France

[DucdeOrléans]

Just wondered that if we compare the present time to 90s ,it is quite similar to what France experienced 4 years before home world-cup in 98. At that time France produced some very good talents who stepped up at the WC .Now with 3 years left, which players do you see as leaders of the team at next Euros ? More importantly do you see a player being the creative force of team the way Zizou was in 98 ?

I was 6 years old when France won the World Cup in 1998 at home )) so I am not the right person to ask that question since I for obvious reasons never saw the France of the early 1990's apart from watching old clips and reading about them here and there which is obviously not enough to answer your question properly. But at the look of it there are some similarities but I am not sure that the current generation (those who are 25-30 years old and above) have the same extremely high quality as the world famous generation that won the World Cup in 1998 and Euro's in 2000 and who arguably should have won even more (favorites to retain the World Cup in 2002 but failed miserable) and same thing during the EURO's in 2004.
The remaining members of that famous generation reached another World Cup final in 2006 and were a penalty kick from winning it again. So it was very much a special generation.

Regarding the players. There are a lot promising players but it's hard to judge talent before they take the final and most important step.

Varane is a obvious pick in the defence and Pogba in the midfield if they continue to develop in the right way. I am yet to spot a talent in the attack at the level of Henry, Trezeguet etc. or even close but Milan's Niang looks like a interesting player. Alexandre Lacazette is a interesting attacker but yet to score regularly. Other interesting Lyon teammates are Fofana (defensive midfielder) and Gonalons who was born in 1989 but is yet to develop fully.

If I should put it in simple words then there are A LOT of good/average players but few of the absolute highest caliber something the 1998-2004 teams had in abundance. In fact sometimes you wondered if there were TOO many players of the highest caliber.

Yes, Ribéry is a amazing player when playing for Bayern but he rarely plays to his full potential for the national team. Likewise Benzema.

Anyway that past generation is a generation once every 30-40 years or so. Only the current Spanish generation have been more successful (won 1 Euro more) and that says it all about the difficulty of having such a team again.

But I am by no means "afraid" of France not creating future talents. They will always be there. What I am afraid of is whether they will turn up for France and play as a unit something that has lacked for years. Further explanation is probably not needed to elaborate on that (World Cup 2010 says hello)

 

[beautifulgame]

France has plenty of talent.

Their problems are being a bunch of jerks. ;-)

 

[DucdeOrléans]

France has plenty of talent.

Their problems are being a bunch of jerks. ;-)

Well, this is the short version. At least Deschamps is there to kick some ass if they don't behave something the French-Catalan clown Domenech was not able to do nor Blanc - unfortunately since I like him as a manager.

 

[AnfieldEd]

Just wondered that if we compare the present time to 90s ,it is quite similar to what France experienced 4 years before home world-cup in 98. At that time France produced some very good talents who stepped up at the WC .Now with 3 years left, which players do you see as leaders of the team at next Euros ? More importantly do you see a player being the creative force of team the way Zizou was in 98 ?

I don't see it that way tbh. Yes there are some great talents in the french team however two things were the foundation for france circa 98-06.

1) Their magnificent defence:- Thuram-Desailly-Blanc-Lizarazu which is amongst the greatest I have ever seen and I can only think of one or two other nations to have produced such a backline of immense quality.

2) Zidane

For me this French era lack that great defence and lack that spark and magic that Zidane had. But they will be amongst the top 5/6 nations to win the next few tournaments. I just think in europe alone Spain, Germany, Italy, Holland and Portugal are ahead.

 

[beautifulgame]

no.

football fans constantly refer to "magic" and "spark" when they are not sure what is going on.

french national team has plenty of talent in every position except maybe that of forward.

man to man they match up against spain better than any other european team because they have the most technically sound players in Europe second to Spain.

the problem is that they are a bunch of jerks that don't care. they lounge around on the field and aside from Ribery and couple other guys no one else actually cares. watch the match against spain if you disagree. Blanc didn't resign because they lacked talent, he resigned because they are a bunch of self-indulgent ingrates that won't do the work required to win because they live comfortable lives.

 

[Cule4life]

I couldnt believe France's performance against Spain. 1-0 down in the 80th minute and they were stroking the ball around in their own half. My grandmother would have put up more of a fight.
But i think new blood like Varane seem hungrier and can rectify the jerk attitude of some of the players

 

[Beast]

There seem to be a lack of talent on wingers in particular which means you will need to utilize a grade A play maker like Zizou

I can think of few players who can be a threat from the side mostly in the wrong club and faded so Ribery remains more consistent compared to the likes of N'Zogbia , Ben Arfa, Menez etc

Aston Villa been trying out N'Zogbia in the middle and he's is doing a great job.. compared to the Nasri & Gourcuff
Also the French Newcastle can provide plenty of experienced International .. and this where the problem lies...
Compared to the 98 team the core was all playing in the top clubs so they had the international experience under top managers
Apart from Monaco who provided Barthez , Henry & Trezguet the team was playing in the top of the line clubs from the great Parma side to Arsenal to Juve , Inter , Milan , Bayern Munich etc

Now i look at the team and in the forward line only Benzema in a top club (sorry Arsenal isn't a top club it's a losing mentality club so Giroud is out ) , in the midfield only Ribery and you can add Nasri for City , defence there is Varane , Clichy in City , Evra (obviously either him of Clichy ) and Mexes in Milan .. the rest are all in clubs like Newcastle , Arsenal and the majority are still in Ligue 1 gaining zero experience ...
Of course there is the oldies like Malouda in Chelsea and even Anelka but they are out of it already
until they start to move abroad .. the team will remain short in every big tournament

 

[DucdeOrléans]

Antoine Griezmann looks like a very promising talent/winger as well. He is having a really good season for Real Sociedad who are currently 4th in the league. I would like to see him feature for the senior team. He has already proven his worth for the U-21 national team.

The squad against Georgia and Spain, both games at home:

Goalkeepers: Mickaël Landreau (SC Bastia), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Steve Mandanda (Marseille)

Defenders: Gaël Clichy (Manchester City), Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Christophe Jallet (PSG), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Mamadou Sakho (PSG), Raphaël Varane (Real Madrid), Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa (Newcastle)

Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle), Maxime Gonalons (Lyon), Blaise Matuidi (PSG), Dimitri Payet (Lille), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)

Attackers: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Bafétimbi Gomis (Lyon), Jérémy Ménez (PSG), Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich), Loïc Rémy (Queens Park Rangers)

Both Varane and Pogba called up as expected and both might make their debuts against either Georgia or Spain. Very good to see.

 

[Deco 20]

Heard good things about Laporte (CB) in Athletic and Kondogbia (CM) in Sevilla too

 

[AnfieldEd]

TBH that french midfield is nothing extraordinary.

 

[FCBarca]

Matuidi is terrific and Pogba has a load of potential...although far from the finished article

 

[DucdeOrléans]

TBH that french midfield is nothing extraordinary.

Yeah, no match for the extraordinary Greek midfield.

Interesting comment btw.

Heard good things about Laporte (CB) in Athletic and Kondogbia (CM) in Sevilla too

Yes, both of them look promising although I have not seen much of Laporte but he seems to be a highly rated CB if we are to believe the Spanish media or Bielsa who has used him quite a lot this season considering his inexperience and young age (18 years old). The CB position is moreover not a easy position for youngsters at all.

Matuidi is terrific and Pogba has a load of potential...although far from the finished article

Yes, Matuidi is a terrific and very underrated player already while Pogba is a exciting talent that has already impressed at Juve when featured.

 

[Jenks]

Forget Pogba. Wait till Jeremy Boga is on the scene.

 

[DucdeOrléans]

Do you mean Jeremie Boga, Jenks? I heard about him once or two. From what I hear he should be among the better Chelsea youngsters in his age group but I can't say that I have followed him. Have you? And if so is he another hyped up talent in your mind or does he seem legit? He just recently turned 16 so it's maybe slightly too early to give such a judgement or what?

 

[Deco 20]

He was by far the youngest player when Chelsea's u19 team faced our u19 team and he was one of the best players on the pitch, scoring one and creating Chelsea's first goal.