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March 24th, 2008 | By: jeff | 25 Comments »

Clairfontaine must look like a M*A*S*H unit with all the injuries:

1. France’s great hope, Karim Benzema, has an injured left ankle - Replaced by Trezeguet (Trezegol?)
2. Arsenal’s impeccable right back Bacary Sagna - Replaced by Reveillère
3. The World’s best player as recently as 2003, Thierry Henry - Replaced by Loic Remy
4. France Captain Patrick Vieira has a sore thigh muscle, and is “very frustrated.”
5. Sebastien Frey - Replaced by Nice goalkeeper Hugo Lloris
6. Perennially crocked, but hugely talented, Louis Saha
7. Marseille midfileder Mathieu Valbuena

Domenech says he should have picked 45 players instead of just 39, to cover the two games. I’m reading through the Domenech interview on L’Equipe; here’s a good question:

Entre un joueur longuement blessé et un autre qui ne joue plus en club, qu’est-ce qui est le plus grave?

Between a player long-term injured and a player who’s not playing for his club anymore, which is more serious?

Le manque de temps de jeu n’est pas le plus important, les blessures sont plus gênantes. Un joueur qui manque de temps de jeu s’entraîne quand même, il peut se préparer. Celui qui est blessé pendant les six derniers mois, ça fait réfléchir. C’est difficile de l’amener vite en compétition.

The lack of playing time is not most important, the injuries are more awkward. A player who misses playing time is still training, he can prepare. Those who are injured during the last six months, that makes one reflect. It’s difficult to quickly bring him into competition.

Who did the interviewer have in mind when he asked that question? And who is Domenech referring to: injured for the last six months?

Patrick Vignal, our man at Reuters, expects Trezeguet and Anelka to start up front. Now that should be an absolutely mouthwatering prospect. Anelka is into the idea.

Laurie, who’s planning to attend the France-England friendly, is an Anelka supporter, and why not? Here’s a guy who was known universally, fairly or not, as “L’Enfant Terrible;” roughly translated, a spoiled brat, just a few years ago. Those days are gone. I’m still smarting from the assist he had to set up Chelsea’s winning goal over Arsenal yesterday. The current version of Anelka is a combination of blinding pace, brilliant skill, and perfect attitude.

And Trezeguet is just one of the Davids who could be returning like a prodigal son.

Tags: Group G

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Comments

By jeff | March 24th, 2008 at 10:50 pm

I ended with that link that includes Becks, so I felt compelled to clarify: I’m sincerely hoping for an absolute thrashing being handed out by France to England. The circumstances call for an epic thrashing of unspeakably lopsided scoreline.

By jeff | March 24th, 2008 at 11:20 pm

As for the second-string friendly against Mali - well that’s coming very soon, and should be a great run out for the up-and-comers. Is Kanoute playing for Mali in that game? It’s definitely a game that suits the taste of this crowd, but it’s going to be difficult, I fear, to access coverage.

The France-England friendly is a pay-per-view event stateside - available several days later on Setanta. It’s on pay-per-view when I have to be at work. They want me to take a vacation day and pay!

By Eric | March 24th, 2008 at 11:56 pm

Man I want to see the mali game too but can’t find it anywhere.I hope we thrash england, thats what we need. I can’t wait for the game to start.

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By sandrahn | March 25th, 2008 at 10:57 am

I’m very upset about Benzema having to bow out of this game. I love Anelka but the Trez-Anelka pairing hasn’t really worked very well. Nothing against either player but they haven’t exactly impressed together up front whenever they’ve played together. So I don’t have high hopes.

I’m really worried about the friendly against England. I desperately want France to thrash England, I mean really thrash them. Tho a close win would be sufficient. Clearly France have the better players, it’s not that. The England squad are hardly impressive. But recent performances by France show that — like Arsenal right now — they really struggle to score goals (unless they’re playing the Faroe Islands). And frankly, Capello is just a better manager than Domenech. I’m no fan of Capello’s style of football but I just think he knows how to force a win much better than Domenech does.

Also, Paris isn’t always reliable as a “home advantage” ground for the France NT. It certainly wasn’t in the game v. Scotland nor for the French rugby NT in the rugby wc last fall.

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By Inara | March 25th, 2008 at 3:10 pm

Here is a link for France-Mali:

mms://livestream.eurosport.com/nogeo/67949.wsx

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By Doumé | March 25th, 2008 at 3:35 pm

Inara,
Thanks so much! It works great.

By lefutur | March 25th, 2008 at 11:41 pm

another predictable 4-4-2 formation with 2 defensive mids i’m sure from domenech. when’s the last time france thrashed anyone?

i think this will be a boring game somehow. i hope i’m wrong.

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By Eric | March 26th, 2008 at 12:05 am

The Mali game wasn’t boring and we were bashing them until a dissapointing second half. I think we will beat england good because their last performance against swizterland wasn’t a very good one. They won 2-1 in Wembley. We are way better than the swiss and we will be playing in Paris. Theres too much going in our favor for us to lose. As for thrashing them I think Anelka and Trezeguet will want to impress so they will take care of that… I hope.

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By Jean-Michel | March 26th, 2008 at 6:26 am

Out of curiousity, does anyone know what the formation was for the A’ game? I missed it and cannot get the link to work. Whatever it was seemed to be a goal scoring one.

Posted from United States

By Daily Dose: World Cup Blog Wednesday Previews - World Cup Blog - Euro 2008 | March 26th, 2008 at 11:24 am

[…] Anelka+Trezegol vs England (France Blog) […]

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By lefutur | March 26th, 2008 at 11:53 am

@ Eric - The mali game was different because he used a playmaker (nasri) in the formation. He will do his usual 4-4-2 lineup today against England with Toulalan and Make in midfield. No playmaker.

By lefutur | March 26th, 2008 at 11:54 am

why doesnt Raymond experiment with Ribery in the playmaker role and govou and malouda on the wings?

By Inara | March 26th, 2008 at 12:32 pm

Jean-Michel: against Mali, it was like this:

Mandanda
Delpierre - Rami - Boumsong - Clichy
Bodmer - Mavuba
Briand - Nasri - Rothen
FSP

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By Inara | March 26th, 2008 at 12:36 pm

Lefutur: Because Ribery isn’t a playmaker. He scores and creates goals, but he’s not someone who can be a creative impetus to a team. Nasri could do it, even Bodmer can do it. Bodmer is a very creative player, though his inclusion in the final 23 is slim.

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By Seb | March 26th, 2008 at 12:51 pm

So this is where all the cool folks are hanging out.

Agreed with Inara on Ribéry, I think that if there’s a weakness to his game, it’s anticipation and getting others involved.

But I do think Bodmer has a shot of getting into the 23, even if Domenech’s definitely got a man-crush on Lassana Diarra (who brings versatility as Bodmer does).

By Eric | March 26th, 2008 at 12:56 pm

lefutur-i agree with you that we need a playmaker but I don’t see anyone taking that role yet. Either way we will find out many things against England. Vive la France!

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By glatisant | March 26th, 2008 at 1:50 pm

Inara:
And what was the lineup in the second half of the game?

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By Inara | March 26th, 2008 at 2:17 pm

After the substitutions had been made, the second half ended something like this:

Lloris
Delpierre - Givet - Boumsong - Reveillere
Bodmer - Mavuba - Ben Arfa
Briand - FSP - Remy

With so much turnover, it’s no wonder France fell apart defensively. It has nothing to do with the caliber of players, but it’s hard to gel with players constantly streaming in and out.

Posted from United States

By glatisant | March 26th, 2008 at 3:48 pm

Thanks.

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By sandrahn | March 26th, 2008 at 3:50 pm

The Guardian’s Paul Doyle is doing live play-by-play of the game. Doyle covers French football for the Guardian and he always treats France with far more respect than his colleagues on the sports page at that paper. You can read his minute-by-minute report here:

http://football.guardian.co.uk/news/matchreport/0,,2268152,00.html

France have just gotten a penalty and Ribery has scored.

I love this bit:

“39 min: Unable to keep up with Ribéry, Beckham tugs him back by the shirt and cops a booking.”

“41 min: England’s response to going behind has been to … run around energetically. But there is very little cohesion on display, and no threat other than the occasional cross. Gerrard has not been able to provide any meaningful support to Rooney. Despite lacking several first-teamers, France are far sharper and clearly more dangerous.”

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By glatisant | March 26th, 2008 at 4:07 pm

I miss Doyle’s Ligue 1 reports this season, though Ben Lyttleton isn’t too bad. The penalty Anelka drew…wonder if James was having flashbacks to Euro 2004?

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By Rajib | March 26th, 2008 at 4:20 pm

Anelka is playing very good. Ribery and Malouda too. But the defence looks shaky.

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By Eric | March 26th, 2008 at 4:58 pm

It was a good win but I was hoping they would be more impressive.

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By lefutur | March 26th, 2008 at 4:58 pm

pretty boring…just as i feared.

By lefutur | March 26th, 2008 at 5:00 pm

Nasri needs to play with the big boys. France hasn’t had an exciting game since Nasri and Benzema made their debuts.

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