I AM. THE LAW!
Laurent Blanc has only been in charge of Les Bleus for a brief period, but he seems determined to put his stamp on things.
The implosion of the French national side was well-documented here, much to the delight of many of you, but now the time has come for the new gaffer to prepare for Euro 2012 qualifying. In that context, it seems that Lolo plans on showing up to the August 11th friendly against Norway with precisely 0 (yes, zero) players from the World Cup 2010 squad.
In an attempt to make his mark upon the side immediately, Blanc is reportedly considering leaving all 23 players who participated in South Africa at home for the national team’s next match (original report in French, at France Football).
As the FFF conducts an internal investigation into the strike precipitated by the dismissal of Nicolas Anelka, Blanc has stated that he considers everyone equal partners on “the bus of shame” that spirited the players away from the training ground after their refusal to train. Thus, he views the friendly in Oslo as an opportunity to send a message to everyone – players from the World Cup 2010 roster, players hoping to be capped, the FFF itself – that he is in charge of the side, with decisions on player management his alone.
However, consider the fact that during his first press conference after taking over the side on July 6th Blanc stated that “there is no question of starting with a blank slate and starting over with an entirely new squad.” Moreover, he also said that “a new coach should be able to lean on a hard core [of players]. This hard core is not even a melon’s pip … My task is to find a hard core within this team.”
It’s not quite clear how he plans on finding that core while possibly alienating some of the players that he will need moving forward, all while going against his word and starting with an entirely new squad. While his actions for Norway would certainly demonstrate his authority and allow him to experiment in a meaningless friendly (perhaps also motivating the players from the World Cup squad to renew their commitment and regain their place), he runs the risk of not being fully prepared for the beginning of Euro 2012 qualification as France faces Belarus on September 3rd and Bosnia-Herzegovina on September 7th.
Certainly there were players who participated in South Africa who were already destined to not feature in Euro 2012, mostly due to age. Of the 23 on that squad, 8 were already 30 years old or older: (1) Eric Abidal; (2) William Gallas; (3) Anthony Reveillere; (4) Sebastien Squillaci; (5) Florent Malouda; (6) Nicolas Anelka; (7) Sidney Govou; and (8) Thierry Henry. The time appears to have come and gone for another 2 players – Cedric Carrasso and Djibril Cisse (both 29 years old) – and Patrice Evra (29 years old as well) should never be allowed within 100 feet of the national team ever again.
That leaves 12 players from whom Laurent Blanc could conceivably have built his “hard core” and who will now feel isolated or cut adrift as they watch Les Bleus from their domestic clubs on August 11th. While Lolo has ruled all the players equally culpable for the strike, a quick look at the 12 remaining players shows a significant difference in caps for the national side. Aside from Franck Ribery (27 years old, 48 caps) and Jeremy Toulalan (27 years old, 36 caps, 2 aneurysms caused for me), all of those players have fewer than 25 caps, with many having fewer than 15 (Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda, Gael Clichy, Marc Planus, Abou Diaby, Mathieu Valbuena, Andre-Pierre Gignac).
Is it really fair to hold players younger than 25 years old with fewer than 15 caps accountable in this situation? When your team captain and the older, more experienced players tell you that you are on strike and not training for the day, how likely are you to go against them, particularly when you know that your manager is a lame duck? Of those 12 players remaining, Ribery and Toulalan (both demonstrated to be massive t**ts) should bear the brunt of Blanc’s anger and he should demonstrate some compassion for the likes of Clichy and Diaby (oh, they happen to be Arsenal players? Quelle surprise!).
Perhaps the fact that France did not qualify for the 1990 and 1994 World Cups (when Lolo was a younger player) has shaped his view of how younger players should behave when playing for the national side, but Blanc is putting himself in a very difficult position for his first match in charge by holding them accountable. Indeed, the players he is likely to bring in as replacements (Adil Rami, Aly Cissokho; Yann M’Vila, Hatem ben Arfa, Loic Remy, Bafetimbi Gomis) are just as young and inexperienced, meaning he will have an uphill battle against Norway. If he turns around and allows the World Cup 2010 players to return to the squad for Euro 2012 (replacing most of the replacements), he may just have alienated both groups of players.
I notice you don’t mention Gourcuff in either group. What is his role going to be in the future of the French national side? Assuming Lolo sticks to his guns and punishes Ribery for his antics, will Gourcuff be the new talisman who the team is built around?
I think it’s fair to punish all players on the WC roster by not allowing them to be in the friendly. Although, that’s mostly for show. Those players don’t want to go to the friendly anyway.
I like this move a lot. Show everyone who is boss, and force the players who might have a future on the national side to come groveling back and swear allegiance to the team.
Sagna is 27 and we didn’t hear a peep from him during the WC drama. So, let’s move the cap to 27 and below and I’m in favor. Plus, Blanc has Nasri waiting in the wings – he’s 23, the Arsenal season will start soon – time for him to get injured.
Is there a role for Benzema in this new setup?
Agree with TFA and Spec – useless friendly, easy way to make nice with the club bosses by not calling any of them up. Bring back the ones you want when you need them, use it as an excuse for the ones you don’t.
@LE – considering that Gourcuff was on the World Cup 2010 squad, it seems that Blanc has the same view of him as he does of his other players. The key will be whether or not he can get Gourcuff and Ribery to ever play together, as they really don’t like each other and Franck was the prime suspect in marginalizing the youngster from the squad.
@Ryan – losing Titi, Anelka, Govou and (probably) Cisse opens up 4 spots, which I would assume will go to ben Arfa, Benzema, Gomis and then either Briand or Remy. The midfield is going to be a bit trickier, as he might not even get rid of Malouda yet, making for an extremely crowded block of players waiting to move in, including Nasri and Benoit Cheyrou, as well as the returning Lass Diarra.
@NYK: I guess that’s my point. Since Ribery, Anelka and co. were ringleaders in the mutiny, their clear marginalizing of Gourcuff in the squad would suggest that Gourcuff is relatively blameless in the World Cup debacle. Plus, I’d assume Blanc trusts him and favors him from their time at Bordeaux. So, to me, those factors point to Gourcuff having a pretty prominent role to play under the new regime. But I defer to your French expertise.
Honestly i don’t buy the fact that we’ll never see lloris or gourcuff or sagna or diaby or squillaci in a bleu jersey again.
Because if that does happen, then frey and mexes will have to play and i will cry for 100 days in a row
@Clem – no, I think we will definitely see most of the “other 12″ players that I named, bolstered by some of those that will play on August 11th.
@LE – Yes, Lolo likes Gourcuff and knows how to utilize him, but I don’t think that there is any way that he can get away with never playing Ribery again, which means that he will have to figure out how to appease 2 guys who both see themselves in the Zidane role.