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Vintage France
Written by Kj talk | 6th July 2006 | 0 Comment(s)
Ever since the great Michel Platini inspired the French national team to victory in the 1984 European Championships most successful club sides have had a French influence within the team. Think Platini at Juventus throughout the 1980's and Marcel Dessailly prowess in the midfield for the all conquering Milan of the 90's.
Then of course into the 90's it was the Gallic strut of Eric Cantona at Manchester United that heralded the clubs return to dominate the decade. Incidentally Cantona was voted the clubs most influential player beating even George Best by a United fans poll. It took a French revolution at Arsenal to change the clubs style of play and a host of French internationals made Highbury their home and the trophy's soon followed.
Zinedine Zidane still remains the world's most expensive football player with performances for both Juventus and Real Madrid and all involved would say it was cheap at double the price. We have seen that although Zidane may have lost the consistency to his game he can still produce performances that only the very few can.
In fact it took a Frenchman to create the world cup as a global event in the first place and the trophy took his name Jules Rimet, which Brazil kept after winning it for the third time. It could be argued that the French are the most progressive thinkers with a football academy in Clairefontaine which continues to produce the finest of player.
To demonstrate a point in 1998 Theirry Henry won the French hearts with three goals in the qualifying stages but was rested in the knock out phase and left out of the final. Then he was placed back in the under 21 team to continue his football education. The equivalent would be for the same to happen to Wayne Rooney and what would he and the press make of that?
So with a pedigree of the highest order it's no real surprise to find once again the French team contesting a major final against Italy on Sunday. They were not fancied by the French media and criticized as being a team too old. But as the saying goes "many a great tune is played on an old fiddle" and if the French can overcome the odds and beat Italy then it will turn into an orchestra.
Then we turn to England! We can sing songs of hurt; fool ourselves into believing we have the best squad in years. ( I never felt we did) Pay inflated salaries to a supposed super coach who turned out to be a joke, although not before the English press were full of praise for him after one result and a song was made in his honour! Pathetic.
Our campaign was pitiful really and it sums things up when our best player turns out to be a Canadian born defender plying his trade in Germany. Joe Cole gave glimpses of something inventive now and then and did deliver a wonder goal, but the rest?
I thought our two centre halves, Terry and Ferdinand were at best indifferent through out and the supposed big hitters of the midfield never turned up. Lampard was well off the pace and Gerrard showed nothing of his Liverpool form. And we were told we had the best midfield in the world.
Yes we were knocked out once again on penalties but by now you would have thought England would have learnt by pass failures. I suppose now we will make martyrs of the players who blew our chances by making a pizza ad with them. Where they can line their pockets with even more money and drive their stupid 4 x 4's to their mock Tudor mansions. And wasn't that a vulgar display by the so called wags every night drinking to excess and the next day filling up the papers on more bling, bling shopping expeditions.
There is not a dearth of talent waiting in the wings. We are thin on the ground for goalkeepers who I might add are allowed to save penalties and after Rooney we have no world class strikers to call on.
If the French can reach a final with most of their past old stagers from previous tournaments still playing, maybe the English should recall Sir Bobby Charlton he could do no worse!
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