Euro 2008 and Beyond: Future for France Football

The European Championships were greeted with anxiety by many supporters of the French national side.

Although born in the United States, I was raised in a French household with a focus on French football. I first grew to love the game at the World Cup in 1998.

This era of French football, defined by the greatest player I have ever seen in my life, Zinedine Zidane, definitively ended in 2006 with the headbutt.

The talent of the French side made Euro qualification not necessarily easy, but certainly not an improbability.

However, defeating the Faroe Islands is a completely different challenge from winning the major competitions that France is expected to win.

I humbly submit my thoughts on the French team for this final group game of the Euro Championship and into the future

So far the French display has been miserable save for a spurt of activity in the middle of the game against the Dutch.

I see several issues that are preventing the team from advancing against Italy:

1) Attack

Anelka does not need to see the field barring injury. Gomis has a future, but is not ready for this big stage and has shown poor composure in his brief spells in these first two games. Benzema's effort against Romania was not aided by the selfish and seemingly bored play of Anelka.

Karim has proven himself in qualification and in club play, and deserved a second chance against the Dutch.

Benzema paired with Thierry Henry gives France the best chance to win. They complement each other's play and will knock in a few goals unless their goal-scoring pedigrees somehow disappear.

Benzema is quick and vicious, while Henry's clinical finishing is needed for a side that has thus far created few chances.

However, the root of the problems up front lies in the distribution and creativity of the midfield.

Simply put, Ribery is not Zidane.

He is our best option and works gamely in the midfield. I suggest a daring change in formation. The team should go 3-5-2.

I'll discuss the defense later but here is the path to unpredictable and open attacking play: LWM: Malouda, CDM: Makelele, CDM: Vieira, CAM: Nasri, RM: Ribery, ST: Henry, ST: Benzema.

The team needs to go for broke and frankly with a creative attacking midfielder who is actually used to the position we stand our best shot. Ribery remains most effective when the offense is not run through his feet.

He is a brilliant individual flank player. Taking attention off Ribery by putting the creative and distributive burden on Nasri and Viera would free him up on the right.

Italy is slow at the back and will certainly be playing a side defender who is not used to that position as they have in past games. The Dutch exploited this and we should too.

Again, comparing Nasri to Zidane is premature, but there is no question Ribery saw more time on the ball and less pressure playing with Zidane in the center of the pitch.

The duo of Vieira and Makelele remains the premier holding midfield pairing in the world. That puts less defensive burden on our attack.

The French squad needs to win and throwing five creative players at the Italians affords us the best chance of doing this.

Passing and creative play with the feet is suitable for such a short attack.  I'm sick of seeing big center backs not being tested by the pace and talent of our forwards as they are instead being played balls in the air.

Who were the Dutch center backs? I never saw them tested with France's impressive individual skill. That is what distinguishes Ribery from his counterparts, but it wasn't exploited.

2) Age

The French team is old.

Raymond Domenech is fielding one of the oldest teams in the tournament.  Playing an old team in Italy will minimize damage from this tactical decision, but certainly playing speed and youth can only benefit France.

The open, flowing, Dutch attack opened up both the French and Italian squads. 

Italy cannot call on impressive speed and youth. They unquestionably have solid deputies at most positions. France has this luxury.

Substitutions need to inject speed and energy into the side. Players such as Anelka, Govou, and Thuram are exactly what the Italians are prepared to encounter.

Benzema, Nasri, and Ribery remain the unknown quantities whose speed will keep the Italians on their toes. Pace is France's least utilized quantity. Italy needs to score and will be forced to leave uncharacteristic space between the half backs and full backs.

Speed will exploit the gaps which will inevitably be there.

3) Defense

People forget that although Coupet has been in the frame for France for years this is his first major tournament. He has been a world-class keeper for years and deserved the caps at WC 2006.

Against Romania he was untested. His first test was against the Netherlands. The first strike by Kuyt was unstoppable and the result of poor marking.

However, goals two and three were certainly stoppable. Now there is no questions the Netherlands was creative and rapid on the counterattack, but Coupet was caught inattentive or out of position on both strikes. The second goal crawled in after deflecting off of him.

He could certainly have been better prepared for this weak strike. The third goal was a blazing strike, but even Robben was surprised to see it go in. It certainly had pace but the shot was near post and from a terrible angle.

It is unacceptable at the youth level much less the international level to leave so much space between the keeper and the post. I expect Coupet will turn in the performance of his lifetime after this embarrassing turn against the Dutch.

The decision to play Evra on the left flank brought pace and flair to the French.  He defended ably.

Sagnol has consistently been threatening from the right as teams leave him with so much time and space that he can whip in threatening crosses. His brilliant ball to Henry resulted in the only goal of the tournament for the French. He needs to stay.

Gallas covered his ground and was rarely caught out of position. He has the positioning and pace to stay with essentially any attacker in the world.

Now if you recall a 3-5-2 necessitates dropping a defender from the past lineup.  This unfortunately must be done with Lillian Thuram.

Few players command as much respect as Thuram. He was the best at this position in the glory days. Even in 2006 his wisdom meant he was always in the right spot. He out thought the attack. This is the unfortunate point where France must realize Thuram no longer has the pace to even outsmart the attack.

He simply could not stay with the Dutch for any sustained bit of play. Going with the two holding midfielders will take some burden off Gallas, who will only have to handle the big Luca Toni. This is the way to success for the French. 

4) Coaching

Domenech needs to go after the tournament, but while in charge he has to do a better job with the options he has.

If France falls behind, a holding midfielder must be sacrificed for another attacker or winger, with Ribery potentially moving into the free attacking position alongside Nasri.

Domenech cannot be hesitant.

A shift in play could mean the end of France's run if it results in a goal.

The back three have the quality to last the entire game. With a holding midfielder we should be sufficiently covered. This could mean that an early Italian goal a la Kuyt's ninth minute header should result in the immediate substitution of an attacking force.

The Italians will put men behind the ball. We will be forced to make something out of nothing. The only way to pull it off is to have more bodies and more creativity in that attacking third. Inspiration will be our only savior.

To see such a lineup fall out in the first round is tragic to me. I hope Vieira is fit for this third game and that Domenech has courage to play an entertaining open game.

If we exit with class there will at least be hope for this team in 2010. Allez les Bleus!!!