Fasten your seatbelts….

Diarra in, first. Holding the ball in midfield in a tough away match will be important. Gameiro is a natural starter too. Benzema should stay on the bench waiting for a 2nd half chance. Of course Trémoulinas should become the #1 leftback but I doubt Blanc holds the same opinion. He's one of the best in Europe, IMO.

It's very early and one cannot predict Blanc's reaction if France fails to qualify. Even as the second in this group they might qualify. I assume the reaction for failure from the fans/FFF will have a direct impact on his decision.

What I'd like to see against Bosnia: no more long balls towards Hoarau or whoever plays up front. France proved (Malouda and Valbuena as well as Menez) that they are capable of penetrating the 16 yard box. Briand might be the ace in Blanc's sleeve, but then, France might find themselves chasing Bosnia too. In order to take charge and dominate, the back 4 will have to be coordinated (mostly when trapping the opposition in an offside position). The 2 defenders will have to be more active and create chances for Gameiro. Against Belarus Clichy and Sagna were very hesitant.

I will be watching the match and crossing fingers. Hope there's a liveblog so we can all unite and cheer from our chairs

Allez le bleus!

play 4-2-3-1 and stop playing 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 4-4-2 is outdated

I think France do have a problem scoring right now. Of the 9 games they've played this year, they haven't scored in 5. I don't think that a good goal scoring record in a league necessarily translates to the international stage. Anelka won the Golden Boot in 08/09 and I can't remember the last time he scored for France. Malouda is in good form, but he is not a striker. Hopefully the players who Blanc gives a start can take their chances in front of goal because I think a strong striker up top could possibly make a difference, or at least get the goals coming again.

I never trusted Clichy's defensive skills. Tremoulinas is better but I think Cissoko is our best option after Evra. I would like to see Tremoulinas start against Bosnia. At right back it won't hurt to take a look at Yanga-Mbiwa, Bocaly & Debuchy.

I also think France should start 4-2-3-1 but don't agree with bringing back Diarra. Diaby & M'Villa did a decent job but my ideal pair would be Toulalan & M'Villa.

Defensively Mexes, Rami, Sakho & maybe Ciani, Kosielceny, Squillaci & Planus will develop into a strong defense over the course of time. Not a legendary defense but a reliable one at the very least.

We desperately need one of Gourcuff/Nasri/Cabaye/Menez to mature this season. We are adequately filled with quality wingers. Malouda, Valbuena, Remy, HBA, Ribery, Briand

In the striking department Benzema is our most natural finisher and we need him to start firing for Madrid & France. Hoarau, Gameiro, Gignac and lot of others can chime in from time to time as well.

Against Bosnia I would like to see this:

Lloris, Sagna, Rami, Mexes, Tremoulinas, Diaby, M'Villa, Malouda, Valbuena, Gameiro, Menez

Since Benz is not in best of forms Menez starts as he did show some potential against Belarus and needs another look in. He plays in the hole.

I understand your point. What I would like to see is some attempts. It seems like Les Bleus are searching for that perfect set up and a perfect goal. That's not how you win games. I want to see players gain confidence and take shots from 30 meters out, even though they almost never finish, sometimes the rebound does.

Hhahahha if u french and u think france is going to win Bosnia u Krazy if they cant win belarus how in hell are they going to win Bosnia who is 3 times better dont be suprised if the result is 3-0 like against luzembourg:)))

I agree, I think Clichy is very overrated by Arsenal fans. Tremoulinas should definitely start against Bosnia. I think in our future friendlies we need to try out some rightbacks other than Sagna and Fanni, maybe Blanc can have another M'vila like discovery

I think that Diaby and M'vila would make a great pair in a 4-2-3-1. Although we can not say much about Diarra because we have not really seen him play.

I think Sakho has a huge chance of becoming a legendary defender. He is only 20 and has so much talent, a future captain of France for sure.

Of the playmakers, I think Nasri has the biggest chance of blossoming this season. The Arsenal Offside wrote a great post about the possibility of him having a breakout season this year: http://arsenal.theoffside.com/players/samir-nasri-players/tactical-view-samir-nasri-vs-liverpool.html

I am not sure if I agree that Diarra should start over Diaby, but since we haven't really gotten a chance to see Diarra yet we can not say much. I have watched Tremoulinas play many times in Ligue 1 (I'm more or less a BDX fan). I agree with your statement that he is one of the best in Europe.

Blanc usually holds up to his word and he said himself that he would resign. However if he failed to qualify because of circumstances he could not control I do not believe that he should be blamed. I think Blanc may become the best coach France have ever had.

I think Valbuena should start, I forgot to put that into my post but every time he has come in for France he has made a huge difference. Imagine what confidence he'll gain if he starts a match.

We will definitely be having a liveblog for this match, the last one went really well. I'll try not to swear so much next time

Yes Everyone does seem to be leaning towards a 4-2-3-1 nowadays. I guess we could have Malouda, Menez, and Valbuena in midfield?

That's a problem we have at Arsenal as well; making one too many passes, not getting enough shots in outside the box, etc. We're actually pretty successful too so I'm not sure why we don't give it a go more often!

I'm interested to see how everything plays out with this team. I've always enjoyed France. Bosnia should be an interesting match, hopefully they can get something out of it so they can start getting some of their confidence back.

Definitely desperately in need for a #10…
I don't see any fatal choice in the Belarus game, and Blanc is right.. even though Malouda and Gameiro are prolific, in the national team form they become different (one can think as an opposite of Klose and Podolski).
Usually a lack of #10 can be fixed by applying 4-2-3-1 like most of the teams these days.

And I don't think there would be any downside (since the team is down by this much by now) to introduce few junior team members.

france have good players, blanc should pic them and play them. i'm tired of seeing arsenal players dominating the french when they are not that good, come on when was the last time arsenal won anything? it's always next year with wenger and arsenal fans.
gk:lloris and carrasso
defensive minded rb: bocaly, debuchy and jallet
…………. lb: mathieu and tremoulinas
cb: ciani, squillaci and mexes
libero: del pierre and sakho(this guy should be in the st.11 instead of rami)
dm: toulalan, gonalons, capoue and mvila
box to box: cabaye(the french ballack) and tabanou
trequartista(playmaker): gourcuff and martin
wingers: malouda, nasri(he is not a playmaker), ribery, menez, griezmann and ben arfa
cf: riviere, remy, gameiro, gignac and payet

1- Tremoulinas should start in the game against Bosnia over Clichy !

2- Malouda and Valbuena on the wings.

3- Benzema is healthy to start according to some reports, pair him with Gameiro up front !

4- M'Villa looks like our second best DM we have after Toulalan, so plays him before the two Diarra's and Diaby.

You always have very interesting choices. From your list I wouldn't mind seeing Mathieu, Capoue & Payet be given a chance.

I would love top see Valbuena start as well. He is like Ribery in 2006, full of energy and tricks.

Swearing is a way of expression in 21st century, you can't refrain from doing it!

I admittedly do not watch enough French Ligue 1 to judge who the best up-and-coming players are. However, I know for certain that there are players I never want to see playing for France again. Clichy, Govou and Ben Arfa top that list now that Anelka is thankfully gone for good. For all of Ben Arfa's talent, he is a derranged, spoiled brat whom I cannot believe plays a TEAM GAME with how selfish he is.

As much as I would like to see Benzema excel for France, is he even getting playing time at Real? Playing Bosnia in Sarajevo, I would be THRILLED with a draw. This team is far too psychologically fragile at the moment to hope for more.

L'Equipe.fr has posted this:
Probable formations:
En 4-2-3-1 : Lloris – Sagna, Mexès, Rami, Clichy – M'Vila, A. Diarra (ou Diaby) – Valbuena, Menez, Malouda – Benzema.
En 4-3-3 : Lloris – Sagna, Mexès, Rami, Clichy – M'Vila, A. Diarra, Diaby – Valbuena, Benzema, Malouda.

IMHO, I prefer 4-2-3-1. 4-3-3 is just too risky rto play against an attacking side like Bosnia, I think.
What do you guys think about this?

This is what annoys me, I want France to win but how are they gonna win when they can't score and they are lousy in defence.

First off I've read a lot about formations, I think that we shouldn't use 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, they won't really suit use.

Second point don't start with Benzema, the guy hasn't been scoring form Real and he doesn't seem like he will. I would use Kevin Gameiro, he was second top scorer in Ligue 1 and he was the highest scoring French man last year.

I would also use Benoit Tremoulinas ahead of Clichy, I feel he is more assured than Clichy and he has also played in more higher stake matches like winning the Coupe de la Ligue. Also after what happened last match Clichy might feel more anxious.

I would use the formation 4-1-3-2 or 4-2-3-1. Depending on injuries and which players are available:

In the 4-1-3-2, I would use: Lloris – Sagna – Rami – Mexes – Tremoulinas – M'Villa -Malouda – Cabaye – Menez – Gameiro – Benzema

In the 4-2-3-1, I would use: Lloris – Sagna – Rami – Mexes – Tremoulinas – M'Villa – Diarra -Malouda – Cabaye – Menez – Gameiro

Hopefully we can pull off a win against Bosnia and carry on our qualification positively while many of our star players are out.

Cabaye is ineligible, as he received a knock during training. He is injured and thus has been replaced by Blaise Matuidi, who got a recall following the injury.

I definitely prefer the 4-2-3-1. The only change I would make is Tremoulinas over Clichy.