their breaks.

Last, I can’t believe what I’m reading about the skepticism of replay. It won’t solve anything? Are you kidding me? Are you guys following other sports at all? They used to say the same thing in hockey and football. Now? Fans thank the good Lord for it. It saved those sports in many ways. It’s worked fine in tennis and baseball and in all cases it hasn’t damaged the integrity or traditions of the game. It’s called evolving.

So, I say learn to LOVE REPLAY!

Posted from  Canada

It’s not like they “didn’t” get their breaks. Sorry.

Posted from  Canada

Couldn’t find the original interview (because for some reason l’Equipe always refused to give me the goods) but here’s a summary:

http://www.lefigaro.fr/equipe-de-france-de-football/2009/11/23/02016-20091123ARTSPO00398-henry-a-pense-arreter.php

I might be the only one who thinks this way, but I think Henry is being a little over dramatic. He’s made his apology and said he’d be okay with a replay, but the FFF and FIFA said no. End of story. This nonsense about retiring from the international scene because the ref allowed his handball to stand – please. He’s scored other controversial goals before, some in even more dodgy circumstances (hello, that free kick). He didn’t contemplate retiring then because the English FA disappointed him.

I’d like to see some players take some responsibility for the fact that they played like crap (saying that they were lucky doesn’t count). We all agree that Domemench gets most of the blame, but it’s a pipe dream to expect Domemench to say so, as he probably believes from the bottom of his heart that France were the better team. But it’d be nice if Henry could be like, “Hey, we were actually pretty terrible out there, so sorry, but we’ll be better next time, I promise.”

That’s the kind of responsibility he should be taking as team captain. As opposed to saying that he was ready to walk away.

Regardless of the player’s responsibilities, until Dom gets fired, nothing will get solved.

Posted from  United States

I would agree with Benj. A good manager can cut through the egos and get players playing as a team. Look what Capello’s done for England, and you don’t get more overpaid and overhyped than the English.

Good points, Laurie and Benj. The fact that the players don’t respect Domenech is sufficient reason to fire him.

Posted from  United States

“A crappy manager doesn’t absolve the players of their own responsibilities. Otherwise the manager would be the only person who mattered.”
I happen to concur with you on this one specially with this sport as the players on the field can freely improvise and be creative.
Dropping Anelka back to collect the ball does create a lot of space for the designated striker, as it did for Gignac, providing he can control those nerves. Unfortunately passion is not something that you can bottle and prescribe for this team.
I felt as Squillaci settled down he was playing well, specially given his height is something that we need at the center back position.
How about that SAGNA? SOLID AS A ROCK!!!

Good blog, thanks to Inara for helping us all move on and think about practicalities.

Re Henry’s comments…I think he has a legit complaint to make about the way the FFF (Domenech too) have let the world crucify him with no public support. Wenger made the same comment in his press conference last week–the FFF just let him take all this hatred and abuse alone and yet HE got France to the wc. I think they’ve shown him a shocking lack of loyalty. I wish Henry would retire internationally.

I think Inara is right in that the players have to take some responsibility. We gooners often have this same debate — yes, Wenger’s made mistakes but our players have often failed to prove his faith in them. Granted, AW is not Domenech. But veterans like Henry, Anelka and Gallas simply don’t show any leadership on the pitch. I don’t care how bad Dom is, there simply is no excuse for players of this caliber and experience to make so many misplaced passes and gift the ball to the opposition like a Sunday pub team. Yes, Domenech does set the tone and it’s obvious that all he generates is a malaise in this team. So why don’t any of these players step up and do something about it?

I think that the situation is not that bad. France is the seventh ranked team in the world according to the latest FIFA rankings — higher than Argentina and England. All the top teams have had some rough patches. Russia got knocked out of World Cup qualifying by previously 49th ranked Slovenia.

The main thing France should focus on is defense. France was noted for having one of the best defenses in the game. There was a time when a French goal keeper would hardly see any action, except for set pieces. This is also the area in which we are mostly vulnerable.

The team just needs to have the right approach. For some strange reason Les Bleus generally have slow starts and usually have a better second half than first half, such what occurred against Italy in the last World Cup final. It’s as if they wait for their opponents to turn on their game, then they respond. The coach has to ensure that the teams is fired up from the get go. France tends play to the level of opposing teams. I would still bet on them to beat number one ranked Brazil again. They just have to keep up their tempo throughout a game.

It really doeas aggrivate me that Domenech is still in the job. I sure hope there is a new coach by spring. Are there any chances at all?….also, I’m going to be going to the France ? Spain friendly in march, hopefully we don’t lose that bad.

Posted from  United States

Fabrice, I’m Brazilian and support my national team (tho I can’t say I’m very enthusiastic about Dunga’s team), except when they play against France — at which point, I prefer a draw, tho I’m ok with either one winning or losing. Anyway, there’s a good reason that I too have no doubt that France can beat Brazil, and that’s because we haven’t been able beat France since 1958. France are Brazil’s #1 bogey team and I’ve seen nothing in Dunga’s team to change that hoodoo.