Philosofooty

By Ulysse Pasquier, writing from Montreal

    Laurent Blanc and the French Football Federation have announced none of the 23 players that went to South Africa would be part of the squad facing Norway, Blanc’s first friendly in charge of Les Bleus. This rather shocking news could be the first of many sanctions that await the “mutineers of Knysa” who refused to train following the Nicolas Anelka incident during the World Cup group stages. 

This is the first important move Laurent Blanc has made as coach of the French team and it could set the tone for what we can expect in the future. This shows Blanc is trying to differentiate himself and the team from the World Cup fiasco. I believe he has understood that French Football is suffering from deep-rooted issues and I don’t think many people will criticize him for the steps he takes, as drastic as they may appear to be. 

The match, which will take place in Oslo on August 11th, is of course only a friendly but it will be interesting to see some new faces as well as a different dynamic. The French team needs a new identity after what happened in South Africa and we can expect Blanc to mix players from the 23 and the ones who will play against Norway to create a solid team for the 2012 Euro. 

I think it would be ridiculous for Blanc to completely put aside the World Cup squad in the future as there are still young and talented players who still deserve to play, the likes of Abou Diaby, Yoann Gourcuff and even Mathieu Valbuena. Despite what Thierry Henry and Patrice Evra have said after the events of Knysa, it still remains unclear whether to skip training was truly a “team decision” or not. I personally find it hard to believe that young players, in their first World Cup, would decide to act in such a way. 

It will take time and hard work for Blanc to create a first team made up, not of Stars, but motivated and true footballers. For the anecdote, I watched again the 1998 final a few days ago and was just amazed by the amount of running the players did compared to the Mexico match of last June. This is the kind of hunger and fighting spirit we want from a national team. 

If you’re wondering who you can expect to see in the line up against Norway, here’s an accurate list I found on Eurosport.uk:

Goalkeepers

Sebastien Frey (Fiorentina), Mickael Landreau (Lille), Stephane Ruffier (Monaco), Olivier Sorin (Auxerre), Nicolas Douchez (Rennes).

Defenders

Philippe Mexes (Roma), Mickael Ciani (Bordeaux), Mamadou Sakho (PSG), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Rod Fanni (Rennes), Jean-Alain Boumsong (Lyon), Benoit Tremoulinas (Bordeaux), Mathieu Chalme (Bordeaux), Adil Rami (Lille), Julien Escude (Séville), Mathieu Debuchy (Lille), Aly Cissokho (Lyon), Christtophe Jallet (PSG), Francois Clerc (Lyon)

Midfielders

Rio Mavuba (Lille), Yohan Cabaye (Lille), Maxime Gonalons (Lyon), Yann Mvila (Rennes), Sylvain Marveaux (Rennes), Benoit Cheyrou (Marseille), Blaise Matuidi (St Etienne), Gael Kakuta (Chelsea), Karim Ait-Fana (Montpellier), Samir Nasri (Arsenal, pictured), Hatem Ben Arfa (Marseille, pictured), Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid), Benoit Pedretti (Auxerre), Moussa Sissoko (Toulouse)

Forwards

Karim Benzema (Real, pictured), Kevin Gameiro (Lorient), Loic Remy (Nice), Jimmy Briand (Lyon), Bafetimbi Gomis (Lyon), Guillaume Hoarau (PSG), Louis Saha (Everton)