Apparently I missed this, but over the summer our esteemed magazine France Football wrote a short memento on who they thought would be in our 2014 World Cup lineup. Gardien de but : Hugo Lloris (Nice) 1986 Latéral droit : Yassin Moutaouakil (Charlton) 1986 Arrières centraux : Ronald Zubar (Marseille) 1985, Younes Kaboul (Tottenham) 1986 Latéral gauche : Florian Marange (Bordeaux) 1986 Milieux centraux : Abou Diaby (Arsenal) 1986, Yoann Gourcuff (Milan AC) 1986 Milieux excentrés : Yoan Gouffran (Caen) 1986, Samir Nasri (Marseille) 1987 Attaquants : Jimmy Briand (Rennes) 1985, Karim Benzema (Lyon) 1987 Now looking at that lineup, it looks a bit silly, but really, nobody knows what will happen in years ahead. After all, there were moments in the past when I was high on Meghni, Anthony Le Tallec, and other guys who did not make it (as of yet, anyway, though it's doubtful). Though it is always fun to discuss. So, with that in mind (and also, without taking away from the very good "Replacements" thread), name your WC 2014 lineup. Who knows, perhaps we will all laugh at our selections then when we take look back, but more likely, considering the intelligence of everyone here, we will applaud the foresight. I think there should be 2 ground rules in order to compare it to the France Football list. 1. Players included must be no older than 29 (with the exception of goalkeepers, we'll take 35 as that would be Barthez in 2006) in 2014. That is, only players born in 1985- can be included. 2. Players included must be of professional status or been part of France's U-x teams so that we avoid players who are too obscure. My lineup: Gardien de but: Sébastien Frey (Fiorentina) 1982 Latéral droit: Frédéric Duplus (Sochaux) 1990 Arrières centraux: Garry Bocaly (Libourne Saint-Seurin, on loan from OM) 1988, Didier Digard (PSG) 1986 Latéral gauche: Gaël Clichy (Arsenal) 1985 Milieux centraux: Samir Nasri (OM) 1987, Arnold Mvuemba (Portsmouth) 1985 Milieux excentrés: Hatem Ben Arfa (OL) 1987, Jérémy Ménez (ASM) 1987 Attaquants: Henri Saviet (Bordeaux) 1990, Karim Benzema (OL) 1987 Oh, and of course, feel free to adjust your lineup as more is known about some of the players rising through the ranks. But the challenge obviously is to see who had been right early on (for example, anyone who thought that Ribéry would be in the WC 2006 starting lineup deserves unique praise because he wasn't recognized much at all when he was coming up).
Frey (34) Sagna (31) Faty (30) Mexès (32) Clichy (29) Toulalan (30) Lassana Diarra (29) Ben Arfa (27) Nasri (27) Ribéry (31) Benzema (26) S: Lloris (27) Armand Traoré (24) Schwechlen (25) Mavuba (30) Flamini (30) N'Zogbia (28) Diaby (28) Malaury Martin (25) Ménez (27) Taarabt (25) Gakpé (27) Dia (27) Rémy (27) Gourcuff (28) Gouffran (28) Saivet (23) But no guess about who in the reserve will be actually in the first team...
Quite a list, Catel. The major concern I had actually when going through with this is because I restricted myself as France Football did with only picking those who are 1985- (except goalies) we don't appear to be as deep in some areas as we are now. Central defense would be one, though we can hope Mexès remains as excellent then in his career as his idol Laurent Blanc was when he was 32. Sagna has only started his international career, so one can hope that he will continue to be brilliant at 31. The worry is, at this moment, there doesn't appear to be as much quality behind those guys at those posts. I listed Bocaly who impressed me at the U-19 Euros and Digard who's more of a defensive midfielder though he's played central defense in Espoirs, as candidates since Kaboul has yet to convince. While he has actually been playing better I think at Spurs in comparison to his errors early on, I'm not that high on him. Similar to Kaboul, Modibo Diakité of Lazio is outstanding physically, so he deserves some consideration too. At right back, I went with Duplus whom I saw at the U-17 World Cup who brings versatility as well. Though I would pick Sagna if I was including guys who would be 30+, and I agree on Faty as well over Bocaly/Digard. (Hmmm, that gets me thinking about the other Faty and if he would fit in.) I am slightly concerned about defensive midfield if we exclude Toulalan who would be 30 then. I'm not sold on Lassana Diarra, though apparently he had a good match this weekend in the EPL. Diarra, if he take his performances with Les Bleus thus far, in any case, appears to be better, I would say, at right back! I actually picked Mvuemba who's a favorite of mine as he impressed me at Toulon, though obviously he has to play in order to get any recognition. Je n'ai pas de soucis about the attacking players, and I doubt anyone in France does. To think, Ménez/Obertan/Taarabt/Monnet-Paquet could be backups to Saivet/Ben Arfa/Nasri/Benzema. Of course, the other top nations in terms of developing players have in some cases impressive depth as well, but I believe we can feel confident that we'll have a shot at every major tournament we enter. Let's hope if Domenech stays on as sélectionneur (which I hope doesn't happen), we tell all these guys to keep away from TV show hosts, avoid going to Italy, hide certificates of birth if one is a Scorpio and be offensively skilled if you're a defensive mid.
Wow, it's embarrassing to see who I omitted from this list, but there's a bunch. Alright, making a few corrections, and keep in mind I am restricting the candidates on this to 1985- only, so obvious choices such as Toulalan are not mentioned. Gardien de but: Hugo Lloris (Nice) 1986 Latéral droit: Habib Bellaïd (Strasbourg) 1986 Arrières centraux: Mamadou Sakho (PSG) 1990, Dorian Dervite (Spurs) 1988 Latéral gauche: Gaël Clichy (Arsenal) 1985 Milieux centraux: Samir Nasri (OM) 1987, Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth) 1985 Milieux excentrés: Hatem Ben Arfa (OL) 1987, Jérémy Ménez (ASM) 1987 Attaquants: Henri Saivet (Bordeaux) 1990, Karim Benzema (OL) 1987 I really should have looked back at the other thread, since then I wouldn't have omitted Sakho, Dervite, and Bellaïd. After all, we can hope that Sakho is another Thuram, Dervite another Laurent Blanc, and Bellaïd another Desailly? I don't want to sound too positive about this, but that team above would very well be able to beat a bunch of international teams right now.
Thought I'd put in a good word here for Henri Saivet (who is actually pictured in my avatar), who in Coupe Gambardella action yesterday (that is the equivalent of the Coupe de France for the U-18s), scored a double to lead his team over another highly regarded U-18 team in Cannes. Even though he has yet to make a full debut in the senior team (but keep in mind it's Bordeaux, who are challenging for a title), Saivet's strike-rate, as well as that of his France U-18 partner Damien Le Tallec, is off the charts. What's more, the guy also assists and is a constant menace to opposing defenses, as he displayed in the U-17 Euro and WC during this previous summer, where he was able to manhandle many of the other strong European defenses. Though the 1990-born U-17 team wasn't able to replicate the achievements of their 1987-born counterparts (who were led by a few Bleus now known as Benzema, Ben Arfa, Nasri and Ménez), it does appear that in Saivet, PSG's Mamadou Sakho, Le Tallec, and Saivet's Bordeaux teammate Mathieu Saunier, they have several Bleus in the making. In other Coupe Gambardella action, Le Havre, who are actually the favorites, defeated Monaco 2-1, Rennes won in Lyon 1-0 (guess who scored, it was Damien Le Tallec) and Strasbourg mastered Merignac 3-1. To discuss a bit more about the Strasbourg victory, it was led by one Morgan Schneiderlin, who is often a captain among the French U-19s, as well as Loïc Damour, who is only a French U-17, which really says a lot about the strides he has taken. I know I may be the only one here who cares about Coupe Gambardella action, but I thought it appropriate for those who are thinking about what our team will be at World Cups in years ahead that they get an update on what looks to be another outstanding crop of players. Also, I adjusted my WC 2014 team. I've been impressed by Sankharé in cup action to think he would be able to overtake Lassana Diarra by then. Also, even though it's been known that Saunier prefers to be dans l'axe, he can also be a good right back. Keep in mind this is a guy who was asked to mark Bojan in two major tournaments and didn't do too badly (but he was much better in the WC as opposed to the Euro). Gardien de but: Hugo Lloris (Nice) 1986 Latéral droit: Mathieu Saunier (Bordeaux) 1990 Arrières centraux: Mamadou Sakho (PSG) 1990, Habib Bellaïd (Strasbourg) 1986 Latéral gauche: Gaël Clichy (Arsenal) 1985 Milieux centraux: Samir Nasri (OM) 1987, Younousse Sankharé (PSG) 1989 Milieux excentrés: Hatem Ben Arfa (OL) 1987, Jérémy Ménez (ASM) 1987 Attaquants: Henri Saivet (Bordeaux) 1990, Karim Benzema (OL) 1987
here's the version from onze mondial (actually for euro 2012 but it's the same exercise): Gardien : Mandanda Défenseur : Sagna , Bellaid , Clichy , Kaboul Milieux : L.Diarra , Nasri , Ben Arfa , Gourcuff Attaquant : Menez , Benzema i often call that magazine footstrapi (read: football highlights for children) but here i think they're making more sense than that venerable and respectable (or doddering and senescent c'est selon) institution FF.
Yes, although I think FF did restrict themselves more when it came to player selection (everyone had to be born 1985 or later, Onze Mondial's works with the exception of Sagna). Anyway, I appreciate the contribution, guignol. Actually, to all the OL people, I was considering including Clément Grenier among those taken into consideration. I'll admit, I haven't seen nor read that much about him (besides him being linked to Arsenal), although it looks as if the 91 class, with him, Gilles Sunu, Kakuta and Damour will turn out quite good as well. To everyone here, any further insight or comments are appreciated. As a side note, it appears that Onze Mondial is quite certain that Domenech won't be the sélectionneur by then. Why? Well they're suggesting two attacking midfielders or even No. 10s (Nasri and Gourcuff) in the same lineup! (Well, let's hope Gourcuff gets off Milan's bench by then.)
maybe ray will come back to lyon? i'd take him! the gripe about his defensive mids is a bad rap. in his career as a manager he's lined up 4-5-1's, 4-4-2's, 4-3-3's even 3-5-2's. he adapts the formation to the players available, and when you've got makelele and vieira, or now makelele and toulalan, every match they don't play is one too many.
Oh come on, guignol. Like really, if Ray returned to Lyon, would you like to see him line up Essien, Toulalan and Diarra against Carquefou? Oh wait. Yes, it's easy to go with 3 defensive midfielders when there's 8 of them available in a 23-man squad. Romain Beynié better get his stamina training started. He'll definitely be getting more action if Domenech comes back to Lyon!
Thought I'd also update that as picked here a couple of weeks ago, Henri Saivet and Damien Le Tallec will meet each other once again in the Stade de France, except on opposing sides. Rennes were the first team through after defeating Strasbourg 2-0, with Damien Le Tallec as the scorer of the "nail in the coffin" goal. Saivet opened the scoring in Bordeaux's match against Le Havre, which actually had to be decided on penalties, through which the Bordelais were victorious, 7-6. Le Havre were actually the favorites to win the Coupe Gambardella, but through an excellent match by, among others, Grégory Sertic, they were not able to continue their advance through the competition. The Bordeaux-Rennes final will be one that will involve many U-x internationals actually, as other than the aforementioned Saivet and Le Tallec, there is also Mathieu Saunier, Guillaume Insou (both Bordeaux), Yacine Brahimi, Samuel Souprayen, and Yann M'Vila (all Rennes).
Sorry, I've been busy with finals, though I thought I'd note that our U-17 team are actually competing in Turkey right now in the UEFA U-17 Championship, a competition we won 4 years ago. Why do I mention that? It's a good question. Actually, that particular U-17 team had the likes of Karim Benzema, Hatem Ben Arfa, Samir Nasri, Jérémy Ménez, Benoît Costil, Pierre Ducasse and Rémy Riou. So does this class of U-17s have the same caliber of players competing? It's hard to say, though there guys such as Gaël Kakuta, Gilles Sunu, Loïc Damour, Clément Grenier and Yannis Tafer. I'll try to profile some of them if I get the opportunity, though I have finals. In any event, the matches are on Eurosport, and thus far, our team's doing very well. We won our opener against Ireland, and drew Spain, who are among the favorites (we're also among them), 3-3 in an apparently thrilling game today. If we draw or beat the Swiss in a few days, we'll be in the semis.
guys i was looking at the line up for the europ and i was surprised that trezeguet wasnt called??? how come???
well i remeber that last year when trez had 8gols for juv he was complain about the coach not calling him up, but i dnt think this will go this far.
Yeah, though I almost get the feeling Trez dislike Domenech more than Domenech dislikes Trez. In any event, he is by no means actually ruled out of getting a roster spot, but it wouldn't shock anybody given how their relationship is if he isn't included. Anyway now to update our U-17 team, yes, as expected, they defeated Switzerland to advance to the semis. There they will face hosts Turkey who are led by their star striker Karadeniz Batuhan. In the other semi, Spain, who won the group we were in only on goal difference, face off against Holland. For the OL fans, Yannis Tafer scored both goals today, and with that brace, he is actually the top goalscorer in the tournament.
i don't think domenech actually dislikes anyone, nor that that matters. but it's clear that he doesn't appreciate players slagging him off in the press, and he's right on more than a personal level. the real issue is that as good as he is, trez is (and perhaps has always been) a fifth wheel on the team. he doesn't combine well with any of the other strikers, and having les bleus just play for him would be a huge waste of firepower even if you could get them to try it.
Of course Trez isn't indispensable now that there's Benzema, but I certainly wouldn't call a guy who has scored 34 international goals (in only 69 matches) a fifth wheel. He combined well with Zizou in their Juve and France days. On a more positive note, yes indeed, our U-17 team battled back hard today to defeat hosts Turkey on spot kicks. We are now in the final against either Spain (again) or Holland, who are now playing in the other semi.
Well, to now update this, yes, regrettably, our U-17 decided to play their worst match of the season as they were well beaten by their Spanish counterparts despite having drawn them 3-3 earlier in the tournament. Despite the loss, the season overall was a success, as there is quality in this team in guys such as Kakuta, Sunu, Grénier, Fofana and Tafer. It's too bad only 3 out of those 5 played to the best of their abilities in the tournament, and none of them showed up against Spain. Nevertheless, one can't deny these players represent what is good about our esteemed center at Clairefontaine. They have outstanding physical and technical ability, which one bad match wouldn't be able to erase. A more positive headline this weekend concerns our U-19 team, which has another member in Mamadou Sakho. Why is this significant? Well, he is surclassé or in other words, he's technically an U-18 who now is thrown into the U-19s, as he actually may already be the best U-19 defender, if not being the best U-21 defender. There are many within the federation who think that Sakho could turn out be the best defender France has produced. Period.
it would have been a nice cocorico, but you can also think the result of this tournament was ideal. i was (benchwarmer) on a very good team in JHS, at a school where catholicism was all very well and good but basketball was religion. we went 32-1, the loss being a friendly against a school we'd never heard of, coming from over 100 miles away, and most of their players had mustaches! years later the coach explained that losing is a very important lesson, and that's why he scheduled that match. btw, we lost in TRIPLE overtime, and he was really worried we'd actually win, he'd had to start all over!
Well in more positive stuff today, actually our U-19 team won against their Swedish counterparts, which now sets off an exciting finale in the group (only group winners advance) against Italy. Both teams won both of their first two matches, so now it's down to us vs. them. Bordeaux's Gabriel Obertan, who will very likely be on our senior team someday, scored one of the goals. Fabien Robert, who happens to be Laurent Robert's brother, scored the other.
It's definitely an emerging side, even if some of the guys haven't had the best of seasons, N'Gog would be one example, though he's not on the team anymore, anyway. The exclusion of Taarabt was a bit puzzling, but overall, a team with Sakho/Obertan/Sankharé/Traoré is quite good. Let's hope they can deliver against Italy!