[devinnaru]

I know French fans have talked about this to death. But I believe France genuinely need one. And if there is one French player out there.... please mention him or her. I would like the discussion to start with Cheyrou.. because I really believed he would come good. But things don't always turn out the way it should turn out.

[Rima067]

Ribery?

Nasri is 18.

Others I don't think cut it, like Meriem and Cheyrou.

We've mentioned Pires, Giuly, Dhorasoo...

I would like to name Henry!

[ilv2]

mourad menghi (sochaux) is touted to be the next zidane - he's still quite young so he has plenty of time to continue developing. I don't know if sochaux is the place to do it though...but maybe forging a partnership with menez early on would be of benefit?

[sl7vk]

Frank Ribery.... End point. Watched the u-21 game against England and he was dynamite. He's the kind of sparkplug that could fill those enormous shoes.

[lefutur]

Ribery and Nasri seem like very hopeful talents. Nasri will be 22 for the next WC but I hope he gets some playing time for Les Bleus eventually.

I remember when Eric Carrierre was supposed to be the next Zidane. Oh well...

[gaijin]

Originally Posted by sl7vk

Frank Ribery.... End point. Watched the u-21 game against England and he was dynamite. He's the kind of sparkplug that could fill those enormous shoes.

How long before he joins Arsenal?

Taking all bets...

[sl7vk]

Originally Posted by ganu

How long before he joins Arsenal?

Taking all bets...

I'll take the 6-12 month bet if there is one.

[lefutur]

Kind of a parallel concern of course is whether the youngsters are being properly groomed for the next (2010) WC. A lot has been said about how many aging players were brought back into the fold in order to assure qualification. OK, now we're qualified. But does anyone really think that we have a realistic chance of winning the trophy. Personally I dont. So maybe it would be more important to play as many young hopefuls as possible...within reason, of course we dont want to embarass ourselves, but with the goal of giving experience and preparation to the players who would most likely be participating in the 2010 tournament.

For example could players like Ribery and Nasri be used as substitutes?

[navid90]

Ribery definitely has potetial but if every keeps saying it he's gonna end up like camel meriem. i too wouldn't mind seeing henry or cisse play that role behind the forwards

[midknight]

Originally Posted by navid90

Ribery definitely has potetial but if every keeps saying it he's gonna end up like camel meriem. i too wouldn't mind seeing henry or cisse play that role behind the forwards

Are you out of your mind? Cisse would step out from behind a lead apron when getting an x ray for accolades, what makes you think he wants to play BEHIND anybody?

In any case, his game is way too selfish and he's technically way too limited to do the kind of work Zidane used to put out and still exhibits from time to time.

Henry, is very capable of it, but it'd be silly to waste his goalscoring talent by putting him that far away from the adversaries goal...