Wicked Deflection

Berbatov's 4-goal game from last season, Spurs in a fight to hold onto strikers

2008-07-23T06:34:00.006-04:00

Manchester United won the Premier League and Champions League last season, and now manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that he's placed a "bid for one player who would enhance us a great deal." Anyone who saw Berbatov's 4 goals in a game against Reading last season could be forgiven for assuming Sir Alex must be talking about Berbatov.

Here is video of Berbatov's 4 goals in the Reading game:

The other first-choice striker for Spurs, Robbie Keane, is allegedly a Liverpool target, and the prospect of losing both players, and the tactics employed by Man United and Liverpool, have Spurs in an uproar.

Arsenal draw 2nd pre-season friendly 1-1, goal from Walcott setup by Bendtner

2008-07-22T18:32:00.004-04:00

The 12-minute highlights of Arsenal's draw away to Szombathelyi Haladas were a bit on the drab side, which should come as no surprise to any sane person, but came as a bit of a let down for me.

Nicholas Bendtner continues his run up front. Wilshere got a start after his good performance in the first friendly. Vela got his first game as an Arsenal player, and had some good touches in the highlights.

I'd like to see Arsenal scoring goals for fun, but there were few signs of lethal finishing on display. Walcott's goal came from a one-touch finish setup by Bendtner.

It's got me half wondering if big Nick will get a chance in the first 11 to start the season, in place of Adebayor. On balance, from what we've seen over the whole of last season, Adebayor is a better player by some distance, but Bendtner has potential, and could get better.

The highlights of that game will have Arsenal Supporters looking forward to the return of more first-team regulars.

Do Arsenal have a Good Enough Squad for the 08-09 Campaign?

2008-07-21T17:02:00.003-04:00

The Orlando Sentinel soccer blog has a post that points to an artcle in which the author writes that he trusts Arsene about the state of the Arsenal team regarding whether more "experienced" signings are needed for the upcoming season.

What do you think? Do we have a good enough squad to challenge for honors? What positions do you think need reinforcement? Speculations are rife about Villa's Barry or Pool's Alonso being courted to fill the vacuum left by the departure of Flamini. Perhaps they are not needed because Denilson and Diaby immediately come to mind who have the skills to slot in. But are they really good enough?

What about Adebayor who stirred up a tempest in the summer? Should we keep him? Is he good enough for a team with title ambitions? Who do we get if he is let go? There have also been rumors about Gallas leaving. If he goes, who must come in to shore up the defense?

The dearth of Arsenal football this summer and the approaching season heighten the anticipation of Arsenal supporters. The departure of key players last season adds to the uncertainty about what the squad will look like. We all have high hopes that the club will seize on the upward momentum created last season to climb higher in the EPL table but new players and the return of long-injured players only add to the suspense.

Thinking back twelve months, Arsene didn't sign any "big" name last term and the team got close enough for a title win. A lot of that was driven by the energy of Flamini. Now that he has left, I think a similar "spark-plug" must be found to keep the team moving forward. Whoever taking over the defensive midfield assignment must be a tireless worker to provide an example and motivate the rest of the team.

For two seasons running, injuries have decimated the front line. Perhaps a solution is needed to address that issue - accidents not withstanding (Eduardo and RvP). Maybe training methods must be changed or maybe more rotation (a la the Reds) is called for to ensure adequate rest. Here I get the impression that even though the squad is big, Arsene is very protective of the younger players by keeping them away from the rigor of the Premier League. The result is that the squad need to be even bigger if rotation is to be implemented. AW has a difficult job balancing between cultivating a large number of youngsters to feed the talent pipeline and not spending large amounts of money every year to keep the team consistently competitive.

Many familiar names are still in the first team. If injuries are not an issue, this squad as it is should be able to cope quite well with the demands of the new season because these players have already proven themselves to be up to the task. The addition of Nasri and Vela should add even more flair to the potent offense which scored 113 goals in all competitions last season. If the defense is strengthened, this team will go places.

Theo Walcott interview in the Guardian

2008-07-21T07:09:00.001-04:00

Theo Walcott interview in the Guardian, coming right on the heels of being named a personal favorite at Wicked Deflection. Everything is falling in place for the lad.

Nacer Barazite, Jay Simpson, Jack Wilshere, and Aaron Ramsey star in Arsenal's 2-1 victory over Barnet

2008-07-20T11:54:00.006-04:00

The first pre-season game is in the bag. I caught the 10-minute highlights on Arsenal TV Online; recommended for all Gooners.

The first goal came form Jay Simpson, with the kind of finish you'd expect from a 20-goal striker. The Londoner Simpson then had the assist for the second goal to Nacer Barazite, whose finish was right off the top shelf. Barazite is a name that is known to the hard-core Arsenal faithful who have monitored the results of previous reserve-side outings; he gets his name onto the teamsheet from time to time. The Dutchman Barazite looks like he could be useful in the first-team squad. Of course, I said the same thing about Kieran Gibbs after a pre-season game last year, and he never made another appearance.

So a goal and an assist to Simpson, and the winner from Barazite. Both from top finishes. The kind of finishing that the first team desperately needs, especially with Thierry Henry now long gone, and Eduardo on the mend, after what had been an up and down start to his time at Arsenal.

But what do you miss if you only watch 10 minutes of highlights? The other 80 minutes. That's why I encourage you to do as I do, and keep up with the Goonerholic blog. We've added the time stamp in the side bar to let you know when a fresh one is up.

Goonerholic spins a yarn about midfielders Aaron Ramsey (an actual bona-fide member of the Arsenal.com first team with the number 16 strip) and Jack Wilshere being the key players.

Ramsey wasn't the only first-team player in there. Goalkeeper Almunia came off decidedly 2nd best for Barnet's opener, and there were others who were more anonymous, like Sagna, Clichy, Denilson, and Walcott.

Claudio Reyna, Captain America, Football Video: 2006 World Cup Mexico 0, USA 2; Who are America's best socccer players?

2008-07-18T23:29:00.001-04:00

Who caught Captain American playing in the 2002 World Cup eighth-final against Mexico?

You might want to hit mute before you hit play.

The USA beat Mexico 2-0. Captain America Claudio Reyna had a great game against Mexico. Check out the embeded football video: it's that 2-0 victory in the 2002 World Cup over Mexico.

Who are America's best soccer players?

Who's excited about football at the Olympics?

2008-07-17T07:03:00.004-04:00

This piece from Reuters goes some way toward illustrating why the excitement for football at the Olympics is so muted. Some of the players worth watching can't get permission from their club teams to play.

Here are the teams playing in the Olympics.

Hleb leaves Arsenal for Barcelona

2008-07-16T16:15:00.004-04:00

Hleb has left Arsenal for Barcelona. I'm a disappointed Arsenal Supporter. I liked Hleb a lot, and I thought he had a good season last year. He didn't score enough goals, 2, and I predict there'll be plenty of supporters saying "good riddance" as a result, but, for me, he was a big part of the midfield play that so often made Arsenal look so much better than the teams they played.

So now, Arsenal have lost Hleb from left midfield, Flamini from central midfield, and according to some observers, need an upgrade from Eboue at right midfield. It will make the pre-season and early-season games even more interesting, if that's possible.

Does Wenger think Denilson or Diaby is good enough to play central midfield for Arsenal? Le Boss allegedly interested in Aston Villa's Gareth Barry

2008-07-15T09:21:00.009-04:00

If statistics are an indication, Ashley Young, who finished the 2007-2008 league season with 8 goals and 17 assists, numbers on par with Cesc's 7 goals and 19 assists, should be the Aston Villa player Arsenal should try to acquire, rather than Gareth Barry. Then, of course, there's Gabriel Agbonlahor, the forward who looked really dangerous when Arsenal played Aston Villa last season. High rollers like Man United and Chelsea take the best players from opposing teams all the time, sometimes, take the case of Sean Wright-Phillips at Chelsea, just to keep them from playing at all.

I'm all for pillaging Villa's first team to bring in both Young and Agbonlahor, but Arsene might be looking at Barry because Arsenal have suffered heavy losses in central midfield with Flamini, last year's starter alongside Cesc, off to AC Milan; Diarra, who only stuck around for half a season, now at Portsmouth; and Gilberto past his prime and perhaps on his way out.

My review of the Arsenal first team only identified Diaby and Denilson as candidates to play with Cesc in central midfield. The open position is for a holding midfielder, and Gareth Barry fits that description. He's received good reviews when he has started for England in that position. He's been playing at Aston Villa for several seasons, and his form has been up and down. He's not a very exciting option, but he might be a good one.

Diaby, shown here in his number 2 kit, is a more exciting option. During his time at Arsenal, he's done nothing to demonstrate, so far as I've seen, that he would make a good holding midfielder, but he can make some great runs forward. He really has a knack for using a little trickery to free up some space and burst forward.

Denilson, pictured above, from what I've seen, could do the job, and he would be my choice. Arsene Wenger hasn't trusted him enough to give him many chances to play, and I think I'd noticed a general trend against him in the consensus opinion of the Arsenal faithful, but I've remained a stout supporter, and repeat my call here for him to be given a chance as first choice in central midfield.

Back to stats, briefly, Paul Doyle took a look at the stats at the end of last season. Arsenal's starting left back Gaël Clichy was 2nd in the league in passing, right behind Cesc and right ahead of Flamini (top three passers being Arsenal players should be no surprise), and Clichy also led the category of intercepted passes with 136. I don't care who you support, it's hard not to like Clichy.

At the bottom of that Paul Doyle article there's a link to more stats from last season. I just noticed that some of those numbers, from Opta, contradict the numbers for Ashley Young and Cesc that I had above, from Actim, at premierleague.com.

Arsenal's New Signing Samir Nasri

2008-07-11T10:19:00.024-04:00

Arsenal have signed 21-year-old French attacking midfielder Samir Nasri.

Now that Nasri's signed, and taken over the number 8 jersey, recently vacated by Lassana Diarra, Arsenal supporters want to know good he is.

Here's some video of Nasri playing.

Samir Nasri only played briefly for France at Euro 2008. In France's strange game against Italy, Nasri came on as a substitute for the injured Ribery in the 10th minute, and was himself replaced when a France defender was red-carded, and France went down to 10 players. After the red card, Italy scored from a penalty kick, and even though France were a goal down, manager Raymond Domenech wanted to be conservative, and shore up the defense, so he replaced Nasri with central defender (and frequent bumbler) Jean-Alain Boumsong in the 26th minute.

Domenech's credibility was never very good at the best of times, and France went on to lose that game 2-0, but in his opinion, Nasri was a less desirable option than Sidney Govou who started that game, and stayed on when Nasri was subbed off. If Domenech is right, and Arsenal have signed a player who's not even as good as Govou, then Arsenal Supporters will have to keep their enthusiasm in check.

In France's other two games at Euro 2008, Samir Nasri only appeared as a sub against Romania, coming on for Benzema in the 77th minute.

Here's the player's file with French Football Federation:

NASRI Samir

Born June 26, 1987 in Marseille
Midfielder
Number of Selections for France's A team: 12 (6 friendlies, 4 Euro 2008 Qualifiers, and those 2 appearances at Euro 2008).
Number of goals scored for France: 2
Jersey Number: 11

Awards

Finalist of the Coupe de France (2006) with Marseille
Champion of Europe with France's under-17 squad (2004)

Clubs

Olympique de Marseille (2004-2008)
Arsenal FC (England, since July 2008)

The big hype surrounding Nasri came a little over a year ago when he first broke into the French team (March 2007) and was being compared wishfully to Zidane. The page where I found that You Tube clip said Nasri is the new Zidane. There are any number of so-called new Zidane's, including Liverpool-reject Bruno Cheyrou and Ligue 1 journeyman Camel Meriem, so, again, Arsenal Supporters might not want to get too carried away in their enthusiasm.

His career with France peaked in June 2007 when he was a starter for two consecutive Euro 2008 qualifiers. He was featured, at least in portions of those matches, in Zidane's spot in a 4-2-3-1, playing behind Anelka, and he looked great.

June 2, 2007 - France 2, Ukraine 0
June 6, 2007 - France 1, Georgia 0 (Nasri with the 33rd minute winner)

Since then, Nasri's only starts have been in a couple friendlies.

There were calls for him to start in place of Malouda at Euro 2008, but Domenech did not heed those calls.

In the category of gossip and rumors, Nasri allegedly doesn't get on well with Ribery, his France teammate, and his former teammate at Marseille.

From my vantage point, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger blew it by not signing Ribery. He was widely considered the best player in the German league during his first season at Bayern Munich, and is usually the best player for France when he plays.

For Marseille last season, with Ribery gone, Nasri had 6 goals and 11 assists.

When I've seen Nasri playing for France, he reminded me a little bit of Cesc, the way he's composed on the ball. Playing for Arsenal, I can easily foresee an outcry from fans, and maybe Nasri himself, about him being played out of position, having to play wide midfield, when his preferred position is as central attacking-midfield. Another possibility is that he'll have trouble getting a game.

Arsene Wenger has been on a bit of a losing streak: not winning competitions, unable to keep his squad together, a burgeoning reputation for underpaying players; I don't see Nasri as the player to make those problems go away, but I hope I'm wrong.

There has been a lot of speculation that Hleb might leave Arsenal, possibly for Barcelona, and that Nasri will be a good replacement. I'd rather see Hleb stay, and see Arsenal use a little more rotation so they can both get games. If Rosicky and Van Persie weren't so frequently injured, the team might be crowded in the attacker/midfielder - type position, but those two can't string together half a dozen games, and Hleb is a great player, so I hope he stays.

AC Milan: Arsenal want £35.8million for Adebayor

2008-07-02T14:17:00.004-04:00

Manu Adebayor. Good forward. Gets involved a lot. Doesn't hide up front. Good goal-scoring record. £35.8million? That's some serious cash. It would have been among the top-five deals of all time if AC Milan had met the asking price. Maybe Barcelona will go for it.

Putting together an all-tournament team

2008-06-30T02:37:00.006-04:00

First, congratulations to Sixes and Sevens who won the Wicked Deflection Euro 2008 Fantasy League.

Consider some of these fantasy points totals in choosing your Tournament 11.

Strikers
Lukas Podolski, Germany - 28
Miroslav Klose, Germany - 24
David Villa, Spain - 23
Roman Pavlyuchenko, Russia - 22
Fernando Torres, Spain - 19
Nihat Kahveci, Turkey - 18
Semih Senturk, Turkey - 18
Dirk Kuyt, Netherlands - 15
Andrei Arshavin, Russia - 15
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden - 14
Robin van Persie, Netherlands - 14
Ruud van Nistelrooy, Netherlands - 14
Daniel Guiza, Spain - 14
Ivica Olic, Croatia - 12
Nuno Gomes, Portugal - 12
Libor Sionko, Czech Republic - 12

Midfielders
Wesley Sneijder, Netherlands - 25
Michael Ballack, Germany - 24
Hakan Yakin, Switzerland - 23
Cesc Fabregas, Spain - 22
Xavi, Spain - 22
David Silva, Spain - 21
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Germany - 20
Konstantin Zyrianov, Russia - 18
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal - 17
Andres Iniesta, Spain - 17
Arda Turan, Turkey - 16
Hamit Altintop, Turkey - 16
Deco, Portugal - 15
Jaroslav Plasil, Czech Republic - 15
Sergei Semak, Russia - 15
Danijel Pranjić, Croatia - 14
Luka Modric, Croatia - 14
Orlando Engelaar, Netherlands - 14
Marcos Senna, Spain - 13
Daniele de Rossi, Italy - 13
Darijo Srna, Croatia - 12
Igor Semshov, Russia - 12
Yuri Zhirkov, Russia - 12
Arjen Robben, Netherlands - 12

Defenders
Philipp Lahm, Germany - 20
Joan Capdevila, Spain - 19
Carles Puyol, Spain - 18
Christian Panucci, Italy - 18
Sergio Ramos, Spain - 17
Carlos Marchena, Spain - 16
Petter Hansson, Sweden - 13
Gio van Bronkhorst, Netherlands - 13
Pepe, Portugal - 12
Aleksandr Anyukov, Russia - 12
Giorgio Chiellini, Italy - 12

Goalkeepers
Iker Casillas, Spain - 19
Gianluigi Buffon, Italy - 12
Jens Lehmann, Germany - 12

I'd want to see Sneijder, Robben, Iniesta, Cesc, and Senna in my midfield.
Villa and Torres up front. Podolski really faded in the last game or two.
Lahm was beaten badly on multiple occassions, but that winner against Turkey was out of this world, so he's in there.
Definitely Sergio Ramos.
Maybe Gio van Bronkhorst to round out the back three.

Casillas in goal.

Villa Torres
Cesc
Robben Sneijder Iniesta
Senna
Gio Ramos Lahm
Casillas

Your standard 3-1-3-1-2.

Disclaimer: I caught a lot of Spain and Holland games.

Torres the goal-scoring hero as Spain win Euro 2008 Final 1-0 over Germany

2008-06-29T16:42:00.007-04:00

Torres did really well to score his goal, with Lahm and Lehmann losing out.

Aragones took off Fabregas for Xabi Alonso. Xabi did ok while he was in there, but a better manager would have found a way to keep Cesc on as he was growing into the game.

Iniesta once again looked like a great midfielder pushing forward.

One thing I like about Spain is that they can change formations and players can change positions, and there's not necessarily a nationwide moan. France and England, when they try to be creative and experiment, there's a huge uproar.

Spain and Real Madrid right back Sergio Ramos had a really strong game, both defending and pushing forward.

Spain's holding midfielder Marcos Senna was really solid, and also had some decent push forward, on the rare occasion he left his post.

For Germany, I thought Bastian Schweinsteiger was one player who looked useful. Ballack, too, perhaps, althoug he's not a likable player.

It was a good game, although it was a shame when Cesc went off.

Footballing world in dreamland on the strength of Cescy goodness

2008-06-26T23:59:00.015-04:00

Cescy football at its finest.

I've found myself reverting to expletive non sequiturs (all deleted to improve readability, mind you), to characterize the sheer magnitude of my approval for the two assists from Cesc Fabregas in Spain's 3-0 Euro 2008 semi-final victory over Russia.

It's a violation of site policy to throw around terms like "show down" and "epic clash" willy-nilly; but for the case of Sunday's Spain-Germany final, it's warranted.

Russia's Dutch manager Guus Hiddink said after his side's 3-0 reversal, "It is a very deserved win. It's very difficult to play against a team like that who can play one-touch football.

"We could handle Torres and Villa in the first half okay, but with the change to a midfielder in there [Cesc] came more mobility."

Hiddink's tone and body language indicated that he was stopping short of revealing the extent of his thoughts on the Fabregas substitution, which are believed to include, "Dammit, why did they have to send on Cesc. We were like lambs to the slaughter with that kid in there."

What a game! Germany 3, Turkey 2

2008-06-25T22:04:00.012-04:00

Hopefully you saw that one. The Turkey goal that tied the score at 2-2 in the 86th minute was improbable, the Philip Lahm winner in the 90th minute was much less probable.

Turkey is fantastic. That winner was fantastic.

We've talked about Andy Gray recently: he really rose to the occasion, and used his strong accent to humorous effect. "This isn’t the finish of a right back playing left back; this is the finish of a 20 or 30 million pound striker."

That audio would be worth another listen. Short of that, we give you some highlights with Tommy Smyth. I'd have a beer with Tommy Smyth.

You might have to click the play button twice to get the video to play.

Fox in the Box!

2008-06-24T18:22:00.001-04:00

Arsene Wenger needs to hire this guy, now!

If the hyper link doesn't work, use this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thOdWgS2B4s

Cesc seals it from the spot

2008-06-22T20:03:00.005-04:00

There wasn't very much to choose between Spain and Italy, and it finished 0-0 after 120 minutes. Spain didn't play as well as they can. Of the three subs that Aragones brought on, Cesc, of course, was brilliant, but the other two guys? I would have left on Torres and Iniesta.

Spain keeper Iker Casillas did really well to stop Italy twice in the final shootout, and Cesc kept his nerve and sent Buffon the wrong way to put away the spot kick that sealed it.

Next up for Spain is high-flying Russia in the Euro 2008 semi-finals.

American viewers had commentary from Andy Gray and Adrian Healey, who are by far superior to any commentators we've ever heard on ESPN. Andy Gray made a really convincing case against German referee Herbert Fandel. I don't normally enjoy beating up on referees, but Fandel was consistently bad, hopeless.

Russia - Who knew?

2008-06-21T17:22:00.006-04:00

I, for one, just found out that Russia can play some nice football.

I thought Holland was lucky to only be 1-0 down in regular time when they equalized in the 84th minute.

Russia picked up where they left off in added time, creating countless scoring opportunities, and converted a couple of them to finish the match 3-1.

As a supporter, you want your team to play pretty much exactly like Russia played today.

Maybe Holland leaving a lot of space at the back helped Russia look especially good, and it looks like they'll be missing some of their players who got too many yellow cards, so maybe Russia will get bounced in the semi-final, but if they can continue to play like they did today, they'd be worthy Euro 2008 Champions.

France out of Euro 2008

2008-06-17T19:20:00.004-04:00

It was a frustrating Euro 2008 for France Supporters, but France did score a goal against Holland. That goal is a consolation given the events of the 2002 World Cup in which France also managed only a single point from the group phase, and didn't score a single goal.

The Henry goal came from a great cross by Sagnol, albeit on the wrong end of a 4-1 rout.

Delusional as it may be, I thought France looked ok in large part in Euro 2008. The defense crumbled at key moments against Holland. The offense was impotent against Romania and Italy, and for the most part against Holland. Aside from being really bad, France looked ok.

The echoes of 2002 are ringing in my head: Henry sent off early against Uruguay with France in a tight spot, Abidal sent off early against Italy with France in a tight spot. France dramatically underachieving, but still with a chance to go through in the 3rd group game, only to underline their underachievement in that 3rd game.

Still, disappointed as I am; "Gutted" as the British say, and delusional as it may sound, I still feel an air of greatness about France's national team, a tangible sense that with a little luck they could be all-conquering.

Tenuous greatness, mind you, as a couple of the best players in world football over the last 10 years, Claude Makelele and Thierry Henry, are at, or very near, the end of their international careers.

Maybe the timing and luck will continue to be all wrong for France in 2010, with the new greats, Benzema, Ribery, and associates, still lacking the supporting cast of a complete first 11 that can conquer the world.

For me, as an Arsenal supporter, I've been well-prepared for disappointment by the events of the 2007-2008 Premier League and Champions League.

And while France have had a disaster, other teams like Holland and Spain have looked like producing the magic this time around. Good luck to them.

On tap for tomorrow: Victory for France and a result for the Netherlands

2008-06-16T20:43:00.002-04:00

You read it her first: France will triumph over Italy, and the Netherlands will get at least a draw against Romania. I can absolutely guarantee that is what I want to happen.

France beaten badly by charismatic Dutch 4-1

2008-06-13T18:56:00.003-04:00

France's defense, and goalkeeper Gregory Coupet, were hammered by the Netherlands for 4 goals. France actually played fairly well in stretches, and created many chances to score, but on 4 occasions, France couldn't keep the Dutch out. Malouda was beaten badly for the opener, letting Kuyt head a goal into the back of the net. Holland's 2nd, 3rd, and 4th goals were from open play: Arjen Robben setting up the 2nd and scoring the 3rd.

It was football from the Dream Factory from the Dutch, and France's defense and goalkeeper were badly over-matched.

The value of France's consolation goal cannot be overestimated: it was one nice moment in what has been a Euro 2008 implosion for France. Sagnol, who was beaten badly and repeatedly by Holland's attack, sent in a nice cross, and Henry put it away with a nice touch. Henry had blown a good chance earlier.

Domenech cut a hapless figure on the touchline. The change at left back from Abidal to Evra apparently didn't help France's defensive ability, but Evra did look useful going forward.

I wonder if Benzema is injured? In addition to being a goal threat, he could have put pressure on the Netherlands, so they weren't quite so free to rampage forward, but he didn't start and never came on.

If I were in charge of Holland, I'd be tempted to throw the game against Romania to knock France and Italy out of the tournament. It would be just reward for their unseemly under-achievement.

France, Netharlands tomorrow

2008-06-12T22:59:00.006-04:00

Domenech said he was hesitating about 4 positions for which there may be players who are stronger than the players who started against Romania.

One of those is probably Henry coming in for Anelka.

Another that he's hesitating about would be Vieira for Toulalan. I gather that might be a tough call. Vieira is allegedly not fully fit and/or not looking sharp. He's recovering from a thigh injury.

Another could be Evra replacing Abidal. When you hear about a player who's stronger than the one starting in front of him, Evra immediately springs to mind. Domenech, though, went on to say that he would rather not make any changes in defense.

Another switch could be taking off Malouda for anyone: Nasri, Govou, Evra? Evra at left midfield might be an idea that's too creative for Domenech.

Some France Supporters are talking about the possibility of leaving out Benzema. That would wound me deeply.

Another idea is that Clerc could replace Sagnol. I'm not really excited about this one, but not fervently against it.

I don't have a lot of faith in Govou, he looks several years past his prime to me, so I'd rather not see him come in.

I do want to see Henry and Benzema partnered up front. Here's the 4 changes I hope Domenech has in mind:

1. Henry for Anelka
2. Evra for Abidal
3. Nasri for Malouda
4. Possibly Vieria for Toulalan

Leaving a first 11 of:

Coupet
Sagnol Thuram Gallas Evra
Ribery Vieira/Toulalan Makalele Nasri
Henry Benzema

With this lineup, I'd expect a France victory along the lines of 2-0 or 3-1.

Spain play some beautiful football beating Russia 4-1

2008-06-11T00:12:00.004-04:00

I'm now well-settled on my 2nd favorite side at Euro 2008: Spain. In addition to having jerseys that are a really cool color of red, they have players like Iniesta and Fabregas, among others, who are fantastic on the ball, and great fun to watch. David Villa's 3rd goal was my pick of his hat-trick, but the first goal was notable for the sweet set-up from Torres. Maybe they'll fizzle out as they always have before, but for their opening game, at least, they played some great stuff.

Nil draw against Romania a fair result as France generate very little going forward - France Player Ratings

2008-06-09T14:06:00.018-04:00

Neither Thierry Henry nor Patrick Vieira were fit to face Romania, so Nicolas Anelka and Jeremy Toulalan started. France generated very little going forward. Anelka headed one over. Benzema hit one or two right at the keeper. Gomis, when he came on, could hardly get a touch.

There was a short spell at the start of the second half when France looked ok, but for most of the game, they didn't look like they deserved any more than a point against Romania.

Claude Makalele looked like France's best player in the first half, but faded in the second half, as Toulalan saw more of the ball.

Malouda saw a lot of the ball in the first half, but did little with it.

Ribery was France's best player in the second half, and probably the best player over the 90 minutes.

Coupet, Thuram, and Gallas had very little to do. The full backs Sagnol and Abidal were more involved, and did fairly well.

France Supporters would like to see more production out of left midfield, especially considering how much Malouda saw of the ball. That said, he had a good spell in the beginning of the second half when France looked most likely to score, but he'd still lead the list of players that France Supporters would like to see make way for other options, followed by Anelka.

Benzema's 6 was more of a 6.5 - he had some great touches and looked dangerous at times, but didn't get involved as much as France Supporters would have liked, and when he did have a good chance, he hit it straight at the keeper, but he's certainly not a player France Supporters want to see on the bench.

In addition to Gomis, France's other substitution was Nasri, who wasn't able to make a big impact when he came on.

As a spectacle, the game was poor. France's performance overall was poor. Curious then, that I found the match so gripping, but that's high-stakes international football.

No cause for panic and dismay; France just need to get a little more push forward. It was almost a relief when the full-time whistle blew, because there wasn't much between the sides down the stretch. With both teams winning corners, I had visions of France letting one in.

Wicked Deflection's prediction for France's first 11 Clean sheet expected against Romania

2008-06-06T18:24:00.027-04:00

France kick off their Euro 2008 campaign against Adrian Mutu's Romania on Monday, June 9, 2008 in Zurich. Mutu, in form for his country during Euro 2008 qualifiers, is a goal-scoring threat, but France's defense should keep a clean sheet.

Wicked Deflection hereby reveals it's predicted first 11 for France against Romania. Benzema is surely one of the bright spots for France. He has great pace with the ball at his feet and shoots ruthlessly with both feet. It is largely because of Benzema that people like James Doyle at the Guardian believe France may have the best squad in the tournament. Other players expected to perform include Makalele in the Makalele role, Henry up front, Coupet finally getting his long-over-due run in goal, Thuram looking confident, if slower, Gallas without the pressure of being Arsenal captain, Sagnol with his lethal crosses, Ribery running down the channels, and Anelka, Nasri, and Diarra coming on. Domenech will want to give Diarra a run.

ESPN 2 will carry the match in the states. Click the image to enlarge

That's noon Eastern my friends. I'm taking the whole day off.

Prediction: France 3-0.