french chances

if france are going to have any chance then i suggest i take over for M. domenech. He really hasnt got the faintest clue about how to utlise the talent at his disposal. His decision to bring Botafembi Gomis has left me clueless. Ok he had a good debut for france but he is no where near the required class to be in the squad. Then you got j.toulalan and makelele in midfield which is about just as effective as stevie G and Lampard in the middle for england. I think a far better choice would be bring the now fit Vieira back and throw in Samir Nasri. I think sidney govou looked good when he played v holland so should keep his place. Malouda needs to be benched and bring on karim benzema so so it would be nasri,benzema,henry,govou and ribery pushing forward with Vieira protecting the very very vulnerable back 4. If i could some how get hold of Domenech's email and send this to him im sure the azzuri will be beaten and fingers crossed holland beat romania. At the end of the day les bleus have to attack relentlessly ,there is no more room for defensive tactics.

I agree that Domenech isn't getting anywhere near the best out of that squad.

There is so much quality. Class in abundance and a good mix of experience and fresh youth.

My French first XI would be:

======0Coupet
Sagna, Mexes, Gallas, Evra
--------------Makélélé
Govou, Vieira, ------- Ribéry
----------------Benzema
---------Henry

Maybe even try Nasri at RW or if Malouda was fit he'd start on the left with Ribéry on the right. I would put Flamini in as an option as well and Lassana Diarra as a serious competitor before Toulalan at least.

Gomis shouldn't be near the squad either.

With Domenech's current selections, favouritism and considering all the player fitness & form issues I'd go with this XI:

-------------Coupet
Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas, Evra
Govou, Vieira, Makélélé, Ribéry
---------Benzema, Henry

With Evra bringing better pace, agility and attacking power than Abidal who seemed a bit restricted and lacking any real venom in his defensive or attacking game - I understand why he does well for Barcelona, but I do feel Evra is superior. Govou providing more consistency on the right hand side - I think Govou is an interesting player, as he's got pace but a good consistent football brain that makes him an easy player to work with - he showed good promise against Holland but perhaps his defensive contributions are a negative.

You need Patrick Vieira in there, bringing a presence and experience to the Midfield, with quality technical skills that Toulalan lacks. Ribéry has been the star of the team and can operate better from wide than Malouda currently.

I choose Makélélé still because I still think he has the fight in him. He can make those tackles at the right times to change the balance of the play and I think he uses his experience superbly to buy freekicks and free up difficult situations. Diarra could be used late on as a replacement to bring more of a bite and more freshness - but Maka overall is the better starter as his experience is necessary in big games.

Benzema and Henry could work together like the Torres-Villa partnership going on at Spain. Using the pace and skill to stretch Defences and use their creative skills to play off the Wingers. With Henry using his trademark left wing drop-off play, enabling Ribéry to go inside for a few pops at goal or to play in the likes of Benzema and Govou. Nasri and Anelka should be used before Gomis time & time again.

This should be a really good wide open game as both need to win to even think about advancing. I think Benzema will be back in the side with Henry.

Benzema with the game winning goal with the assist from Henry.

I like Govou, but he is sh*t. He played well against Holland, but he's been such a mediocre player for the last couple of years from what i've seen.

Why isn't Mexes even in the squad? Is he injured or something, because Boumsong is in there instead? What's going on there?! He's absolutely useless.

Dominech is obviously a buffoon, and the sooner he gets sacked the better. He's lucky France got the final of the world cup, because he would've been sacked well before now. I honestly don't think France were even that good in the world cup, yet somehow got to the final. Of the 7 matches they played in the world cup, they only performed in 2 of them - Spain (who copulated might i add) and against Brazil (who played like a team of individuals and never really got going). In all of the group games they were poor, against Portugal they were poor and lucky that Henry dived to win a penalty, and against Italy they were okay.

Not sure Domenech wil go for attacking because a 1-0 win is enough should romania draw or loose.
I don't think Viera is fit yet, news from training are not good so you wonder why Flamini was not selected.
I would have this
Frey
Diarra Thuram Abidal Evra
Makélélé Toulalan
Govou Nasri Ribéry
Henry

against italy dived Malouda

----------Coupet-----------
-Sagna-Mexes-Gallas-Evra-
------Flamini---Diarra-------
------------Nasri--------------
-----Benzema----Ribery-----
------------Henry-------------

Give the kids a go I say. The oldies just don't want it anymore.

There was a small contact and he went down, if he does not go down he does not get the penalty and we loose the ball. Better get a penalty, than nothing.

france need to find some one who can perform at least 60% of the magic zizou did. Its evident that since zizou retired the magic disapated and over the next couple of years leading to 2010 that wil be the main focus.

well it seems the French squad has been torn in two groups oldies vs youngsters
benzema has been strongly told off and put back to his place by Makélélé because he just show no respect at all for the oldies ; makélélé thuram viera and henry
he even nicked henry seat in the team bus, stuf that you never do...
apparently benzema ribery and anelka stay apart from the rest of the group
my money is on italy winning it tomorrow