A Little Bit about France

I should start with something quite strongly associated with the Arse: the performance of the French team.

Le Boss has his views, and I agree with about 90% of it, saying that Zidane's absence was key:

Premier point: "The French always had the habit, when they were in trouble, of passing the ball to Zidane and looking for him to do something." Agree.

Deuxieme point: "History shows you that France's great periods have coincided with times when they have had one superstar, surrounded by 10 good players. Agree. But Platini has become a fat, ugly opinionated bastard. Wouldn't wish that on Zinedine, so won't even mention them in the same breath.

Troisieme point: "Without him, the French side is split into two. There is a generation around 30 and a generation of players around 20 years old, with nobody in between." Agree.

But even in the halcyon Zidane days, there were always signs of a French let-down. World Cup 2002, anyone? Basically, if I were to be totally unscientific and blunt about it, it's just this damn French propensity to get self-absorbed, over-confident and arrogant when the spotlight's on them. As hosts, they did well as quiet darkhorses. They were a young team, and the spotlight was on Brazil, and the other traditional favourites. In 2002, as holders, they probably let it get to them, and tried to coast through. In 2006, they were already written off as a bunch of geriatrics, but they probably still had enough in them (i.e. Zidane), and enough of a young spark. I mean, just look at the goddamn sulk Anelka during the game against Romania. If he can't even look remotely interested representing his country, then he should just be told to go $#!@ himself and die. If Domenech was going to select a pensioner, then he should've gone with Trezeguet. We should start a "Not Another Dime Spent on Anelka" campaign. Ban him from club and country for all eternity, I say. But next best alternative is the subs bench at Chelski.

I feel sorry for Thierry. He really should've just retired from international football. To be honest, he has never ever come close to his club form on the international stage. The intensity of putting in 5-6 super consistent games over 3 weeks has always been beyond him, I suppose. He didn't really feature in 1998, definitely not 2002, and in 2006, we only saw sparks. Give him his final game against Italy, and then he should do the right thing and retire.

So next step is to let Domenech go, get Zinedine his coaching credentials, and see what happens in 2010.

Some words on last night's games then. Well, Spain showed glimpses of "championship" form; i.e. dipping as expected, but somehow having someone to steal the points for them. Damn. David Villa's really hot right now. Feel bad for the Swedes, but methinks they'll still get through. They play Russia next, which brings me to my next point on Roman Pavlyuchenko: who must be the most horribly cock striker of the tournament so far. How many times did he play himself offside, scuff chances, and miss when easier to score. It was just painful watching. Sweden should get past them, no problem. But that only means setting themselves up for Holland.

Despite everything said, my only words to Marco van Basten: just throw the game. Who cares. We would all love you for it. Rest everyone. France and Italy deserve nothing. Not even a professional performance from you.