Yoann Gourcuff Asked Laurent Blanc to Leave Him off Final 23-Man European Roster

French news site Europubfoot has exclusively revealed that Olympique Lyonnais midfielder Yoann Gourcuff requested that France manager Laurent Blanc leave him off the final 23-man roster for this month's European Championships.

Gourcuff, who earned his 29th cap for Les Bleus last Sunday in a friendly against Iceland, had been selected by Blanc for the provisional 26-man roster, announced May 15. The deadline to cut the squad to 23 was last Tuesday, May 29.

The decision to bring Gourcuff onto the provisional roster had been a polarizing one, as the Lyon playmaker, who had played for Blanc at Bordeaux (2008-10), appeared in only 13 league matches in 2011-12.

His fitness cast doubt over his selection, and his display against Iceland, where he looked heavy-footed and lacking sharpness outside of a few select contributions, did not help his case. Gourcuff left the pitch that night in Valenciennes to a sea of catcalls and boos.

Still, Blanc's decision on the 29th to leave Gourcuff off the final roster was met with widespread disdain.

Given that Gourcuff needed games in order to regain fitness and match sharpness to get back to his best, casting him off after one appearance seemed callous. It would have made more sense not to select him at all.

But now Europubfoot has shed new light on the proceedings. Gourcuff "did not feel capable of coping with the pressure surrounding his inclusion in the initial list," and informed Blanc after the Iceland match of his desire not to be included in the final roster—two days before Blanc was to announce his list of 23.

Blanc had apparently been ready to leave Marvin Martin and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa off the final roster, but Gourcuff's wish caused him to replace the Sochaux midfielder on the exit list. Yanga-Mbiwa joined him as the other final cut.

Blanc had elected not to select Paris Saint-Germain defender Mamadou Sakho to his initial list, as he did not have the young center back in his plans for the competition, and believed that it would be damaging to Sakho's confidence were he to pick him in the 26-man group only to let him go soon thereafter.

Therefore, he selected Yanga-Mbiwa, who unlike Sakho was uncapped at the senior level and would not be as seriously affected by being left off the 23-man roster.

This would counter claims that Blanc had unfairly treated Gourcuff.

The final interesting bit in this unfolding narrative was that Blanc and Gourcuff apparently decided to use an ankle injury as a cover to justify the midfielder's exclusion, when in reality there was no problem to the ligament.