France Coach Snubs Serie A Top Scorer, Again
By: Laurie | February 5th, 2008
Let’s say you’re the top scorer in one of the top leagues in the world. Surely you can count on a regular spot on your national team, right? Probably as a starter, but at the very least on the bench?
Not if you’re David Trezeguet and the team is France.
Trezeguet currently leads Serie A with 15 goals scored for Juventus. He was recently voted the best striker of the past 15 years by Goal.com readers.
France has two friendlies this week as the team prepares for Euro ‘08. The big one is the game against Spain tomorrow, where the A team — the top players — will play. The other is the A’ game against Congo, where the players who are working to make the side will show what they’re worth.
Which team did Trezeguet make?
Neither.
Granted, this is partly by choice. Trezeguet, who made his debut with the national team in 1998, was understandably insulted when coach Raymond Domenech had him play in the A’ game against Slovakia last year. This time around he was clear that A’ did not suit him. Domenech was happy to oblige, saying:
“I know David’s qualities. Someone doesn’t become the top scorer in a league like Serie A for nothing but I have made my choice” he said. “I don’t need to test him. But I know how his mind is working. We have chatted and I understand for the moment his position, which is to not come and play for the ‘A’ team. He is free to make his own decisions; I don’t want to force anyone.”
The result? Nine attaquants called up for the two games, but no Trez.
In Domenech’s defense, France has a glut of talented strikers at the moment. Karim Benzema is the top Ligue 1 scorer in France. Nicolas Anelka is near the top in the EPL. And Thierry Henry just broke Michel Platini’s all-time scoring record for France. And all of these players are complete players who can create opportunities. Trezeguet tends to be more of a goal poacher — the kind of player who’s an expert at knocking in crosses and passes that others deliver to him in the six-yard box. This isn’t where France’s style of play is headed.
And yet it doesn’t seem right that France may be heading into Euros without one of the top-scoring strikers in the world. Particularly one who has experience scoring against Italians — experience France may need as they face their arch-nemeses yet again in the Euro group stage.
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Comments
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Perhaps Trezeguet’s penalty miss in the World Cup final shoot-out cost him his spot.
Posted from
United States
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Another thing in Domenech’s defence : nobody on France’s “A” side can cross (oh, how could I forget right-back Sagnol’s great crossing… from the half-way line.), and only Nasri, Ribery and whoever he’s up front with are creative enough to give him through balls he can get goals from.
So, however strange it might seem, Trezeguet isn’t suited to France’s attack because there aren’t enough players able to create attacking moves… So there’s no point in having a finisher, no matter how good these moves are!
Posted from
France -
This is bullshit and Domenech is fucking retarded. How on earth can someone of T-Rez’s ability not even be called up for a bench spot at the very least?????
Regardless of his attempts at justifying T-Rez’s lack of creativity, there’s not another coach on Earth that wouldn’t love to have an option such as T-Rez on the bench.
Fuck off, i’m pissed.
Posted from
United States -
Trezeguet has never performed consistently for the national team. I’ve never rated him as a player anyway and his attitude of not playing for a ‘lesser’ France team just sums up why I think he should not play for France. They can do better.
Posted from
United States -
what does T-Rez have to prove on a ‘lesser’ France team anyways derek???
Apparently it wouldnt make any difference as T-Rez’s style of play is completely useless!!!
I’m glad he’s not going in the end. Juventus fans love him to death.
Trezeguet Trezeguet Trezeguet, Quando Gioca Segna Sempre Trezeguet!!!!!!!!
Posted from
United States -
It ‘proves’ he has a good attitude, loves playing for his country, is a team player and gives him a chance to show he can fit into Domenech’s plans. As we’ve seen countless times in world football, a *team* with less talent can often beat a team of individually more talented players.
As a coach am I going to take a chance on a player who spits the dummy? If I do he better be something really special and T-Rez just ain’t. No offense to your lad, Roberto.
Posted from
United States -
as unjust as that is, me being an Azzurri fan (and Juve fan too) i’m not too upset, but still, even us world champions deserve a challenge sometime!
Posted from
United States -
Derek, I don’t get what the point is. The A’ team played today and had perhaps the most boring draw ever known by a side that’s supposed to be playing for France. The match “résumé” on football365.fr is a whole whopping 5 lines long. 4 actions, and that’s it. Trezeguet has been playing bench for 4 years, and only played what? 3 full games? And now he’s pushed off the bench and onto the A’s? Domenech says that the games where he played he didn’t do well enough. Objectively, against Scotland he got about 2 decent passes in 180 minutes. Nothing much he could do there, is there? He has been on the bench so often that there’s no doubting he accepts to be part of the “team”. But what he doesn’t accept, and that’s perfectly normal, is being bundled with strikers of the calibre of Cissé, Briand and Menez, who are all fine and dandy, but are still very far from his skill level.
Trezeguet is right, in my opinion, to have said to Domenech that the A’s don’t interest him. He’s not a youngster who’s trying to “break” into the French NT. He’s France’s current most prolific striker (15 goals in 21 league games), and it’s simply illogical to say that he’s not even in the top 3 picks. Henry? What’s he done? Scoring 4 goals for France in 2007 is good, but nothing fabulous (France scored 12 goals in 2007 in games he played). And 6 goals in 17 Liga games? That’s far from fabulous, no matter what else he does. Anelka’s scored 11 goals, and he’s played 22 games… That’s already better, but still short of Trezeguet’s ratio. The only player that’s close to Trezeguet’s ratio is Benzema, and he plays for 6-times French champions Lyon… Hardly a side that are struggling in a league that’s not yet the hardest for attackers… I mean, Bellion is at 11 goals in Ligue 1!
What more can Trezeguet do? Honestly? He’s been one of the strikers with the best ratio for years, his goal ratio for France is still better than Henry’s, and this season he’s upped his playing level from last season, where Domenech said he wasn’t a starter because “He only plays in Serie B”…
Trezeguet is right to not turn up unless it’s for the As. He’s clearly one of the best strikers in the world, and saying that he’s 4th choice, behind Henry, Anelka and Benzema (3 players that are very similar) is almost insulting. And just to have him playing in the same team as Cissé and Briand is pretty much adding injury to insult…
The problem is that Trezeguet can’t play with players that aren’t technical. Playing with Ribery, Nasri, Henry/Benzema/Anelka and Ben Arfa/Rothen alongside him is what he needs, because he thrives on technical, short play. With Zidane, Lizarazu, Deschamps, Pirès, Henry, Petit, Wiltord, Anelka and Djorkaeff he was able to play, but with Malouda and Govou on the wings and Makelele and Vieira in central midfield, with perhaps Henry or Ribery as a “creative midfielder” to help him, it’s no surprise he didn’t perform well… Imagine what his service would be like at Juventus without Nedved, Del Piero, Camoranesi, Zanetti, Palladino and Nocerino… Almost inexistant. Well, that’s what it’s been like for him in the French NT. So there’s no point in him joining players who are not as gifted technically… Since he’ll have even less chances of convincing Domdom!
Posted from
France -
AMEN.
Posted from
Canada -
I respect your appreciation of what T-Rez brings to the table, but your own description of his play re-enforces why he’s not in the national team. If you believe that he can’t play well without creative players around him (ie: he can’t create anything on his own) and France has no creative players in midfield, then of course he’s going to sit behind strikers like Henry and Benzema – players who can create something for themselves.
And if you consider Lizarazu, Wiltord & Deschamps as creative players, then I can easily see why we won’t agree on this topic.
Posted from
United States -
Derek, if you don’t consider Wiltord as a creative player, you missed out on Euro 2000, his 4 seasons at Arsenal, his time at Lyon, and you haven’t seen him at Rennes this season either. Lizarazu and Deschamps weren’t creative? Hell, did you find Ginola boring too?
France has enough talent to play Trezeguet up front. And they did it for years on end (2000-2004). But when Domenech came in, he changed France from a team that tried (since Santini) to create some play, with numerous players going forwards (ex. 2002 vs Scotland : Barthez, Leboeuf, Lizarazu, Desailly, Petit, Candela, Vieira, Zidane, Wiltord, Henry, Trezeguet result 5-0 for France, 2 goals by Trezeguet, one by Zidane, one by Henry, and one by substitute Marlet) into a team that has mainly defensively-minded players on the pitch (ex : 2008 vs Spain : Coupet, Abidal, Gallas, Thuram, Sagnol, Diarra, Vieira, Toulalan, Malouda, Anelka, Henry result 1-0 for Spain, or another example : 2007 vs Scotland : Landreau, Abidal, Thuram, Escudé, Diarra, Malouda, Vieira, Makélélé, Ribery, Anelka, Trézéguet result 1-0 for Scotland)… Domenech could play offensively (Why is Evra on on the pitch? Why are Benzema, Nasri and Ben Arfa rarely on the pitch at the start of the game? Why does Malouda keep on getting call-ups when he can’t cross properly? Why field a midfield line that’s made up of Diarra, Malouda, Toulalan and Vieira? Even if Ribery is injured, why not try Ben Arfa, Govou, Nasri, and just one defensive midfielder?), but he doesn’t want to. Against Spain we saw it once more. Trezeguet needs technical players around him, and with Anelka, Benzema, Ben Arfa, Nasri, Ribery, Rothen, Sagnol, and to a lesser extent Henry and Govou, what’s stopping Domenech from fielding a team that CAN attack when playing weaker sides? Nothing. Except he keeps on putting out, even against Scotland, sides with only one or two creative players.
Domenech wants France to play on the counter-attack, so Trezeguet doesn’t have a place in his squads. I understand that. And I find it stupid. Against Spain, Henry missed 2 clear cut chances. I’d have bet that Trezeguet would have at least put them on target. But of course, France only had 5 shots at goal during the whole match (a first-half individual effort by Anelka, a Benzema header off the bar, a header by Escudé off a corner, and Henry’s two misses)… And that’s mainly because with only 2-3 players (Henry, Anelka replaced by Benzema, substitute Ben Arfa) that created anything substantial. So yes, Trezeguet wouldn’t have created 10 shots on his own. But he would have put all those shots on target. No need for two strikers when you’ve got Trezeguet. But you do need two proper wingers and a creative midfielder. Domenech has them, but is too scared to play them at the same time. So he plays with sevral defensive midfielders, and Malouda on the left wing, and waits for Lady Luck to help his side score.
Posted from
France
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