Singing Les Bleus

A goalless draw against an impressive Swiss side and already it seems that the knives are being sharpened for France. They play like strangers. Barthes is not as good as Coupet. Thuram and Zidane are past it. Henry doesn’t look like the world class player who captains Arsenal. Vieira and Wiltord don’t play like they did at Arsenal. This team is going nowhere.

Take a look at ‘this team’. It’s packed with world class players, many of them World Cup and European Championship winners, and on the bench they have people like David Trezeguet to call on. So why aren’t they achieving and why don’t they look happy? If you want answers to those questions, think about the manager – the man Ludovic Guilly doesn’t want to play for, the man who won’t consider Anelka or Pires, the man whose record in charge makes him a draw specialist without a trophy in sight.

Think Raymond Domanech. He’s no Arsene Wenger, that’s for sure. And that’s the problem.