Three “Rouge et Noir” in Laurent Blanc’s Selection
This morning, Laurent Blanc revealed his first selection as France’s national coach, in prevision of Les Bleus’ friendly against Norway, on August 11th. Rarely before, a selection had generated so much expectations and speculation, mostly because of the sanction inflicted to the 23 members of the World Cup squad, punished for their involvement in the Knysna strike. A novel and much younger selection, in which no less than three Rennes players are included.
Honours to Lille and Rennes were expected, and Laurent Blanc did not disappoint, calling three players from each of these teams in his first selection as France’s national coach. Lille and Rennes are actually the two better represented in a rejuvenated selection, mostly based on a core of Ligue 1 players.
Douchez and M’Vila for a first cap
Both called up by Raymond Domenech without being awarded a first cap, Nicolas Douchez and Yann M’Vila will have a chance to shine in front of the new national coach.
A unique occasion for Douchez, who – although he was expected to appear on the list – has little hope to remain in the squad in September, when Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Marseille) and Cédric Carasso (Bordeaux) return. The Rennes goalkeeper, however, will have a chance to match his ability with Stéphane Ruffier’s (Monaco), to try and position himself in the French goalkeeper’s hierarchy.
A golden occasion however, for Yann M’Vila, one of the three current U21 internationals in this list, along with Mamadou Sakho (Paris) and Moussa Sissoko (Toulouse). The Rennes midfielder will strive to prove his ability to Laurent Blanc, and show his ability to be a part of Laurent Blanc’s reconstruction of the national team. Competition will be hard for the young Rennais though, with no less than five defensive midfielders in the squad: Alongside M’Vila and Sissoko, Lassana Diarra (Real Madrid), Yohan Cabaye (Lille) and Blaise Matuidi (Saint-Étienne) are also on the ranks.
Fanni wants revenge, Marveaux will wait
Hurt by his non-selection for the 2010 World Cup, when he had not been left out of the squad in two seasons, Rod Fanni will be desperate to prove his ability with the French jersey on his shoulders. He will contend with Matthieu Debuchy (Lille) to start at right back. Questions remain about his state of mind before this game, the player is visibly annoyed with his aborted transfer to Atletico Madrid, and he comes out of a rather disappointing last season with Rennes.
Finally, Sylvain Marveaux wasn’t called up in Laurent Blanc’s squad. The national coach preferred to trust confirmed players ignored by Domenech for the World Cup, such as Samir Nasri (Arsenal), Hatem Ben Arfa (Marseille) or former Rennes player Jimmy Briand (Lyon), but also picked Charles N’Zogbia (Wigan) and Jeremy Menez (AS Roma), who seem to have taken a head start over the Stade Rennais’ left winger in the race for the blue jersey.