There are many articles in l'Equipe behind a paywall over the last 4 days, one of them has debunked that point actualy. There are the OL players + Thiney in the against Diacre group. There are four or five players who are pro-Diacre and a majority who are neither or don't want to say not to be ostracized by one of the group or the coach.
She did manage to come back after being blacklisted by Bergeroo a couple of years ago. And also, she actually works for the FFF "conseillère technique nationale, chargée du développement des pratiques du football chez les jeunes" Also Diacre has fired the Communication manager a couple of months ago and the FFF put in as a replacement, the girl that was com manager under Echouafni. She was removed from the job when Diacre came in to put the guy that has just been fired.
“too much power to Lyon players” is a lazy explanation that really holds very little water. It’s important to remember how the Diacre era started, with her taking the armband away from Renard for no clear reason and doing it in the most public and humiliating way possible - a management style of “communicating” with her players via the media that has been her constant hallmark. In the recent case of Henry, the pretext given for leaving her off was as absurd as it was untruthful : Amandine was indeed back from injury but had played in three games, and showed absolute top notch form. It’s also necessary to see that the ballyhoo about her bizarre WC player choices wasn’t for leaving off players from OL but from other clubs. she made a pretense of open-mindedness by giving occasional callups to a huge number of players, many of whom clearly had no place, only to come back at the end to a handful of her favorites she had decided on from the beginning. she’s the coach and has the right to take along the players she wants to go to war with, but when during the competition she basically played only 13 women it’s clear not even she had confidence in the group she’d cobbled together out of nowhere at the last minute when she'd had two years to really forge a team – it was like she just filled up spots with players for no reason except to leave off a half dozen or more women who really could have been useful. Whether she’s been a good or bad coach is one thing; more serious in my eyes is the reprehensible bad faith she’s put into being a bad coach.
i don't think she does. she's speaking out because she's free to now, and with nothing to either win or lose, her words will have more credibility. one thing's for sure - she wouldn't do it to back up Lyon players unless she also felt it was for the real good of the NT.
I’m going to drag out my old marotte about the BB years and say that the very best France team ever in my eyes was in Cyprus in 2012 when Soubeyrand was out with an injury. Corine Franco played in her spot and we saw that they didn’t even need Henry at 6 – all it took to win a trophy was to get grandma off the pitch.
the one thing that’s saving Diacre’s job though is she’s been unbeaten since their close loss in the WC quarters to the eventual champs, plus winning the Tourney De France(especially over the Dutch/Euro champs) earlier this year. Diacre would have to loose in an major way to get fired. With the lack of friendlies or tournies in the horizon due to Covid, the French players would have to throw their remaining Euro qualifiers to make it happen, but I think their too professional to something like that
I still believe that we could have done much better with Henry in 2011 and 2012, although as you mention Soubeyrand was still a definite starter except when injured. So Henry would have filled up as a sub mainly. It is shame she was blacklisted for two seasons.
a definite starter in the eyes of Bini but very very far from it in terms of physical form. she was always the first name on the match sheet, but also the first name off. right from anpfiff you knew france had burned a HT sub in return for half a dozen interventions, about what Henry produces in 10' over twice the space. she could still distill some nice set pieces (which were always hers to take) but with Nécib and Abily you had two players at least as capable. as a locker room presence and an 80' sub when you have a score to hold she might have belonged on the list but pretending the game could still turn around her was how Bini destroyed the brightest chances France has ever had. ex : the 2012 OG semis against Japan : everyone blames Bouhaddi’s howler for that, and Sarah gained an unfair lifetime reputation as a blunderer (actually she makes no more and probably fewer than any other keeper) but the FK that led to it was absolutely needless and 100% down to Soub’s lack of fitness. Even then France would probably have gone through except for a missed PK by Bussaglia, but Elise was absolute toast after playing for two all afternoon and should never have taken the kick at all. Which brings us by commodious vicus of circumlocution back to 2019, where Bussaglia was under similar circumstances as her then captain was in 2012 : a decent idea as a locker room icon and for holding a score in the final minutes but certainly not up for 400' on the pitch in two weeks. And both times far better players were left at home out of sheer spite.
starting CB, Tounkara, got Covid & so been dropped from the team. With MBock this out with injury means Renard will be the last remaining top class central back to take on Austria next week. But don’t feel the Austrians have the firepower upfront to score anyways, look for them to too bunker again
The original squad selected by Corinne Diacre: La liste des joueuses retenues par Corinne Diacre pour les deux derniers matches de qualification à l’UEFA Euro 2022 féminin : France-Autriche et France-Kazakhstan #FiersdetreBleues pic.twitter.com/xxMtrlp7Na— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) November 19, 2020 Since then 3 players have been replaced: Le Sommer (Lyon) by Baltimore (PSG) Torrent ( MHSC) by Thibaud ( FCGB) Tounkara ( At Madrid) by Mateo (PFC) So we have 3 goalies, 7 defenders, 5 midfielders and 8 forwards.
What are predictions for the upcoming France v Austria fixture? Does France walk away with the three points this time considering all the changes?
Considering the infighting in the French camp, anything can happen. Especially as the fourth or fifth choice at CB will play alongside Renard.
And this morning Bouhaddi sent Diacre another rocket in the face in a lequipe interview. She raise a good point about some paranoia but it also a self-serving interview ( paywalled sadly).
Oriane Jean-Francois replace Vivianne Asseyi who is injured. It makes sense to add another midfielder although Jean-Francois is not at the right performance level, but no Hamraoui who is blacklisted. Starting 11 is set now with Asseyi injured. Very likely to look like this: Peyraud-Magnin; Perisset or De Almeda, De Almeida or E Cascarino, Renard, Karchaoui; Henry, Geyoro, Majri; D Cascarino, Katoto, Diani.
France NT is such a neverending psycho-drama that I forgot if there is any official reason for blacklisting such a strong MF.
Austria is more of a defensive team with reputable players in the back like Zinsberger, Schnaderbeck(both from Arsenal) Wenninger(Bayern Munich) but there mid/fwds just are 2nd tier transcripts from the Bundesliga. I don’t expect them to score unless the French players want to throw the game as a means to get their coach fired. Diacre doesn’t get along with other the Lyon players, but she bringing plenty of PSG ones with her; Diani, Katoto, Baltimore, Moroni plus Cascarino & Majri looked quite good vs PSG last Friday. France still looks like a super team with plenty of firepower in its arsenal
I find it a mystery that she is not selected. Seems pretty dumb, really, as she is an excellent player.
France have qualified for the Euros after beating Austria 3-0. But the off the pitch drama has reached new levels and the coach needs to go now that the job is done. Or if she stays, she will have to get rid of four or five key players who are leading the rebellion.
Meeting between Diacre and players happened and it did not go down very well apparently. Looks like Henry could retire from international football. It would be fine, if we had any player capable of taking over from here, but we don't. Obviously Hamraoui would be a good candidate but blacklisted. Huge mess. A big battle of egos between the manager and the players.
What is really fascinating is the Lyon players leak information to the press like the gym incident that was relayed by L"Equipe, RMC radio and the Late football Club on Canal Plus. So they use the papers, radio and tv shows to pass their messages to the fans, while the coach does not want to engage in a media battle. And rightly so because it is a shit-show and it will not end well. It looks really bad. A paranoid coach who punishes players and players with big ego trying to destabilise the coach and get rid of her.
I am not really so much exposed to French media, so I don't know what tou're talking about: what's "the gym incident"?