Domenech picks Final Squad

[Nanbawan]

You preach in the choir...:(

[guignol]

No Giuly! I can't say I'm a big fan of Les Blues, but I would be disipointed if I was. With out him, is this the best team they can put on the field? I don't think so. He provides speed down the flanks and is also a scoring threat.i love ludo, and the day he left OL i decided JMA was a charlatan, a bum, and i was ready (along with half the town) to ride him out of town on a rail. :p

but for pace down the flanks we're still OK. even if i would have preferred giuly to ribery, the boy can fly. and down the left abidal and malouda are twin TGV's.

and if it was a simple question of pace, govou would have been a better choice. against milan i was shocked to see giuly couldn't leave serginho in the dust. he's not as fast as all that, finally!

[lefutur]

i love ludo, and the day he left OL i decided JMA was a charlatan, a bum, and i was ready (along with half the town) to ride him out of town on a rail. :p

but for pace down the flanks we're still OK. even if i would have preferred giuly to ribery, the boy can fly. and down the left abidal and malouda are twin TGV's.

and if it was a simple question of pace, govou would have been a better choice. against milan i was shocked to see giuly couldn't leave serginho in the dust. he's not as fast as all that, finally!

Ribery is younger and has more spunk too. Giuly would be a bit redundant in the squad I think. Its a shame but I thinkits the right choice.

The whole Barthez-Coupet drama I'm staying out of. Its a never-ending soap opera at this point and its counter-productive.

I want to focus on the positives and there needs to be more unity first.

[Andre v2.0]

A bit of a late response, but I'm scratching my head a bit over Domenech's selection. The way it stands, he'll probably play a very defensive starting 11 and hope that Zidane still has something in the tank for his career swan song.

I'm still perplexed why Mexès did not make the squad. On Roma's website earlier this week they had a poll asking who was the best player for Roma this season. He beat Totti and won it. Dacourt even spoke out against Domenech, saying that he didn't even go to the Stadio Olimpico to watch Mexès or Dacourt play. Mexès has had an incredible season for Roma and was vital for them when they set the new Serie A record for most consecutive wins. Mexès is much better than both Boumsong and Silvestre. Easily better.

http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/may17b.html

Also, why no Giuly, Micoud, or Pires? Domenech did put together a strong-ish squad, but it could have been stronger with a few omissions and a few additions. Domenech has been largely uninspiring, and if it weren't for Zidane, Makelele, and Thuram coming out of retirement, France would probably not even have qualified for the 06 WC.

I'd be surprised if France goes deep in the WC, as Domenech is rolling the dice hoping that key veterans can roll back the clock and play to their enthusiasm and not their age.

[triplesevn]

I'll jump into the Barthez-Coupet thing for a moment.

To me Barthez is as good as Coupet and the best when it comes to the Big Matches. He is a proven winner. Why everyone hates Barthez, I cannot understand. He has brought nothing but cups and glory to France. So why dislike him so much?

He was the most influential player of the 98 cup, if not only to Zizou. He played big in both Euro 2000 and 2004. He even played above par in WC02 with a skeletal team.

The problem I have with Coupet is, he plays on too good a team. When you play on a team that is far too good, you don't get the chance to shine as often. Not saying Coupet hasn't done so or had his chances, he has but Barthez has had far more in my opinion. He's a proven WC winner!!!!!

Barthez will stand out once more, for good play in Germany as he always has. I do feel bad for Coupet though. He is a great keeper but like Germany for years, not everyone gets the chance.

I can't understand why Pires and Giuly did not make the squad! The WC isn't about looking forward to the next 4 years down the line. It's about here and now! Boumsong and Dorahsoo are just inexplicable choices in my book. Mexes had a far better season and Pires teams up well with Henry and Trez.

JMO

[bwiorly]

Pires will be speaking on Europe 1 at 8:30 pm French time (yes, that's in 15 min.) for the first time since Domenech has announced the squad. Worth a listen for sure.

http://www.europe1.fr

[Metropolitan]

I'll jump into the Barthez-Coupet thing for a moment.

To me Barthez is as good as Coupet and the best when it comes to the Big Matches. He is a proven winner. Why everyone hates Barthez, I cannot understand. He has brought nothing but cups and glory to France. So why dislike him so much?

He was the most influential player of the 98 cup, if not only to Zizou. He played big in both Euro 2000 and 2004. He even played above par in WC02 with a skeletal team.That was EIGHT years ago !! Should we keep Joel Bats because he has proven to be the best at the Euro 1984 ??? I know fully what Barthez brought to France in last century but what matters is who is the best today, not who was the best in another life.

The problem I have with Coupet is, he plays on too good a team. When you play on a team that is far too good, you don't get the chance to shine as often. Not saying Coupet hasn't done so or had his chances, he has but Barthez has had far more in my opinion. He's a proven WC winner!!!!!AC Milan has certainly among the best defence in the world. Despite this, Dida is far to be considered as a great keeper. Saying that we can't judge Coupet's skills because he plays in a team which is too good is very unfair. I'm sorry.

Now this being said, I guess no one will ever be convinced so it's pointless to talk about this anymore. Especially that Barthez is n°1 and nothing can change that. ;)

... except maybe a loss 4-0 against Mexico. http://www.paris-skyscrapers.com/forum/img/smilies/E1.gif

[navid90]

I hate the idea of players chosing among themselves : take my buddy or I don't play, choose me or I don't go. This kind of behaviour sucks form A to Z. Players with such unprofessionnal behaviour should be sacked without remorse.

If Coupet is n°1, don't tell me a team like France absolutely needs Barthez as a n°2. Landreau and Ramé are good enough for benchwarming. Our players pool is excellent, we don't have to obey blackmail from last century superstars.

And yes (please don't insult me), that includes Zidane. He's a top notch player, I agree. But if we have to choose between a top-notch player and a 100% operative teamwork, we must prefer the teamwork.

The coach coaches, the players play. Everything else is a direct road to failure.

lol u dont even know if this is true this is everyones excuse that hates barthez for all we know bruno martini and domenech might just really like barthez ur getting all pissed off and philosophical over something that never happened and ur just assuming it happened and if someone like zidane and thuram wanted barthez over coupet i would rather trust their instinct over all of ours domenechs's cuz after all its their swansongs to the world why would they want to go into it with a bad goalkeeper.

[Pierre-Henri]

... except maybe a loss 4-0 against Mexico. http://www.paris-skyscrapers.com/forum/img/smilies/E1.gif

Let's pray for it, my friend.

[Nanbawan]

That's not the spirit...:(

[Nanbawan]

That was EIGHT years ago !! Should we keep Joel Bats because he has proven to be the best at the Euro 1984 ??? I know fully what Barthez brought to France in last century but what matters is who is the best today, not who was the best in another life.



That's just not true ! Do you have something to say against him for the Euro 2004 tourny...Funny that people resort to bad faith on this issue.

[Rima067]

You two are hoping for a loss to Mexico by 4 goals nonetheless?

You're telling me your hate for Barthez outshines your LOVE for the National team?


That's the spirit! Way to go, i look forward to discussing "our" team :rolleyes: here when the World Cup comes around.

[sl7vk]

The point is that a loss like that before the world cup could lead to a victory in the world cup. Greater good type of thing, so I understand where they are coming from.

[Nanbawan]

The point is that a loss like that before the world cup could lead to a victory in the world cup.

Really ?

[Metropolitan]

The point is that a loss like that before the world cup could lead to a victory in the world cup. Greater good type of thing, so I understand where they are coming from.First thing, I was just joking. I would seriously be mad if we would lose 4-0 against Mexico, even if it's an meaningless friendly. Now I hope the best for the team, especially at the World Cup, and if Barthez appears to be fantastic then I will be the first to be happy about it and to recognize I was a jerk to be skeptic towards him.

Now about your comment, well, a big loss in a friendly could have bad effects and good effects. The bad effects would be mainly about confidence... players risk to lose confidence on each others and that can only be bad for the team as a whole. The good effects would be that it could wake up the team and realize he will have to sweat hard on the pitch if they don't want to be ridiculous.

All in all, I sincerly think the bad effects are stronger than the good effects. Winning friendlies would be better than losing them. Now this being said, it's not awful if we lose one of them, I like this better than a player getting injured. And this no matter which one, even those we don't like. Indeed, the only thing we need now is to trust the coach and believe he has seen elements about the group and so forth that we haven't seen. After all, Raymundo is just like us, he dreams about France being world champions, so now let's support him. :)

Personally, I believe the most important for now is to focus in getting through our group. We'll see later what will happen next... and I wouldn't consider an elimination in quarter finals as a bad result. ;)

[triplesevn]

That was EIGHT years ago !! Should we keep Joel Bats because he has proven to be the best at the Euro 1984 ??? I know fully what Barthez brought to France in last century but what matters is who is the best today, not who was the best in another life.

AC Milan has certainly among the best defence in the world. Despite this, Dida is far to be considered as a great keeper. Saying that we can't judge Coupet's skills because he plays in a team which is too good is very unfair. I'm sorry.

Now this being said, I guess no one will ever be convinced so it's pointless to talk about this anymore. Especially that Barthez is n°1 and nothing can change that. ;)

... except maybe a loss 4-0 against Mexico. http://www.paris-skyscrapers.com/forum/img/smilies/E1.gif


It was just 2 years ago he played fantastic in Euro 2004 and got OM to the finals of the Uefa cup!

Dida is by far not one of the best keepers in the world! I have serveral AC Milan supporters at my work and they all dislike Dida. I have never thought Dida was good myself.

I will admitt, Coupet is in the top 5 class currently, but I don't believe Barthez has done anything to lose his starting position with France. Until he has, he should be #1.

I wouldn't mind seeing a rotating system either. With 2 excellent keepers, it can work.

By far, not one of the best, imo.

[navid90]

why wasn't mavuba picked over alou diarra?Mavuba had a great season captaining his club and under 21 side, i never got a chance to really see diarra play this season except that second goal against slovakia seemed to be his fault.

[sl7vk]

Really ?
-Yes.

[nutbar]

How many players on this team were on France's Euro 2004 team?

[Pierre-Henri]

A huge slap in the face would make a lot of good to the team, I'm sure. Like in 2002, France is playing sur un faux rythme (don't know how to say this in english). Team France played meaningless draws, short victories vs crappy teams.... The whole qualifying process was a joke : our group was ridiculously weak, the result should have been 100% wins, with a +231 goal average.

Instead of this, sluggish, boring games... And Raymondo in his Dr. Coué impersonation : "this 0-0 draw vs Israel in stade de France is an outstanding result, I feel something really great is going on with this group, everything is okay. The game was absolutely exhilarating, with such speed and skills, we nearly shot on goal twice in 90'... But we knew Israel has a formidable defense, and it was not possible to break through such an impressive fortress.... bla bla bla.... bla bla bla.... "

For goodness sake, if we CAN'T EVEN SCORE A SINGLE GOAL against Switzerland, Ireland and Israel in Stade de France, how could we beat Brazil, England, Argentina or Germany in a world cup ?