France squad to play friendlies against Holland and Russia Lloris, Mandanda, Costil, Sagna, Jallet, Evra, Digne, Varane, Koscielny, Sakho, Mathieu, Pogba, Matuidi, Lassana Diarra, Sissoko, Kanté, Cabaye, Griezmann, Martial, Giroud, Coman, Gignac, Payet.
out : Sakho Lassana Diarra, payel Kingsley Coman Bacary Sagna in : Aymeric Laporte Mathieu Debuchy Morgan Schneiderlin Alexandre Lacazette Nabil Fekir both nice back ups for Benzema...... Ousmane DEMBELE, Andy DELORT
I don't know how I feel about the new kits. I think I like the away and kinda dislike the home (but not that much). I feel like I'll know better once I see them in motion. I'm gonna miss the collar from the other one. That one was super gorgeous and elegant. I don't even care to comment about the team selection. It looks mediocre as usual.
I know Matthieu already posted the DD's team selection though thought I'd repeat it here and add dates de naissance to show what gripes I'd have: Gardiens de but: Hugo LLORIS (né le 26/12/1986) Steve MANDANDA (né le 28/3/1985) Benoît COSTIL (né le 03/7/1987) I don't have much issue here, as the only argument would be taking a younger keeper (such as Aréola, Lafont, Bernardoni, could be actually a few more) to get tournament experience being in the locker room. The counterargument to that is Costil has been talked about as being on cool terms with Lloris and Mandanda, and that is the one aspect we as fans know little about: how well people get along in the locker room and off the pitch. Défenseurs: Raphaël VARANE (né le 25/4/1993) Patrice ÉVRA (né le 15/5/1981) Laurent KOSCIELNY (né le 10/9/1985) Bacary SAGNA (né le 14/2/1983) Jérémy MATHIEU (né le 29/10/1983) Lucas DIGNE (né le 20/7/1993) Mamadou SAKHO (né le 13/2/1990) Christophe JALLET (né le 31/10/1983) This is where stuff starts to make less sense. The first 4 names on the list (note I did not re-post the list in alphabetical order, but based on how I would have them on my team sheet) definitely should be on the journey. But after that? Why a part-time player as Mathieu was taken over a 10 years younger, full-time player with more potential such as Aymeric LAPORTE or even Sam UMTITI is strange. Not that we didn't see this coming (note how DD in last selection went with Loic PERRIN as opposed to Laporte), though to me, it doesn't make much sense. Look at how the current central tandem of Varane and Koscielny got their first chance. With Varane, he stepped in WC 2014 qualifying when a lot of other central defenders were out of form (like now!) or injured and Varane was making his big breakthrough at Real, including in the Clasico where he controlled one Lionel Messi. Kosicelny impressed when? When he was a BACKUP on the bench most of the tournament and took the place of a suspended Mexes against Spain. I just don't get it. By no means is Mathieu a bad player, though did he get chosen just for the sake of versatility? Or is this DD going "I will never bow to what the media wants." He said in an interview that he was neutral on the media issue, saying "if I pick him, they will say I bowed down to public pressure, but if I don't, they will say I have a grudge." Well, it sure is looking the latter... Milieux: Paul POGBA (né le 15/3/1993) Yohan CABAYE (né le 14/1/1986) Blaise MATUIDI (né le 09/4/1987) N'Golo KANTÉ (né le 29/3/1991) Lassana DIARRA (né le 10/3/1985) Moussa SISSOKO (né le 16/8/1989) The question here is Sissoko, who, possibly like Mathieu, might be benefiting hugely from his versatility? Otherwise, I would rather have Adrien RABIOT (waits for folks from the PSG forum here to flame me ) who is a half-decade younger and is much more technical. Milieux offensifs et Attaquants: Anthony MARTIAL (né le 05/12/1995) Antoine GRIEZMANN (né le 21/3/1991) Kingsley COMAN (né le 13/6/1996) Dimitri PAYET (né le 29/3/1987) Olivier GIROUD (né le 30/9/1986) Andre-Pierre GIGNAC (né le 05/12/1985) 3 young guys on top definitely belong. Anyone who believes Coman doesn't hasn't watched him this season. Right now if we were voting on who has been the best French offensive player in the last 6 months, he's likely second only to Griezmann (to those who say Payet, take a look at level of the EPL these days). Personally I would like to have seen an uber talent such as Ousmane DEMBÉLÉ, Thomas LEMAR or Hatem BEN ARFA just because they create excitement, something which Giroud and Gignac don't...
Nope. I can't stand Rabiot, but you are 100% correct. The problem is that DD seems to be allergic to technical players. And I strongly agree about Laporte, it is really frustrating.
What an amazing atmosphere and emotional night in Amsterdam stadium. RIP to Holland football legend Johan Cruyff.
Yeah. I think it's about time DD tries him out as a striker instead of Giroud. I'd like to see a Martial-Griezmann-Payet attack against Russia.
how the hell can you can jumpstart your career by scoring goals in mexico? maybe lacazette needs to leave lyon and go play for accrington stanley.
Yeah, I'm at a loss for words. Gignac is not a bad player, but a lot of other players wouldn't have even been selected again if they had moved to Mexico. You don't win the Euro by having players like Gignac in the starting line up (not that he will be a starter, but still).
Well if the Euro motivates Lacazette to score tons of goals for Lyon between now and May 12 when DD announces the final list then it will be worth it that Gignac is being looked at instead of him now. By the way, Guignol, I remember you calling Payet an imposter a few times on this board. He had a really good game against Holland. Do you still not rate him?
I also think Pogba needs to spend less time in the barber shop and more time on the training ground practicing his free kicks.
The defence is really bad especially on set plays . It's the biggest problem and probably has been for a long time I don't understand it . Going forward the team looks very good though with so many different options
it would be dishonest to say he hasn't been convincing. the payet hallmark before he left for england was to put together 6-7 blistering halves in as many games and then disappear for long, long periods. by the end of the season it never amounted to enough to get excited about. but he's obviously matured.
He's at a completely different level now I agree. Gignac has to be commended also. There's something about his grit and determination on the pitch for Les Bleus that just stands in stark opposition to anything we ever saw from Benzema. What DD seems to be doing is assembling a team spirit more than a team of stars. That's probably a very good plan.
The defense has been leaky for the past 2 games but the team has also been extremely good in offense. However we cant say that the defense was poor in the other friendlies over the past few months...against Germany, England etc.