Les Bleuets [R]

[N. Platini]

So it ends 4-2 to Wales :(

Second half was much better , we put them under alot of pressure and created some good chances. Remy had a nice header saved , Kaboul had a free header but went up way to early and messed it up . Then we got a penalty kick in which Gourcuff (came on for Marveaux) scored , then minutes later Payet scores with a beautiful shot to make it 2-1 .

Straight after Wales go to our goals and win a penalty in which they score from. From there was just horrible , the defence and Jourdren especially was just horrible . The 3rd goal we conceded was from a FK position , a Wales player hit the ball straight at Jourdren who basically pushed it right into a opposition player to just tap the ball in .

The game then was over but there was time for Wales to win another penalty when Jourdren brought down one of their players , they scored from it .

Now although there was many poor performers out there , I have to say Remy was our best player by far .. Marveaux had an excellent first half but second half he seemed really tired and didn't feature much , he was then replaced by Gourcuff .

The whole defence , Jourdren and Gouffran was horrible .

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

Thought I'd give a quick update that Les Espoirs are playing their Czech counterparts this evening at Rouen, though like the senior team, they're certainly missing a lot of guys due to injuries. Here's the list, anyway.

Gardiens de but:
Rémy Riou (Auxerre): expected starter
Benoît Costil (Caen)

Défenseurs:
Habib Bellaïd (Strasbourg)
Garry Bocaly (Libourne Saint-Seurin, on loan from l'OM): expected to debut, also, expect to see him back in Marseille after this season, as he is expected to be a defender you will see for years ahead
Mohamed Chakouri (Charleroi, on loan from Montpellier)
Mouhamadou Dabo (Saint-Etienne)
Younes Kaboul (Spurs)
Sandy Paillot (Grenoble, on loan from l'OL)

Milieux de terrain:
Yohan Cabaye (Lille)
Yoann Gourcuff (Milan)
Richard Soumah (Guingamp)
Sylvain Marveaux (Rennes)
Blaise Matuidi (Saint-Etienne)
Charles N'Zogbia (Newcastle)
Dimitri Payet (Saint-Etienne)

Attaquants:
Kévin Gameiro (Strasbourg)
Yoann Gouffran (Caen)
Anthony Modeste (Nice)
Mamadou Samassa (Le Mans)

Out with injury/called into the senior team: Lloris, Ménez, Jourdren, Dia, Digard, Lemoine

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

Also noteworthy is that our U-19 team scored a good 3-0 victory against their Irish counterparts in Waterford. Bordeaux's Gabriel Obertan, who, outside of the big 4 (Benzema, Ben Arfa, Nasri, Ménez), may possess the best technique in Ligue 1, scored a double. Although not as deep as the 87 class and not as spectacular as the 90, the 89 class certainly has good players in the making as well. They include:

Gabriel Obertan (Bordeaux)
Distel Zola (Monaco)
Younousse Sankharé (PSG)
Léo Schwechlen (Monaco)
Loïc Abenzoar (OL)
Morgan Schneiderlin (Strasbourg)
Moussa Sissoko (Toulouse)
David N'Gog (PSG)
Djamel Bakar (Monaco)
Dominique Malonga (Torino)

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

The Bleuets put in one of the better efforts today, defeating the Czech U-21s 4-1 in a friendly in Rouen. Payet, Marveaux, Samassa and Gameiro all scored, with Les Espoirs up 3-1 at HT.

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

On the plus side, especially for those sick of watching the senior team, despite looking dead midway through qualifications, actually our U-21 team managed to qualify to get into the playoffs.

Here are some observations to note:

PSG's Mamadou Sakho keeps on jumping, or "skipping grades" among the U-x teams. He was a U-18 the previous season, now he's on Espoirs, and though he is injured at this very moment, there is little doubt he'll on Les Bleus someday. I think he'll be a starter in Bleu in about 3 years.

Habib Bellaïd scored the winner on a header this afternoon, and given the issues we've had defending set pieces, he definitely has a shot at making the senior team someday. At 1m88, he, Sakho and Philippe Mexès are our tallest central defenders, if we are not to include Habib's clumsier fellow central defender, Younes Kaboul.

Loïc Rémy has been brilliant thus far this season, in Espoirs as well as in L1, and Domenech selecting Jimmy Briand ahead of him to replace Ben Arfa is laughable.

Despite them actually being able to win and qualify, Erick Mombaerts should not be among the candidates to replace Raymond Domenech. He isn't bad, but appears to have similar issues as Domenech does with the senior team (difficulty to score, selections are questionable, etc.).

[StarrMatthieu]

i would to say!!! very it was very nice today to hear SUPERSEBGRIMALDI

Loïc Rémy has been brilliant thus far this season, in Espoirs as well as in L1, and Domenech selecting Jimmy Briand ahead of him to replace Ben Arfa is laughable.


p.s am a big fan of jeremy menez


THE FUTURE as it should be and should have been too!
jeremy menez
mathieu valbuena
Mamadou_Sakho
bacary sagna
julien escude
Yannis Tafer
Hatem Ben Arfa
hugo Lloris--------------- keeper number #2#
Karim Benzema---------- 10
Sébastien Frey--------> 1#
Amaury Bischoff------ too bad he when Portuguese on us!
Samir Nasri
Gaël Clichy-------------- place de clichy ---lmao
Abou Diaby
jeremy menez
philippe mexes
ludovic giuly
david trezeguet
julien faubert
Yoann Gourcuff
Yoan Gouffran---------- this guy kicked a$$ in caen!!!!
Yohan Cabaye
mathieu flamini
lassana diarra ------i like this guy alot---------->>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dp-YIsfGZc

[guignol]

france-bosnia was on the schedule last night... what a surprise to turn on the TV and see "les spécialistes rugby" instead! :mad:

at least they won on a goal by bellaïd, and make the playoffs.
and i did get to see france-malta. rémy really is getting good, if we had kept him instead of getting keita we'd not only be 10M€ richer but we'd have one more homegrown player on the squad... and one who won't spend two months of the season in the infirmary and every other january in the CAN... (and let's not talk about delgado...)

on a bright note, mounier looked pretty good for someone who was the only player on the squad who isn't playing first team football somewhere.

[Kazuma]

You know what, screw Gourcuff. If looking pretty on Milan's bench is more important to him than developing as a player, then by all means enjoy yourself. I don't want to care more about his career than he does.

Although it's good that he's on loan to Bordeaux, this is my main fear.

The person in my avatar is an ex-Chelsea player named Samuele Dalla Bona. Good Italian player, loads and loads of potential and looked like he could be a part of Chelsea for years to come. That didn't happen. The young man went to Milan, rode the bench, went on loan to several clubs, and then ended up at Serie B with Napoli and has pretty much fallen off the map. He is 27 now. Strange what happens when you leave a club that helps you non?

That said, keep an eye out for Gael Kakuta, a Chelsea youth player with some amazing ability. If he gets promoted the things he could do for Chelsea and Les Bleus.

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

Amaury Bischoff------ too bad he when Portuguese on us!

Bischoff is not bad, though I don't think anyone in their right mind would take him over Vieira/Toulalan/Zola/Mavuba/Ducasse/Matuidi. Interestingly enough, there is also Adrien Silva of Sporting (Lisbon) who was born in France and would be eligible, whom I think is better than Bischoff too.

Allez Chelsea, buddy, I'm impressed you know about Kakuta, as he, along with both Grénier and Tafer of l'OL, make a terrific U-18 attack at present. Kakuta is a good example of a player who despite going abroad early has gone from one level of strength to another. I think David N'Gog will do that too at Liverpool. Over at Southampton, Morgan Schniederlin is already making strides (he has been their best player, actually) as he was followed by both Arsenal and Chelsea too.

Wow, I didn't realize Dalla Bona would actually be an active player. ;) That's a good point.

[Kazuma]

Allez Chelsea, buddy, I'm impressed you know about Kakuta,

Kakuta is widely talked about on the Chelsea boards from time to time, one poster on there who has seen him play calls him a French Zola. He was part of the youth team that made it to the youth FA Cup Final.

[SuperSebGrimaldi]

That's interesting, they're definitely similar in size. I think that Kakuta has better speed than Zola, but his free kicks are not as good yet obviously. Given the squad you all have, it could be a while before Kakuta gets any first team action, though he's only 17, so what's important is that he keeps this progression going. All of the U-17 coaches here have said, to Chelsea's credit, that Gaël has improved since heading to England.

[guignol]

history doesn't give much space to les éspoirs; in a couple of years all you'll find about this barrage will be germany 1-1 france, france 0-1 germany. so while this is still fresh in our minds i want to salute les bluets for their masterful and heroic match in metz last night. the difference between the two teams that was already perceptible in madgeburg was overwhelming last night. not that germany was poor, after all these kids were U-19 world champions, but i was reminded of what a german friend told me after the festival henry and trezeguet put on in gelsenkirchen: a matchup of workmen against artists.

a score of 3-0 would have been more logical than 0-1; remy, menez, mounier and cabaye and more all put neuer to the test over and over, but it wasn't just the dozen clear opportunities, the 15 or 20 corners. it was the way france pressed for and won the ball, playing like they were the ones who needed to score. even in the last 10 minutes where just holding on is the thing they didn't retreat into the last 30, the were conquerant from whistle to whistle. it wasn't only art, it was power, speed, grit and guts. rémy made run after run, by the end he had to be doing it on all heart, no one has legs to do that. cabaye and sissoko were everywhere, and everywhere good. the back pair of bellaid and kaboul, then benalouane, looked good enough for the A team, impermeable... up to the final caffouillage.

ah, to come so close, and lose like that!

the real puzzle is: how did it come to this? how could a team this talented, and don't forget that they started this campaign with players who are now in blue at the higher level, not qualify with ease? other pretendants to win in sweden, italy, spain, holland, are breathing much easier this morning, because these kids would have been a force to be reckoned with. and will be one day, on way, or another.

[AfrcnHrbMan]

history doesn't give much space to les éspoirs; in a couple of years all you'll find about this barrage will be germany 1-1 france, france 0-1 germany. so while this is still fresh in our minds i want to salute les bluets for their masterful and heroic match in metz last night. the difference between the two teams that was already perceptible in madgeburg was overwhelming last night. not that germany was poor, after all these kids were U-19 world champions, but i was reminded of what a german friend told me after the festival henry and trezeguet put on in gelsenkirchen: a matchup of workmen against artists.

a score of 3-0 would have been more logical than 0-1; remy, menez, mounier and cabaye and more all put neuer to the test over and over, but it wasn't just the dozen clear opportunities, the 15 or 20 corners. it was the way france pressed for and won the ball, playing like they were the ones who needed to score. even in the last 10 minutes where just holding on is the thing they didn't retreat into the last 30, the were conquerant from whistle to whistle. it wasn't only art, it was power, speed, grit and guts. rémy made run after run, by the end he had to be doing it on all heart, no one has legs to do that. cabaye and sissoko were everywhere, and everywhere good. the back pair of bellaid and kaboul, then benalouane, looked good enough for the A team, impermeable... up to the final caffouillage.

ah, to come so close, and lose like that!

the real puzzle is: how did it come to this? how could a team this talented, and don't forget that they started this campaign with players who are now in blue at the higher level, not qualify with ease? other pretendants to win in sweden, italy, spain, holland, are breathing much easier this morning, because these kids would have been a force to be reckoned with. and will be one day, on way, or another.


I'm happy you did so. I don't watch les espoirs as much as I'd like, but I was devestated by the results. The be knocked out of the championship after playing so well. The germans were under such a barrage that I was frustrated they weren't scoring, but it didn't seem like les allemands were going to anyway so it was locked up. Then tragedy in the 90th minute. I would have very much enjoyed watching this group battle for the title next summer, now we will all be missing out on something that could have been special.

I think Menez had a shot ricocheted off the bar, that caused me to do a backflip out my seat. The game should have been won there.

[guignol]

it was benalouane whose volley was deflected ONTO the bar by neuer. he saved germany's bacon about 5 times in 15 minutes.

germany's goal was in a very slight way a kostadinov. france had just played two successive corners à la rémoise, when matuidi (i think) took a little risk trying to get into the box, make something happen, and lost the ball. it was no re-ginola by any means, and france was able to reposition faster than the counterattack. but the way france was playing at the end, if it hadn't been for that lost ball play may never have got over the halfline again before the whistle.

[AfrcnHrbMan]

Les Espoirs play two friendlies; today against Estonia and on Tuesday against England. These are the players selected:

Gardiens de but

* Johan Carrasso (Montpellier HSC)
* Johnny Placide (Le Havre AC)
* Yohann Thuram-Ulien (AS Monaco)
Défenseurs

* Paul Baysse (CS Sedan)
* Garry Bocaly (Montpellier HSC)
* Bira Dembele (Stade Rennais)
* Dorian Dervite (Southend United, Ang.)
* Lamine Gassama (Olympique Lyonnais)
* Cheikh M'Bengue (Toulouse FC)
* Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik (Le Havre AC)
* Armand Traore (Portsmouth, Ang.)
Milieux de terrain

* Etienne Capoue (Toulouse FC)
* Marvin Martin (FC Sochaux)
* Yohan Mollo (AS Monaco)
* Younousse Sankhare (Stade de Reims)
* Moussa Sissoko (Toulouse FC)
* Geoffroy Tulasne (FC Sochaux)
* William Vainqueur (FC Nantes)
Attaquants

* Jirès Kembo Ekoko (Stade Rennais)
* Lynel Kitambala (AJ Auxerre)
* Kévin Monnet-Pacquet (RC Lens)
* David N'Gog (Liverpool FC)
* Frédéric Nimani (AS Monaco)
* Gabriel Obertan (FC Lorient)

I'd say a third of those selected I know nothing about really. Should be a interesting to see some of the young talent in action.

[Suyuntuy]

Watching the game right now, against Estonia. Things noted:

- First time Marvin Martin plays with Jirès Kembo-Ekoko, however they are telepathic and scored a beauty of a goal: Martin pass to Kembo, dribbled player, Martin opened a bit to the right, pass to him, Kembo ran past the defense at the same time Martin passed through back to him with perfect timing so it wasn't offside, and Kembo scored.

- The defense is lacking! They've been losing the ball to easily. On the other hand, William Vainqueur is playing as defensive mid and doing a good role there.

[Suyuntuy]

Another goal. 2-0 France. Great play by Obertan, pass to Kembo-Ekoko and goal.

[Suyuntuy]

The team U-21 is playing also a 4-3-3, this time around:

------------------------Yohann Thuram-------------------------
Lamine Gassama---Dorian Dervite---Bira Dembélé---Armand Traoré
-------------------------Moussa Sissoko------------------------
-----------William Vainqueur------------Marvin Martin-----------
Gabriel Obertan--------Jirès Kembo-Ekoko---------Frédéric Nimani

Good:

Kembo - 8
Martin - 7.5
Vainqueur - 7
Obertan - 6
Nimani - 6

Weak:

Gassama - 4
Dervite - 4

[Suyuntuy]

Second half: total dominance par les Bleuets. Marvin Martin is the true motor of the team: he distributes the ball up front, retreats to defend with Sissoko and attacks in 1-2 combinations with Vainqueur.

[Suyuntuy]

Min. 58:

In: Geoffrey Tulasne. Out: Moussa Sissoko.

In: Yohan Mollo. Out: Jirès Kembo-Ekoko.

PS: Formation now:

Same defense,
---------------Vainqueur--------------
--------Martin-----------Tulasne------
Obertan----------Nimani----------Mollo