Problems are growing within the French camp as players are now demanding that coach Raymond Domenach select Thierry Henry for France’s starting lineup in the 2010 World Cup finals. The French international veteran has been dropped to the substitutes bench by Domenach in recent friendlies after the coach indicated that he would only be used as an impact player due to his poor club the last season.
Henry has also looked a shadow of his former self when coming on in matches although it would not be the first time that the player has chosen to use his feet to do his talking in a negative way when not happy with management decisions.
The France national side is now torn apart by several cliques and quickly descending into a French farce as Henry’s camp is reportedly demanding that their friend and Abou Diaby be chosen in place of Yoann Gourcuff and Sidney Govou, with the former having been ostracised both on and off the pitch as his team mates refused to pass him the ball. Nicolas Anelka and Franck Ribery have been pinpointed as the worst culprits as the French players have decided to be more petulant than to play for national pride.
France have been fortunate to find themselves taking part in the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa after beating Ireland in a play-off through a goal created by Henry’s illegal use of his hand. The striker controlled the ball with his arm in the buildup to the goal before crossing it for William Gallas to finish off the move.
While Domenach may have been guilty of multiple mistakes during his time at the helm of Les Bleus, choosing to drop Henry may not be the worst decision he would have made. The former Arsenal star has not looked his previous best for an entire year and is clearly a shadow of the speedy striker who used to bedazzle defenders with his touch and pace.
Henry is also known as a disruptive influence in the dressing room if he is not the centre of attention. Even at Arsenal, the striker would throw tantrums and sulk on the pitch if things did not go his way or when team mates did not pass him the ball at every opportunity.
Chelsea’s winger Florent Malouda hinted last week of the growing dissension within the Les Bleus ranks when he said: “We have to create links between players, we can’t just think, ‘I’m not interested in what others do’.
“We are going to look ridiculous if, as we did at Euro 2008, each player stays in his comfort zone aiming only for good marks from the media to the detriment of the team.”
Tags: France, Raymond Domenach, Thierry Henry, World Cup, World Cup 2010
FFF’s decision to eliminate Nicholas Anelka from the French World Cup squad is not the solution to their decimal performance so far exhibited in the ongoing tournament, neither is it the players’ decision to boycott training. I am afraid, all parties have let themselves be blind-folded by “minor issues” and they are, sadly, destined for failure unless they sober up early enough to solve the real cause of the problem other than grappling with the effects. France’s problem is Raymond Domenech. The man has run out of ideas, he has lost the dressing room and he’s just a shadow of a fantastic French coach at the 2010 World Cup. He is so far the poorest manager in the tournament. His decisions to leave their top scorer, Thiery Henry, on the sidelines in games where France desperately lacked a “cutting-edge,” to include unfit players like William Gallas (who had played for only 45 minutes in four months before the World Cup), dropping Karim Benzema from the squad, his quick choice of Patrice Evra as captain, over reliance on wasteful Sydney Govou, and most importantly, his failure to inspire the team and encourage team play. FFF should act fast and introduce Laurent Blanc to try and salvage France’s chances of progressing further. Some of us who expected entertainment from such a team of gifted players are really disappointed. I can’t really imagine what goes through the heads of the French men. Unimaginable!!!!!!!!!!!!!