So, Karim, tell me about your mother.
Does anyone out there know a good psychologist?
We all know that Les Bleus exhibited the heights of dysfunction while in South Africa for World Cup 2010 – childish petulance between players, a huge rift between Raymond Domenech and his “children”, stunning incompetence on the pitch.
Well, new daddy Laurent Blanc has decided that some things need to change around the national side and he is refining his methods for getting the best results.
After dropping all of the World Cup players for a meaningless friendly, he further cemented his status as disciplinarian by leaving some of those same players off the national team for their first two encounters in Euro 2012 qualifying. Now that he has welcomed most of them back to the side, Lolo is looking into taking a more supportive approach. After all, once you have punished your children you should remind them that you still love them, right?
To show how much he cares, Blanc is looking into hiring a team psychologist to help Les Bleus overcome their angst and rebuild their confidence ahead of their two Euro 2012 qualifiers over the next week.
For his three netminders (Lloris, Mandanda, Carrasso), the task may be to simply remind them how to do their job, as none of them have distinguished themselves so far in their domestic campaigns. For Mexès in defense, the goal should be to inform him that he is useless, and will be buried at the far end of the bench (please, please, please!).
For Gourcuff and Malouda in the midfield, he needs them to explore their leadership qualities as they will be relied upon to structure the matches in the absence of veterans such as Ribery, Evra and Anelka. For Nasri and Matuidi in the midfield, he needs them to find confidence in their own abilities after having been continually snubbed by Ray-Ray so that they can rise to the occasion.
For his new strikeforce of Gameiro and Payet (who has been in incredible form in Ligue 1), the idea is to keep them from developing the attitude of entitlement that has plagued strikers worldwide since the beginning of time. For his “old” striker Benzema, well…
Perhaps the goal with Benzema should be to start slow and simply get him to show up on time. Maybe Blanc should replace him with Hatem ben Arfa. Oh, never mind.
At least psychotherapy is better than astrology.
@NYK
Is Malouda one of the more liked players by French NT fans? Because I like him and he plays for Chelski and France (which is saying something).
I echo Tno’s question. I hate Chelsea like poison but there’s something about Malouda that is very likable, both in his personality and his style of play. But I really have no evidence of this, other than what I see on tv…
@MP
If only there was an expert on the French national team here…
I used to actively dislike Malouda because he plays for Chelsea and didn’t perform all that well for Les Bleus. However, his form over the past 18 months (for club and country) has been fantastic, and he id definitely one of the least offensive individuals at Chelsea.
Is he one of the more-liked players by French fans? Yes, but with this group that isn’t saying much. He’s certainly not viewed in the same vein as Deschamps, Blanc, Zizou, Vieira, Makelele, Thuram, Lizarazu, Pires, Desailly, Petit, Karembeu, Dugarry.
At least psychotherapy is better than astrology.
.
I think the behaviorists in the crowd would disagree.
Thanks NYK that’s what I thought.
@ NYK: Has Platini fallen off the pedestal of French legends b/c of his post-playing UEFA career or just overlooked when you listed out those other guys?
@OM – Michel Francois Platini is a special case. Everyone acknowledges that he was one of the greatest passers in the world, part of the “Carre Magique”, went to 3 WCs, etc., etc.
BUT, his tenure as manager of the national side was an embarrassment and he has generally been a t**t at UEFA. We don’t really know what to do with him.
@ NYK: Understood. And perhaps the therapist can also work with Benzema on some hypnosis: “Hookers are bad, OK. Underage hookers, underage hookers are bad, OK.”/South Park’d
i really want 2 see karim. hatem ben arfa just had his leg broken!!!awwwwww.PS i hope yoann finds his ‘leadership qualities”.