Domenech picks Final Squad

[Substance]

We will play with Vieira & Makélélé.
Diarra as substitute.

There is really 7 mids & 5 forwards
Because Ribery is a midfielder.

I think the formation will be:

--------------Barthez---------------
-Sagnol---Thuram----Gallas---Abidal-
-----------Vieira----Makélélé--------
--Wiltord--------------------Zidane--

But for the forwards, I don't know... we have the choice.

Henry / Saha
Henry / Trezeguet
Henry / Cissé

Or Henry alone....

i like the formation that you have created
for the players that france have, this is probably the strongest selection...

in regards to the strikers...its a hard choice.

when i was watching france play in wc2002, i thought that trezeguet and henry just didnt play well together.
only when saha came on as a sub did the team started playing better up front.
i think saha gives more options as he's a quick runner.

but saying that, trezeguet and henry are both on fire in their respective leagues.
henry with 27 and trezeguet with 22.
saha has only scored 7, but he was injured for half the season.

its a hard choice.
but i would start henry / trezeguet
and bring saha on with about 25 min if goals are needed.

u can keep cisse as a bench warmer ;)

[Substance]

The only problem of the France squad is DOMENECH.

French players are the best of Europe, but Domenech take strange decisions.

¿Why Barthez, Boumsong and Chimbonda gonna be in the WC?
¿Why Méxes, Pires, Giuly, Micoud and Zebina are not gonna be in the WC?

I can understand the Zidane case, because he was a great midfielder years ago, and he is a "symbol", but let out Giuly, Pires or Micoud, I can't understand it.:eek:


i totally agree with you
keeping guily, pires and micoud out of the squad youd have to be nuts!

maybe he's smoking crack?

im surprised that there isnt an up roar about the selection in france
i was expecting huge public outbreaks that some of the best french players have been left out.

if boumsong comes on or starts a game, france are in trouble.

[FrenchFlair]

I do not get why Coupet loses out once again....

All reporters agreed this choice.
It's still logic.
When you got 2 equal goalkeepers (quality doesnt depend only from personnal feelings or skills of today, but experience, team spirit, behaviour with other players... That's the difference between professionnal coach and amateurs like us), you build your choice on experience.
Some says Coupet has better team spirit than Barthez.
So, Domenech thought he will got less problems if Coupet is 2nd?
Will Barthez accept to be 2nd?
The best choice is to manage egos too.
It's better to have 2 great goalkeeper than one in the squad, and the other who is angry and stop his carreer.
It may be Domenech's reflexion as some reporters said.
I dont know, but the thing I am sure:
Everybody like to build squad for World Cup and criticize.
But I'm not sure I will like to have to choose between Barthez and Coupet as a job. And announce it to both.
It's really really hard.
I believe Domenech when he said he didnt sleep well last days and talked nights and nights with Martini and Mankowski(his asistant coaches) to build WC squad.

So, it's done. It's the squad.
Love it! Support it! And I'm looking forward to first WC match, really!!!!

[braine]

The big surprise for me is Giuly's exclusion from the 23-squad !
And also the anouncement that Barthez is the starting goalkeeper over Coupet...
However,talent enough,normaly France must be easy the winner of group G...

[ForeverRed]

Hmmm....Doesn't seem to be enough depth on the wings without Giuly or Pires.....

And Micoud had such a fantastic season. What a shame..

Looks like Germany and England arent the only teams whose coach is giving fans a headache before the WC..

[Allez Lyonnais]

Ribery is taking Giuly's spot, so that should pretty much balance it up.

[Allez Lyonnais]

Pires's got only himself to blame. He should've known better.

Dhorasoo's been playing some good football lately, so I don't see how picking him is necessarily a waste.

[awmhamodat]

good squad , Im happy he picked ribery.But the major issue here is what the formation going to be.

I would like to see

---------------------------Makele---------------------------

malouda----------------------------------------ribery---
------------------Zidane---------------------------------------
-------------------Trez------------------Henry-----------

saha as sub for trez.and cisse as sub for malouda.Casue cisse played right mid for liverpool

[Nanbawan]

Pfft, no Anelka, no Pires and/or Giuly...:(

F uckin present...

Anyway, although I understand why people aren't exactly crazy about Vikash, if he's there it's not his 'fault', so I hope there won't be any stupid hating campaign or behaviour against him from 'fans' or the media. Even Dugarry clearly spoke out against his selection ! Has he forgotten what he went through prior to WC98 ?! I'd like Dhorasoo to follow his example though : scoring the first goal of the competition for France. Not in the third match hopefully...

[SportBoy333]

I would have liked to have seen Giuly and Micoud instead of Vikash and Ribery but in the end I dont think it will impact the team too much.

[DaeHaMinGuk]

Is Mexes hurt or something? What is the logic of putting Boumsong over Mexes?

[Teso Dos Bichos]

As an outsider looking in, my objections would be Barthez, Boumsong, Chimbonda, Silvestre, Dhorasoo and Cissé. It will be interesting to see how things go.

[SportBoy333]

Anelka or Cisse I might have picked Anelka but I dont think its that big of a deal. I think in defense Squilacci should have been picked over Boumsong and Silvestre.

[midknight]

Dugarry should keep his mouth shut.he may have a winners medal but he never was world cup material imo...

as far as i'm concerned poor Vikash's only error in the eyes of France supporters was to not be great enough to fill Zidane's role in midfield and to have the job thrust unto him in two matches before the return of ZZ. Either that or to have signed to PSG...:rolleyes: Leave him alone...he's paid his dues.

Ray made an error putting Coupet number 2 but as someone said it may just be a case of ego control.

The selection is not as big an issue as most people make out. Pires was always out of the picture and anybody pleading ignorance to the fact was hiding from reality. The important question is the formation to be used.

Domenech has moved as if he's expecting multiple injuries and burn outs this time around, especially in defence. It must have something to do with the age of the squad. A backline of Sagnol, Thuram, Gallas and Abidal seems reaonable to expect but Abidal seems fragile (healthwise), Thuram may not stand up to the demands on his body. I know absolutely nothing about Chibonda, so I can't comment on him, but I suspect the plot in defence involves moving poor Gallas around as usual whenever it allows someone to come in to replace the Old (Thuram), the Injury Prone or the Ugly (Boumsong if ever he starts).

With Vieira and Makele sure starters in the defensive mid, the questionis where do you put the king, since leaving him on the bench in anything except the third round match will be sacrilege. Put Zidane on the left and you diminish his efficience by 25% not to mention you leave yourself open for some nasty raids since the king has no vocation to defend his kingdom since he returned from exile. The ideal thing would be to leave him in the hole behind the attackers, but then that forces you to find two wingers. Wiltord and Malouda can both work fine (this is where a Giuly was needed), but it means you're automatically wasting two spots on the team for two talented players (Dhorasoo and Ribery in the midfield- and no I'm not fooled by the lets call him a striker bit).

Maybe Ribery can work fine on the wing, I'm not very familiar with him, but I doubt he'll be very useful there.
I've left Diarra (unless i'm confusing him with someone else) out of this simply because even though he's solid, I just don't see him fitting into the system, not without turning the team into a three legged horse on the offensive bit.

I guess it all depends on what system you play...3-5-2, 4-5-1...but the latters a waste with France's attacking talent, and the strength of this group.

I somehow feel the thing to do would have been to cut out one of those strikers (Saha or Cisse take your pick) and invest in a balanced winger...but as we said, Pires was always out of it.

What position does Micoud play? its been so long I dont remember...

[Allez]

good squad , Im happy he picked ribery.But the major issue here is what the formation going to be.

I would like to see

---------------------------Makele---------------------------

malouda----------------------------------------ribery---
------------------Zidane---------------------------------------
-------------------Trez------------------Henry-----------

saha as sub for trez.and cisse as sub for malouda.Casue cisse played right mid for liverpool

Malouda is a left winger and making Cisse to play right mid is a waste. We have Ribery and Wiltord, who are better wingers than Cisse.

[lefutur]

wow. the wait is over...and I'm happy!

Ribery is in the squad!

I've criticised Raymundo as much as anybody on these boards but for once I think he did a decent job. (low expectations maybe?)

Ok Barthez as no 1 is a bit of a shock but as someone pointed out Barthez does play well under pressure and ego management is important I suppose. I can live with it.

(edited to add: I think making Zidane happy also probably had something to do with it as they are close friends)

Saha and Cisse both got a call up. I'm stunned. I think in the past he wouldn't have risked it so I think Domenech is learning slowly.



Ok Boumsong, that's not a good choice but there's no way he will start so I think it won't matter.

Vikash. well, I have to say he's paid his dues. Somehow I think him and Ribery make sense together, I don't know why.

What I like about this squad is that there's a good mix of experience and youthful energy. I cant wait to see the game against Mexico!


Allez les Bleus! :) :D :cool:

[Allez Lyonnais]

How about 4-2-3-1? This is what the King says he likes.

---------------Henry----------------
------(Trezeguet, Cisse, Saha)-------
Malouda-------Zidane---------Wiltord
-------------(Dhorasoo)------(Ribery)
--------Makelele-----Vieira-----------
---------------(Diarra)---------------
Abidal-------------------------Sagnol
(Silvestre)----------------(Chimbonda)
----------Gallas------Thuram---------
---------(Givet)----(Boumsong)-------
---------------Barthez---------------
---------(Coupet, Landreau)----------
-------------└────┘--------------

Could this work out?

[Teso Dos Bichos]

It's the best option but calling up that amount of striking options suggests it isn't even a consideration. Although Henry could play off a lone striker, unfortunately that would mean dropping Malouda.

[Allez Lyonnais]

It's the best option but calling up that amount of striking options suggests it isn't even a consideration. Although Henry could play off a lone striker, unfortunately that would mean dropping Malouda.

Malouda is the only natural left winger in this squad. You think Zizou will play on the left side instead?

[om4ever]

:cool:

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