Danny 9 Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 They were in the WC final, have an amazing record in qualifiers yadda yadda yadda. They have some amazing players like Vieira, Ribery, Henry and Malouda yadda yadda yadda. And yet, in their last 2 qualifiers they have won a single point and looked really not that great. They seem to offer almost nothing up front, despite the quality they have there, and they don't seem to have any kind of overall killer instinct. Yup, they can pass a bit, but having watched their past 2 games, I am distinctly underwhelmed by them. The best team in the world would have thrown everything at us from the off last night. They really didn't. They only had a period of about 15 minutes where they offered that bit more. And we then gave them about 5-10 minutes of our OWN offering in rebuttal. I am in no way undermining our result - it was sensational. But I have a feeling that France's reputation and player names are a lot better than their actual ability these days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 9 Posted September 13, 2007 Author Share Posted September 13, 2007 Just saw this: France went down to a jaw-dropping 1-0 home defeat to Scotland last night, knocking Les Bleus off top spot in their Euro 2008 qualifying group. However, the French dominated the game, and Raymond Domenech has little but praise for his men... Domenech: The Players Are Blameless zoom - galleria Raymond Domenech spoke to L'Equipe in the aftermath of France's home defeat to Scotland - and defiantly insisted that he has no regrets... He began, "I think we played much better than we did in the away match [1-0 Scotland at Hampden], with more chances, more control, more balls, crosses, cohesion... We played well in the final third. "True, we were still recognisable, but we were much better." That begged the question, then: why did France lose? "I'm not used to saying this, but, we missed a little success," he said. "In the play, we did what was necessary. But we missed that small success that puts the ball in the good place, or to have the opposition lag behind. "There is nothing to blame the players for. They pushed so hard. They tried so hard but missed something tiny. The contribution of the forward players, who pushed into such a closed space - they tried, and they pushed." Regrets? "I regret that we didn't score. But, in fact, the regrets come to us." The interviewer pointed out that, this season, France have scored just once in three matches. Did Domenech regard this as a worrying theme? "I saw us pressing, and always on the attack... You can always forsee a goal every time we press forward but, for some reason, it didn't happen," he said. Domenech previously said that he wanted to avoid needing a win in Ukraine - the French need three wins from three to guarantee qualification - but is now not prepared to look that far ahead. "The decisive match is the next one - against the Faroes," he said. Finally, he kept faith in his players to do the needful. "This isn't ideal. But we have the charts in our hand, and we know the challenges ahead," concluded Domenech. France sit third in Group B. Parker seems to be kinda implying what I just said. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 9 Posted September 13, 2007 Author Share Posted September 13, 2007 "Our first half display was not the one of a team desperate to win," Barcelona centre back Lilian Thuram told reporters after the match. Thuram backing me up further. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluenose_72 198 Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 still a fantastic achievement no matter how much the french were trying or how good their players are. i mean their qualification record speaks for itself! but they certainly dont seem the side they were. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poetry_In_Blue 1,043 Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 They're still third in a very difficult group and can still qualify, I don't think it's about how good or bad a team is, cause reading those reports sounds more like excuses to me and not what actually happened, Scotland defended superbly and stopped the French from being able to score. It isn't that they are a bad team it's just on the night we were the better team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Brown Brogue Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 I have to say I do agree with you on this. I made a similar point after watching the Italy-France game on Saturday, it's almost as if they are going through the motions expecting to win games. If they fail to qualify I can see them making wholesale changes a'la when they failed to qualify for USA 94. But this is by no means belittling Scotlands achievement last night, it was fantastic what we did, and really is one of the greatest Scotland results of my lifetime. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Juve 1 Posted September 13, 2007 Share Posted September 13, 2007 They are not the side they once wer Lets not forget Zidane played a main part in them getting to the world cup final last year.The signs that they wer not as great a side as they once wer has been showing for sometime now imo.Still a tough side but not as tough as they once wer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
THEFISH 0 Posted September 14, 2007 Share Posted September 14, 2007 Well they must be pesh if wee beat them eh We will still manage tae feck it up by no qualifying Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poetry_In_Blue 1,043 Posted September 14, 2007 Share Posted September 14, 2007 Last night was the first time that France lost in France since 1999, and until last night with Raymond Domenech in charge France had only lost two matches in 46. Against Italy in the World Cup (on penalties) and Scotland at Hampden! :bouncy: :bouncy: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledWeegie123 1,236 Posted September 14, 2007 Share Posted September 14, 2007 they are having a slightly off patch but 1 or 2 players aside thats the team who played in the last world cup final so should be classed as a top 2 team in the world,scotland are where in the rankings? make sit all the more sweeter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
excoriate 0 Posted September 14, 2007 Share Posted September 14, 2007 Might not be a free scoring France side as of late, they are superb in defence with only 3 goals conceeded in the entire campaign - 2 of those were scored by us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauba30 1 Posted September 14, 2007 Share Posted September 14, 2007 Might not be a free scoring France side as of late, they are superb in defence with only 3 goals conceeded in the entire campaign - 2 of those were scored by us. I prefer the theory that they played just as good as we let them. For once lets actually sit back and enjoy our success instead of doing the usual Scottish Presbyterian thing of looking for a gloomy reason why we won that doesnt involve us! We won folks!! Enjoy it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
excoriate 0 Posted September 14, 2007 Share Posted September 14, 2007 Might not be a free scoring France side as of late, they are superb in defence with only 3 goals conceeded in the entire campaign - 2 of those were scored by us. I prefer the theory that they played just as good as we let them. For once lets actually sit back and enjoy our success instead of doing the usual Scottish Presbyterian thing of looking for a gloomy reason why we won that doesnt involve us! We won folks!! Enjoy it! Me too. We rattled them, players and fans. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poetry_In_Blue 1,043 Posted September 14, 2007 Share Posted September 14, 2007 Might not be a free scoring France side as of late, they are superb in defence with only 3 goals conceeded in the entire campaign - 2 of those were scored by us. I prefer the theory that they played just as good as we let them. For once lets actually sit back and enjoy our success instead of doing the usual Scottish Presbyterian thing of looking for a gloomy reason why we won that doesnt involve us! We won folks!! Enjoy it! Me too. We rattled them, players and fans. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
delparlane 5,659 Posted September 14, 2007 Share Posted September 14, 2007 Might not be a free scoring France side as of late, they are superb in defence with only 3 goals conceeded in the entire campaign - 2 of those were scored by us. I prefer the theory that they played just as good as we let them. For once lets actually sit back and enjoy our success instead of doing the usual Scottish Presbyterian thing of looking for a gloomy reason why we won that doesnt involve us! We won folks!! Enjoy it! Exactly so, Bauba. All I read coming from the French camp is that they made mistakes and didn't execute properly; in short, a boatload of excuses rather than giving any credit to us for stopping them cold in their tracks. That kind of arrogance is what makes beating them all the sweeter! :harhar: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianGer 1 Posted September 14, 2007 Share Posted September 14, 2007 Might not be a free scoring France side as of late, they are superb in defence with only 3 goals conceeded in the entire campaign - 2 of those were scored by us. I prefer the theory that they played just as good as we let them. For once lets actually sit back and enjoy our success instead of doing the usual Scottish Presbyterian thing of looking for a gloomy reason why we won that doesnt involve us! We won folks!! Enjoy it! Agreed. Though I don't know why you need to bring religion into it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
polar bear 0 Posted September 14, 2007 Share Posted September 14, 2007 Might not be a free scoring France side as of late, they are superb in defence with only 3 goals conceeded in the entire campaign - 2 of those were scored by us. I prefer the theory that they played just as good as we let them. For once lets actually sit back and enjoy our success instead of doing the usual Scottish Presbyterian thing of looking for a gloomy reason why we won that doesnt involve us! We won folks!! Enjoy it! For once I find myself actually agreeing with you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluenose_72 198 Posted September 14, 2007 Share Posted September 14, 2007 Last night was the first time that France lost in France since 1999, and until last night with Raymond Domenech in charge France had only lost two matches in 46. Against Italy in the World Cup (on penalties) and Scotland at Hampden! :bouncy: :bouncy: just shows you what an achievement last night was! :bouncy: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiggaman88 10 Posted September 14, 2007 Share Posted September 14, 2007 because of a couple of results france are pesh and scotland are unbeatable Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Juve 1 Posted September 14, 2007 Share Posted September 14, 2007 because of a couple of results france are pesh and scotland are unbeatable There not "pesh" just not as strong as they once wer in my opinion, the loss of there main player Zidane was always going to be a factor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 9 Posted September 14, 2007 Author Share Posted September 14, 2007 because of a couple of results france are pesh and scotland are unbeatable Not quite! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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