So this is my list for France, 26 names, 3 names to cut

Gardiens : Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda, Cédric Carrasso

Défenseurs : Mathieu Debuchy, Anthony Réveillère, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Philippe Mexès, Adil Rami, Laurent Koscielny, Patrice Evra, Gaël Clichy

Milieux de terrain : Alou Diarra, Blaise Matuidi, Yann M'vila, Yoann Gourcuff, Marvin Martin, Yohan Cabaye, Florent Malouda, Samir Nasri,

Attaquants : Olivier Giroud, Jérémy Ménez, Loïc Rémy, Mathieu Valbuena, Karim Benzema, Ben Arfa, Franck Ribéry

If the universe is right, then Alou is his fatass should stay home, but he has pictures of Blanc naked, so off matuidi

Unfortunately, we all know the boundless bias of Blanc towards Gourcuff, so off Martin

it's valbuena vs ben arfa vs menez, so easy choice to make, ben arfa and menez are far better and far more skilled, but i have a feeling Ben Arfa will fall off the list because Valbuena is a huge favorite for Blanc. Remy is injured, so if he cant recover, Ben Arfa will make it.

It's a disgrace not to see Mavuba on that list

Nick hating again

Also choosing between Martin and Gourcuff is so its ridiculous Blanc

Ben Arfa won't fall off. No chance. Remy won't make it... he's just there to see if a miracle can happen. I doubt it. 3-4 weeks with a muscle strain is 3 weeks at best. I listened to the announcement live and Blanc made it clear that he made special case for Malouda, Gourcuff and Mbiwa due to injuries. I expect Malouda to make it because of the Remy injury. Martin and Gourcuff will fight it out. Mbiwa has already won his spot.

So the 3 cuts will be Remy, Martin or Gourcuff and Matuidi.

Frankly he needs a CF on that list more than he needs Malouda.

Mr Nick09 wrote:Frankly he needs a CF on that list more than he needs Malouda.

Malouda is there more for his leadership and experience.

That's why Menez and Ben Arfa are safe. With only 2 CFs, he needs to keep 2 wingers that have played super attacking roles and can play in the box of needed. Menez is doing it right now at PSG and Ben Arfa has the same profile.

If there was a 3rd CF, i wouldn't have felt so sure about Ben Arfa.

Frak leadership and experience, they needs playas

BTW i should point out that Ben Arfa has improved his work rate to ridiculous levels so if you wanted to play him alot deeper you could.....

From the list Nick posted i would Kick out Diarra, Gourcuff and Valbuena/Remy ( depending on his fitness) but we all know Blanc wont do that

Jacquet went with only 2 CFs in 98 WC: Guivarch (who sucked) and a 20 year old Trezeguet. Henry was a winger back then.

Hope everyone stays healthy lol.

WIth Abidal out, Diarra is actually needed. Benz is terrible in the air and you would only have Rami and Mexes as air defenders and attacker. You need three guys with good air game to defend set pieces. I was more iffy when Abidal was around...

France will make at least semis, you heard it here first With Abidal and Sagna, I would pick France for trophy, without them, I'll safely bet for at semis for French

No FM legend Sakho in pre-squad? Looks like Blanc take in consideration his poor displays in PSG.

Best french lineup available:

With Sagna missing through injury My best 11 will be

Lloris
Debuchy - Rami - Mexes - Clichy
Alou Diarra - M'Vila
Ben Arfa - Nasri - Ribery
Benzema

I would love:

Lloris
Debuchy - Rami - Mexes - Clichy
Cabaye - M'Vila
Ben Arfa - Nasri - Ribery
Benzema

But it will likely be:

Lloris
Debuchy - Rami - Mexes - Evra
Cabaye - M'Vila
Ben Arfa - Nasri - Ribery
Benzema

Gardiens : Carrasso, Lloris, Mandanda
Défenseurs : Clichy, Debuchy, Evra, Koscielny, Mexes, Rami, Réveillère
Milieux : Cabaye, A. Diarra, Malouda, Martin, Matuidi, M'vila, Nasri
Attaquants : Ben Arfa, Benzema, Giroud, Menez, Ribéry, Valbuena

Gourcuff and Mbiwa out. Interesting that we're only taking 3 CBs and 2 CFs to the Euros. With 3 DMs, we are going to play a 4-3-3 methinks and Clichy would start over Evra. My projected lineup:

Lloris
Debuchy-Rami-Mexes-Clichy
Diarra-M'Villa
Cabaye
Nasri-Ribery
Benzema

Blanc didn't like our defensive effort against Iceland and is going to reinforce it unless they can show marked improvement in last 2 exhibitions.

BREAKING: Gorcuff and M'Biwa cut from France - Euro 2012

http://www.goal.com/en/news/2898/euro-2012/2012/05/29/3134085/breaking-news-gourcuff-and-yanga-mbiwa-cut-from-france-euro-2012-


France's 23-man squad to play Euro 2012:

Goalkeepers:
Hugo Lloris
Steve Mandanda
Cedric Carrasso
Defenders:
Gael Clichy
Mathieu Debuchy
Patrice Evra
Laurent Koscielny
Philippe Mexes
Adil Rami
Anthony Reveillere
Midfielders:
Hatem Ben Arfa
Yohan Cabaye
Alou Diarra
Yann M'Vila
Marvin Martin
Florent Malouda
Blaise Matuidi
Samir Nasri
Franck Ribery
Attackers:
Karim Benzema
Olivier Giroud
Jeremy Menez
Mathieu Valbuena

Ninja edit: Didn't see sportzcy's post

lol.com named Patrice Evra as a Manchester City player lol

Think he's making a major mistake only taking 3 CB's i suppose Matuidi and M'vila can play there but i dont think he should have cut Mbiwa....

None the less atleast Gourcuff has been cut lol.

Justice.

i think Fat Alou can play CB

Alou Diarra should actually permanently move to CB. He's much better suited for it...

Disappointed Yanga-Mbiwa didn't make it, but that was to be expected considering his lack of experience.

France will have a great squad if Blanc can balance the youth with experience. If he puts out anything like that squad in the first half against Iceland then the French may well struggle for goals.

My gut feeling says their going to take it. It has to do with the fact that Spain is missing some critical players (Puyol and Villa) and if they are going to play with a more conservative line-up with Busi and Alonso, I don't see them creating a lot of chances per game. The Germans haven't really impressed me lately, they are a class act but I don't know. Their missing something. And the Dutch, well we will suffer from our inferior defence. France just has a way younger and fresher team than during previous cups which still oozes class. If Blanc makes the right decissions they could well go all the way.

Mexes ahead of Koscielny? I thought nobody,barring milan and roma fans,rated him

I hear France are 20 matches without a loss now.

Blanc!

Starting XI tomorrow night v Lithuania:

Lloris (cap.) - Debuchy, Rami, Mexès, Evra - A. Diarra, Cabaye, Malouda- Nasri, Benzema, Ribéry

If Malouda and Evra play decently, they will start over Clichy and Ben Arfa. If they are meh, they will not start. The rest are the expected regulars against England.

Boo ! Boo ! Evra Boo! Malouda Boo !

I expect Clichy and Ben Arfa to come on at half time. This is like a final trial mole....

the interesting thing is that Evra must play well. He's flopped hard for France recently. Malouda actually played very well against Serbia... but we'll see if he can show up again tomorrow.

Ben arfa just doesn't have the experience in Blanc's system yet. He's going to be fantastic super sub though. And Blanc will bring him in quickly if Malouda or Nasri fail.

sportsczy wrote:I expect Clichy and Ben Arfa to come on at half time. This is like a final trial mole....

the interesting thing is that Evra must play well. He's flopped hard for France recently. Malouda actually played very well against Serbia... but we'll see if he can show up again tomorrow.

Ben arfa just doesn't have the experience in Blanc's system yet. He's going to be fantastic super sub though. And Blanc will bring him in quickly if Malouda or Nasri fail.

Yeah i know i just like dont Evra or Malouda lol....

Also for what its worth i agree with you on the super sub idea, plus the more time on the bench the more likely it is he doesnt impress

But Evra better fail lol.