Smiles on French Faces

Group D is an absolute tangled mess of f**k

Congrats to the team. Blanc should not call Ribery up. He should build on this momentum without some of the suspected troublemakers of yore. It would send a powerful message if he can string along some victories with some new faces.

I think Sagna has to go, he can't cross, maybe even too slow at times, all France needs is Ribery and nasry, but who do you drop? the three new addition were great Diarra,Diabi,M Villa, France will emprive for sure

It was so wonderful after the game to see the pure, unjaded joy of the French players after the indifference of the Anelka-Ribery years. These players knew this was their chance, and it was so good to see them able to take it. I really, really hope that Blanc never calls up Ribery again!

Of course. Bosnia helped out a lot by deciding not play ten in the box, too. Life will get a little more complicated against defensive teams like Romania.

But they can worry about that later. For now, three happy points!

nice job beating a level c team with 3 defensive mid players.

very good result.

two goals that didn't come from penalties, clean sheet. good performance.

malouda is shaping up to be the best thing to come out of 06 squad of new players. ribery is mockery and wasting the best of his years. blanc has given mexes confidence despite constant fail and now his adjusting. france will build on from here

the problem is what to do once everyone is back

Wonderful effort by Benzema to get that first goal. That's what's required sometimes when it seems like you just can't buy a goal to save your life! What a relief to just win a game without any negativity or bad feelings. Makes me look forward to the next round!

Hahaha, that's the reason why France were completely dominating the whole game, i hope to see the partnership of M'Villa, Diaby and Diara more.

Hahaha again.

I shouted so loudly at work after that Benz goal! All the frustration & disappointment bottled for an year came out in one loud cry!

This win will do us a lot of good. I liked the way we played. There was no fear. Benz is our striker without doubt. He has the quality which others don't. Hopefully he will get good game-time at Madrid.

If Blanc stays honest to his words and will call up players based on the position they play with their clubs, I think Malouda will have a place ahead of him.

The inclusion of Diarra in the midfield I felt really changed the shape of the team defensive, and he really worked well with Diaby. With Alou behind Diaby, Diaby was allowed to go forward and contribute in attack.

With the return of Gourcuff, Ribery and Nasri. I wonder what's going to happen to the midfield.

I hope He can really put it all together for Madrid and l'EdF. I'm very critical against Benzema because I don't remember the last time he has really performed or the last time he has sweat his shirt. Benzema is 22 years old with a unique skillset comparable to the best strikers in the world right now. I'm hoping he can hit his stride in the next year or so because we need him!

france play the catenaccio version of the 4-3-3, agaisnt b level team like england, uruguay, turkey… france will lose. the real 4-3-3 should have 1 dm, a box to box, and a play maker, not 3 dm. just wait and see in november 17 and february 9.

higuain(22), pato(21) and muller(20) are better, for me benz is overrated and i think mourinho would of agree.

The subject isn't who is better than him, but how good he can become. Personally, I think Benzema has really slow acceleration, and he takes to long to make decisions. he prefers to take the extra touch before he makes up his mind.

I won't argue that he's overrated, because I think he is, atm. But to deny the fact that he's one of the most talented forwards out there? technique, strength, speed, he has all the tools to become a great player. Like I said above, he just has to put it all together.

I see Muller as an attacking midfielder/second striker. Benzema is more center forward material than anything else. If Raul were still at Madrid, Benzema may be just edging him out in minutes played.

Obviously Benzema was brilliant tonight. I don't care if he plays for Real Madrid or not, if he can play like that for France.

Argentina played a similar 4-3-3 with Mascherano, Cambiasso and Benega in the midfield yesterday against Spain, and that seemed to work very well (Argentina won 4-1). I'm not saying that France's 3 in the middle are as good, but a 4-3-3 can be played in any number of ways. France's 4-3-3 worked well yesterday. I am sure Blanc will adjust his tactics according to the opponent. In any case, I don't see Diaby as a pure DM. He is more of a box to box midfielder. M'villa has also shown ability going forward. When Gourcuff and Nasri return, France will have two playmakers to choose from. As France didn't have any available for this game, I think Blanc chose his tactics and his midfield players wisely.

Having too many talented players is an excellent problem to have. I would think that Blanc will start whomever is playing the best. I agree that there should be at least one Makalele-style midfielder who will let the other players get forward without looking over their shoulders. ADiarra played that role very well against Bosnia.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice! Allez Les Bleus!

And Albania top of the group :0 Crazy right, that's why we love football

My favorite aspect of this match is that France aggressively attacked their opponent with a perfect mixture of strikers and midfielders that ACTUALLY WORKED TOGETHER!!! We haven't seen this since Zidane retired. My second-favorite aspect, is that it could have easily been 4-0 in favor of France. The attacks kept pouring-on and for once, I felt confident about this team.

There is still a lot of work to do, but this team is beginning to take shape. I am not worried about Blanc's ability to manage egos. He is a great coach who knows what the best combination of players will be. The additions of Gourcuff and Nasri will make this team dangerous again.

A rich man's problem : we have loads of great midfielders. I guess Blanc will chose the best, or the best fit to face France's opponents. IN a 4-3-3 system, we might have :

A Diarra (or Lass or Toulalan) – Diaby (MVila) – Nasri (or Gourcuff)

Hardly catenaccio! They won the midfield battle, thus getting opportunities to carry the game (and themselves) in the Bosnian half. And the DMs largely contributed to the attack.

I think France actually does much better against teams who think they can beat them (I guess “a” teams according to your system); which means they play to attack – like Bosnia did (or Spain, Brazil in 2006). We tied Uruguay this year, having dominated them, and remember, that was our “contaminated” team.