Sorry I couldn't see a thread about it so I started one. Well, in my point of view things are pretty clear. If Domenech starts the game with Govou and Anelka, we have 90% chance to lose that game. France has proven to be talentless during the last 4 years. In such a context, I believe we need to align the most physically fit team we can. As such, here's the team that I believe could reduce the most our chances to lose : [LINEUP-4-3-3]Ribery, Gignac, Valbuena, Malouda, Toulalan, Diaby, Evra, Squillaci, Gallas, Sagna, Lloris[/LINEUP-4-3-3] Yes, I know, Gourcuff isn't there, but I personnaly believe the team will be better with everyone playing in a position they are used to. This is the team which has played the 2nd HT of France vs Costa Rica (with Toulalan instead of Diarra), and that was probably the best performance France has shown during the whole 3 friendlies. I know that France likes a system with a playmaker and that's why people wants so much Gourcuff to be there... but on the right wing, Gourcuff isn't in a position of a playmaker anyway... so let's have a real relaying midfielder such as Diaby instead. I have nothing against Gourcuff, it's simply that a 4-3-3 isn't the lineup for him. Yes, I put Valbuena as a starter. I don't understand those saying he would bring more as a subsitute of an under-performing Govou. Let's remember that in 2006, Ribery became a starting player only at the World Cup. If Ribery could do it, why Valbuena wouldn't? And finally, in defence, we just cannot afford to not play with 2 real center backs. Let's make it SIMPLE. As such, let's put Squillaci in, who is a professional center back, instead of Abidal, which obviously has difficulties to adapt to that position.
Way too early dude , I'm still not over our loss to freakin' China at home Nevertheless , I'm sure Domenech WILL use the same team that lost to China , look at the team that played against Tunisia and Costa Rica , it was almost the same which says to me Domenech is not going to make much changes . I'd love to see that team you've done though . It's obvious Gignac is our best ST , Valbuena is better than Govou , Squillaci is better than Abidal , but the coach just doesn't see it . This is going to be a frustrating game by the way , Uruguay is going to defend in numbers , and in my opinion is a must win . Winning the first game is so important !!
I think most people would agree that this is a much stronger looking team than the one Doms will probably end up using against Uruguay.
What I'd like to see (but won't happen)... A 4-1-3-2... -----------------Henry/Gignac-------------------------- ----------------------------Anelka--------------------- ------------------------------------------------------- Malouda--------------Gourcuff-----------------Ribéry--- -------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------Toulalan-------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- Abidal/Evra------Squillaci---------Gallas---------Sagna--- --------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------Lloris----------------------------
[LINEUP-4-3-3]Ribery, Gignac, Valbuena, Malouda, Gourcuff,Toulalan, Evra, Squillaci, Gallas, Reveillere, Lloris[/LINEUP-4-3-3] for me this is prefect hope for the best ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!! SUPER SUBS :Abou Diaby,Thierry Henry,Djibril Cissé
[LINEUP-4-3-3]Ribery, Gignac, Valbuena, Malouda, Gourcuff, Toulalan, Evra, Squillaci, Gallas, Reveillere, Lloris[/LINEUP-4-3-3] for me this is prefect hope for the best ALLEZ LES BLEUS!!!
I don't have a problem with the lineups looks good, except I really think that Gourcuff should be starting ahead of Diaby. And for some reason (and I doubt this is Raymonds fault) neither Toto or Gallas can play LCB. Yes I know it's astounding that neither can just slide over. But from what I heard either they both refuse to or are so terrible on the left side it would worst that Abidal starting. Yes I know, I don't see how that's possible either. But I've heard several times, this is why are two best CBs never play with each other. By the way nice thread start.
Planus is the second LCB in the team. Too bad he hasn't played enough to see if he may be better than Abidal.
This match is so close I can taste it. We better be ready, this is the real deal now, so we better come out hungry and ready to prove ourselves. People don't give us much respect as a team, time to prove them wrong.
I find myself very anxious about this match . I can't stress enough how important it is to win the first game . Draw isn't such a bad result BUT 3 points in the first match will give the team so much breathing space going into the 2nd match .
Just an educated guess, but I think there's a really good chance we'll start with the following 11 on Friday: -------------------- Lloris -------------------- Sagna ------- Gallas ------- Abidal ------- Evra ------------------- Toulalan ------------------ -------- Diaby (*) ----------- Malouda -------- ----- Anelka (**) -- Henry (***) -- Ribery ----- (*) Apparently Gourcuff is still isolated in the group, and some old-timers are pushing for Diaby to take his place in the starting 11. (**) Anelka for Gouvou makes sense given Govou's performances of late and Anelka's status in the squad--Nico should probably start on the bench, but he has the support of some key players, and the argument being made on his behalf is that he'll play better slightly off-center than as a pure striker. (***) The Anelka experiment has failed and let's face it, neither Gignac nor Cissé are top-class material--Henry should be Raymond's default choice. Personally, I'd go with: -------------------- Lloris -------------------- Sagna ------- Gallas ------- Abidal ------- Evra ------------------- Toulalan ------------------ -------- Gourcuff ------------- Diaby ---------- ----- Ribery -------- Henry ------ Malouda ----- Gourcuff has too much talent to be a sub--give him the ball and let him be a playmaker... And Ribery should just shut up, take one for the team, move to the right and leave the left wing to Malouda. An added bonus would be a better-balanced team with a strong Gourcuff-Ribery partnership on the right--yes, I know they're not best buddies, but they're professional football players for Pete's sake; they have to learn to play together. ALLEZ LES BLEUS!
I keep hearing this , what exactly is the " old timers " problem with Gourcuff ? Did he do something similar to Nasri and disrespect someone ?
He is different... It's a sad thing really, there are not a lot of things that are his fault. Yoann is said to be quite shy in the group, he does not bond easily with the others. Plus he doesn't share the same "culture" ; for instance, I read he was listening to traditional Breton and Celtic music - I wonder if that's true - rather than hip hop. So, yeah he is the odd pupil in the classroom. On top of that, there is obviously the fact he's been oversold in the media since he came in the limelight and in the team. We all know he's been bearing the burden of being labelled as Zizou's successor. He did not succeed in filling those shoes yet but that's an extra pressure he has not asked for after all. Of course the fact he's good looking and easy on the eyes of the ladies with all the pictures in the magazines may have stirred some jealousy or at least distrust amongst his colleagues. To make it short he does not blend in the mix mostly for reasons that are not on his part, for the rest he should try to reach out more but since it doesn't seem to be a trait within his personality...It has to be said that he doesn't feel at ease at all himself in such a context either... I know that all those little things are only human but the fact that they can't, they won't try to bridge that within a group playing in the World Cup is a bit silly. As far as the actual play on the field is concerned, I don't know to which extent it has an impact but it might have a negative when you need 100 % cohesion...
Wow , that is so sad . So Gourcuff is not liked because he's different from the rest ? This is sad , especially when I see comments like " the old timers are pushing for Diaby to start " . What the hell , we're a team , not everyone is going to have the same personality . Frankly , if I played football and I wasn't liked by most of my team-mates I'd find it hard to perform , I can't imagine what it's like for Gourcuff . I've heard he was very quiet during his time in Milan too , which didn't help him . All this probably explains why he always looks so tense for Les Bleus . And to be honest , most players in our squad seem to stuck up that it would be hard for Gourcuff to reach out to them . Anelka , Evra , Gallas , Henry don't leave good impressions on me personally . Atleast Toulalan seems good friends with him though .
Wow, this squad keeps finding new ways to irritate me. If this is true the pettiness amongst this gang is far worse than I thought. He's quiet and doesn't like hiphop?! Maybe I should ship him a Manau album to help him ease in to the 'culture'. Though I can see the other angle though, no one likes a pretty boy lol. And if he's really that queit and not assertive enough, I can see why he's gettin eaten up alive in that camp. I've got a 2 pronged solution to this new problem: 1. Gourcuff needs to grow a pair. 2. The 'oldtimers' need to start acting their age and grow the ******** up.
I cant even believe half of this stuff is even being discussed. These guys make how much more money than me and yet they wont work with someone else at their JOB because they have different tastes in music??!! Imagine if my boss said to me "you need to work with Bob on a new project, its very important and the whole company is counting on you!" and imagine i said "but Boss....i dont want to work with Bob. He doesnt like the same music as me and he's shy! wahhh!"
There's so many things to dislike about this squad , no wonder the team cohesion is about at 0 . The oldies are in charge " I don't want Gourcuff to play because um .. he likes different music to the rest of us " . Haha , bunch of idiots . These are the same players who don't like to be criticised either for their bad performances , there's always an excuse . Evra complains about the support , says we lack a football culture , Anelka criticises the whole country by calling us all hypocrites . I just can't help but feel negative about this current squad . A shame compared to previous squads where every player would fight for the jersey and concentrate on their job , and not have petty dislikes . Even the rugby team puts this lot to shame .
Hey Guys! Im an Uruguayan that comes in peace. This will most likely be our lineup: Fernando Muslera in goal. Mauricio Victorino, Diego Lugano and Diego Godin in the back. Maximiliano Pereira, Diego Perez, Egidio Arevalo-Rios and Alvaro Pereira in the midfield. A little bit forward as a #10 will be Ignacio Gonzales And the 2 forwards will be Forlan and Suarez. The 2 surprises are Victorino and Arevalo Rios, who are 2 VERY good players. This is unofficial but came in the newspaper as the likely lineup. Tabarez knows it, but he hasn't released it yet. Feel free to come by our forum! See you guys around!
as much as i have to admit govou hasn't shone, valbuena shouldn't start in his place. he's proven he can add juice in the last 20-30 minutes, but that we always knew. it's always been what he does best. at least if sidney didn't provide much oomph in front of goal he helped defend and he always covers maouskosto ground. le petit matthieu's petit volume de jeu is a real liability over 90. the guys who said planus are kidding, right? Personally, [bwiorly] would go with: Lloris Sagna ------- Gallas ------- Abidal ------- Evra Toulalan Gourcuff ------------- Diaby Ribery -------- Henry ------ Malouda looks right to me.
I couldn't agree more. Valbuena just doesn't strike me as international caliber. The Ribery WC 2006 vs. Valbuena WC 2010 comparison makes no sense. Ribery had just turned 23 in 2006 and seemed to have almost limitless potential, Valbuena is almost 26 and has probably reached his peak. I would put Valbuena, Réveillère and Planus in the same group of solid L1 players who are in way over their heads against WC class competition.