Comments on: Allez les Vieux? France to Rely on the Old Guys Again

By: Gonzalo

Gonzalo — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:19:04 +0000

Frey is much better than Coupet and Landreau.. He does not have that much International experience but he is much much more skilled. Frey should be France’s # 1 after this tournament.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:45:25 +0000

Marco, Coupet caught a foot in his own net last year. During practice, no less. It led to a serious knee injury (torn ACL, I think) that led to Landreau starting a number of qualifiers. But I don’t think anybody was thrilled by this turn of events except possibly Landreau’s mom and grandma. He’s less decisive and consistent that Coupet. (Although I’ve only seen a couple of PSG games this year, so what do I know?)

Domenech is very wedded to hierarchy, though, especially with goalkeepers. So Coupet will be the number one, Landreau probably #2, and Frey probably #3.

By: Marco Pantanella

Marco Pantanella — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:56:03 +0000

Les Bleus pardon me…

By: Marco Pantanella

Marco Pantanella — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:55:27 +0000

I thought the starting keeper for Les Blues was Mickaël Landreau now…

By: laurie

laurie — Sun, 11 May 2008 16:26:29 +0000

Julian, France fans are hoping you’re right.

If it works, people will be saying, “Domenech’s a genius!” If it doesn’t, it will be “Why the hell did he start a 35- and a 36-year-old!”

By: Julian

Julian — Sun, 11 May 2008 11:02:39 +0000

I can’t see the problem of having experienced (AS IN OLD) players and younger ones on a squad. It’s actually the ideal setting. Guys like henry, makelele, viera and the likes have 3 world cup and 2 euro campaigns under their boots, you can’t beat that. Add a few Benzema, Nasri, Bodmer, benharfa, ribery to spice things up and that’s the same recipe as the world cup 06, when everyboby was burying them even after they got out of the group stages.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Sat, 10 May 2008 22:57:40 +0000

That’s going to be one of the more interesting stories of the French team — how Domenech will integrate the younger and older players, and what balance he’ll use.

One thing about Nasri is that he didn’t get his first callup until March of 2007, and then later that year he got injured, so a lot of qualifying was done without him. The big question is whether or not the team can just drop him in and have him make a difference. Personally, I’d love to see it.

By: briguy

briguy — Sat, 10 May 2008 21:02:21 +0000

Why not mix in more of Nasri, especially with all of the veteran leadership. Seems like an ideal time to get him acclimated against top international competition in advance of 2010…

Allez les Bleus!