A response to Laurie about catchy little Brazilian tunes (this one weaves its way in and out of the first 6 minutes of this video)
Some footage of Trezeguet being in the team (6:20)
An educational tool in French foul language.
Some funny stuff in the extreme tension: in the lockerroom when Barthez pleas for people to keep cool, and Thuram screams back “But who is losing his cool! Who? Watch it!”. Or on the sideline: “Roger, you are shattering my shoulder!”"Come here, don’t leave me” (Henry and Lemerre). Incidentally, when you see the names of the subs on the sideline, wow what depth.
And in the mess that ensues, I love the scream of the guy (7:25, Leboeuf) who finally realises the magnitude of the thing.

After that, it became different. We came to expect victory.

Happy 10 years, guys! And thanks.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING THE FRENCH NATIONAL TEAM??? Only under Domenech’s management??

I guess that’s the case because your comment is unbelievably ignorant and stupid. Anyone who’s been watching the French national team for YEARS (not just under Domenech, the way you have) know exactly how often Henry and Trez have played very well for France! Check out the stats of these two players on the national team. The people who post on this blog are very knowledgeable about the French national team, they’ve been following it for YEARS, long before Domenech ever came near it.

It’s YOU who are a know-nothing plastic who swallows superficial media coverage since obviously you’ve not been paying attention to the team and its players beyond the shallow, short-lived coverage given to football on US TV.

The thing is, Trezeguet is a goal poacher, plain and simple. And a goal poacher is pretty much by definition somewhat limited as a player. (Is anybody going to argue that Pippo Inzaghi is a complete player? No. He scores goals. That’s 98% of what he does.)

That’s not to say that pure goal scorers can’t make a huge difference for their teams. They can and do. But for that to happen a team needs to be built around getting the ball to the goal scorer. Domenech’s teams never were, and so Trezeguet in the Domenech era has never accomplished anything, even when he was called up and given playing time.

The no poacher strategy worked pretty well in WC 2006 with Zidane, worked okay in qualifying, worked miserably in Euros. But a lot of things weren’t working in Euros.

Would the team have done better if it had been built with players whose main job was to get the ball to Trezeguet? We’ll never know. Possibly yes. It certainly works at Juventus, and it’s worked previously on the NT with Trezeguet.

One of the things I was hoping to see with the new coach we all expected was whether Trezeguet could still work with the EdF under a different system. (Because wouldn’t it be fantastic, after these past few years, to have a prolific scorer on the team!!!) That’s one of the reasons I’m sorry Raymond is still around, because now we’ll probably never know.

For me, the jury is still out on what Trezeguet could have offered. I understand where everybody who thinks he’s wonderful is coming from, but I also understand the other side. Thing is, none of us really know, because it didn’t happen.

What I say is not rubbish, it is you who say rubbish. You just listen to the media hype over players like Henry and Trezeguet, and you continue to repeat that rubbish. It is sad and pathetic. Since when have Henry and Trezeguet played well for France?? Willy Sagnol has done so much more – so many important crosses, tackles, runs up the sidelines. Just because the media doesn’t talk about a right-back, doesn’t mean he’s no good. In fact, he is good. He’s simply the best. Willy Sagnol and Anyukov from Russia are the two best right backs in the world right now. Haha Zambrotta…