France National Team callups ** SPOILERS **

[reelone]

Originally Posted by talk2smc

well Maradona only used two, and Dom wont be sacked due to losing a friendly against a NT in the top 5 in the world.


not that im trying to defend him, hes an idiot.

yea but he was losing so you'd expect him to us a couple of subs.
i know he won' be sacked but it's scary to think he might stay and coach the wc2010, they can't expect to win like that.

[drac78]

There's nothing new here, Domenech never uses more than 1 or 2 subs in friendlies, apparently he doesn't know what "friendly" means... For him, it's more important to see how the players "live together" than how they perform on the football pitch...

About the game, I thought Sagna had a poor game, Henry didn't do much as usual, Toulalan and Gallas were the best players imo The best part of the game has to be when the supporters where calling for Domenech's head

[reelone]

Originally Posted by drac78

There's nothing new here, Domenech never uses more than 1 or 2 subs in friendlies, apparently he doesn't know what "friendly" means... For him, it's more important to see how the players "live together" than how they perform on the football pitch...

About the game, I thought Sagna had a poor game, Henry didn't do much as usual, Toulalan and Gallas were the best players imo The best part of the game has to be when the supporters where calling for Domenech's head

for a while now at arsenal sagna has been doing just what he did, bringing the ball down then putting in a poor cross. don't know what's wrong with him recently.

[TheLionLyon]

PSG Striker Guillaume Hoarau Tipped For International Call

A brace of goals against Nancy on Sunday took the forward's tally this season to 15 Ligue 1 strikes and, as a result, he has been tipped for international honours very soon.

3 Mar 2009 13:49:06

There were question marks hanging over Guillaume Hoarau’s ability to adapt to Ligue 1 when he joined the Paris Saint-Germain squad from Le Havre this summer. The 24-year-old striker has emphatically answered those questioning him, smacking 15 goals in 25 appearances. A brace against Nancy last weekend was his latest success and has led to renewed calls that the lanky predator should receive international recognition.

“A few years ago you needed a lot of Ligue 1 games under your belt before you could dream of playing for France,” team-mate Jerome Rothen explained, according to Ligue 1’s official website. “Things have changed a bit and it's not lucky that he's scored 15 this season.
"With the likes of [Thierry] Henry, [Nicolas] Anelka and [Karim] Benzema on the scene it is difficult to break into the team. It's normal that Guillaume has ambitions of being picked by Les Bleus."

But Hoarau would also receive backing from legendary striker Jean-Pierre Papin, who made his name with Olympique de Marseille and also spent time with Milan, scoring 30 international goals in the process, has backed the Reunion-born forward for a call to les Bleus.

“He's a modern striker,” declared Papin. “He's big, good in the air, has two good feet, and is excellent with his back to goal. He's also quicker than he looks. For me he's the France striker of tomorrow and could be in the team for many years to come.”

Just Fontaine, who matches Papin’s goal-tally for les Bleus and boasts the record for scoring the most goals at an individual World Cup (bagging 13 at the 1958 competition in Sweden), also lent his weight behind Hoarau’s cause.

“He scores goals, and sets them up for others as well,” said the 75-year-old. “He defends well, too. These days goal scorers who only think of themselves don't end up with a good career. Hoarau is an altruistic player.”

Les Bleus next convene on Monday March 23 prior to a World Cup qualifying double-header against Lithuania. Head coach Raymond Domenech has said that he will not make great alterations to the squad that lost a friendly to Argentina in February but, if Hoarau keeps scoring, he will be difficult to omit.

Domenech is an idiot. Christ! What an idiot! Might as well as Gignac to that article too.

[talk2smc]

Originally Posted by TheLionLyon

Domenech is an idiot. Christ! What an idiot! Might as well as Gignac to that article too.

i do think its difficult to pick a front line for France right now tho.
i understand you lot want changes from the last few matches, but Dom has what...
Benzema, Henry, Anelka, Briand, Ben Arfa Ribery (considered a FW on the teamsheet no?), and then adding Hoarau, and maybe Gignac in the mix?

i mean, where do they all play, obviously some would be dropped, but thats alot of attacking options that cant all be accommodated. Dom cnt even handle the ones he is calling up, let alone players he hasnt.



and for my money, Gignac should get the call before Hoarau.

[TheLionLyon]

Originally Posted by talk2smc

i do think its difficult to pick a front line for France right now tho.
i understand you lot want changes from the last few matches, but Dom has what...
Benzema, Henry, Anelka, Briand, Ben Arfa Ribery (considered a FW on the teamsheet no?), and then adding Hoarau, and maybe Gignac in the mix?

i mean, where do they all play, obviously some would be dropped, but thats alot of attacking options that cant all be accommodated. Dom cnt even handle the ones he is calling up, let alone players he hasnt.



and for my money, Gignac should get the call before Hoarau.

It's definitely difficult, but I think these guys (Hoarau, Gignac, etc.,), as stated in the article, would appreciate just getting called up to the squad so they can at least know Domenech is watching, which he probably isn't, which was indicated by him calling up Mohamadou Dabo, when there were better alternates at the defending position. In France, there are three demarcations, well four if you count goalkeeper, Defenseurs, Milieux, and Attaquants. Wingers, which Ribery is, are classified as attaquants, which is why he is always put in that demarcation.

Problem is Domenech and the FFF are still living in the past thinking a prime Zizou is going to come walking through the door and not looking towards the future.

[armagnax]

Originally Posted by TheLionLyon

It's definitely difficult, but I think these guys (Hoarau, Gignac, etc.,), as stated in the article, would appreciate just getting called up to the squad so they can at least know Domenech is watching, which he probably isn't, which was indicated by him calling up Mohamadou Dabo, when there were better alternates at the defending position. In France, there are three demarcations, well four if you count goalkeeper, Defenseurs, Milieux, and Attaquants. Wingers, which Ribery is, are classified as attaquants, which is why he is always put in that demarcation.

Problem is Domenech and the FFF are still living in the past thinking a prime Zizou is going to come walking through the door and not looking towards the future.

Domenech has been playing a Zidane based system forever, and doesn't know what to do. He's the biggest idiot in a long line of idiots at the helm of the French national team. Even HAVING a Zidane based system was absolutely idiotic in 2006, when clearly, you wanted a strong system that would allow an absolutely stunning system around combination of Henry and Trezeguet. This is a guy who refused to play Trezeguet when he was the top scorer in italy, for Gomis.

Worse, he just antagonizes people just to do it.

POINT:

At the Velodrome, in a meaningless game, he kept an exhausted Gourcuff on the field to punish Laurent Blanc after promising him he'd play only a half, and left Samir Nasri, who used to play for marseille on the bench and refused to give the kid a homecoming in absolutely historic game.

I wouldn't be so pissed if it didn't affect Nasri at arsenal, and I wasn't sure that the FFF wasn't so stupid to get rid of this jack ass before 2010.

Frankly, I think he singlehandedly kept an insanely strong french side from winning in 2006, kept a very strong french side from even competening in the euros in 2008, and may very well prevent france from even qualifying in 2010.

At this point, I want them to fail to qualify, so that this mistake gets burned into the minds of the FFF, and they'll never keep such a shitty shitty coach ever again.

[TheLionLyon]

Squad against Lithuania

Gardiens de But

Cédric CARRASSO FC Toulouse
Hugo LLORIS Olympique Lyonnais
Stève MANDANDA Olympique de Marseille

Défenseurs

Gaël CLICHY Arsenal F.C.
Patrice EVRA Manchester United
Rod FANNI Stade Rennais F.C.
William GALLAS Arsenal F.C.
Philippe MEXES AS Rome
Adil RAMI LOSC Lille Métropole
Bakary SAGNA Arsenal F.C.
Sébastien SQUILLACI FC Séville

Milieux de terrain

Abou DIABY Arsenal F.C.
Alou DIARRA Girondins de Bordeaux
Lassana DIARRA Real Madrid
Yoann GOURCUFF Girondins de Bordeaux
Samir NASRI Arsenal F.C.
Jérémy TOULALAN Olympique Lyonnais

Attaquants

Nicolas ANELKA Chelsea F.C.
Karim BENZEMA Olympique Lyonnais
Jimmy BRIAND Stade Rennais
André-Pierre GIGNAC Toulouse FC
Thierry HENRY FC Barcelone
Franck RIBERY Bayern Munich

Great to see Gignac finally. Hope he plays. Abou Diaby back in the squad. Haven't seen him play with Arsenal, so don't know if he deserves the call up, but I'm just happy to see a new face. Rami gets back in the squad with Abidal being out for awhile. Still expect the Gallas/Mexes partnership though.

[talk2smc]

Originally Posted by TheLionLyon

Great to see Gignac finally. Hope he plays. Abou Diaby back in the squad. Haven't seen him play with Arsenal, so don't know if he deserves the call up, but I'm just happy to see a new face. Rami gets back in the squad with Abidal being out for awhile. Still expect the Gallas/Mexes partnership though.

i agree with Gignac, cant do much more to earn a call up than what he has done.
Diaby has been doing well in the Arse matches i have seen as of late.

[postalemirates]

Yep, good looking squad but what the hell is Abou Diaby doing there. He hasn't done anything all season to suggest he deserves a call up. Quite shocking in my opinion. Also, like everyone else i'm a tad surprised Hoarau didn't get a call up and Jimmy Briand got one instead - cause i reckon the former has had a better season.

One more thing, who do u reckon will start between the sticks - Lloris or Mandanda? I really hope it's Lloris but i feel Mandanda is still the preferred choice.