I’m certainly not a psychologist or an expert on the dynamics of the French national men’s soccer team, but when you hear some of the comments from the players, it is crystal clear that the team is in turmoil and the coach, Raymond Domenech, has lost both the respect of his team, and not surprisingly, control of the room. On the surface, the story surrounding Les Blues, is about Nicolas Anelka getting into a heated exchange with the coach after being taken out of the game against Mexico at halftime for lackadaisical play, refusing to apologize, and subsequently, being kicked off the team entirely.
When you hear what the other players are saying, it is obvious that this team is imploding, and Domenech is a coach by his title,but not in terms of the direction of any of his players. The clashes within the squad, indicate that the coach is completely out of touch with his men. The out of control inner turmoil, is both blatantly obvious in their comments, and the alleged acrimony, as detailed in the associated press story. “Anelka’s expulsion followed newspaper allegations that midfielder Yoann Gourcuff is an unpopular figure on the squad and that defender William Gallas is upset with Domenech for giving the captain’s armband to Evra……….Some reports have alleged that Gourcuff sometimes eats alone at the dinner table,and that Ribery and Anelka do not like him and pressured Domenech to drop him against Mexico. Gourcuff was replaced by Florent Malouda, and did not play in the match. In the opening game against Uruguay, Anelka had a clear chance to pass to the unguarded Gourcuff during the first half but chose not to. Gourcuff threw his arms up in the air……….Gourcuff said after the Mexico defeat he was being made a scapegoat for the team’s inability to score goals.”
The recent comments from all time great and Les Blues icon Zinedine Zidane,hero of France’s 1998 World Cup win, now make perfect sense, in light of the documented discord. Last Monday, “Zizou”, made it perfectly clear where the teams troubles stemmed from: “ He’s not a coach. He picked his squad and he has to make them play together. Teamwork is the most important thing, and that’s not what we saw during the ( Uruguay ) match.” As one of the greatest to ever play the game in any country, who would know better than him. as to what has led to the fracturing of France’s football team ?
The situation completely disintegrated over the weekend, with the decision of the players not to train on Sunday, in protest of striker Nicolas Anelka’s expulsion from the team. That decision led to the resignation of France team director Jean-Louis Valentin, who said he was fed up with the team. Valentin did not mince his words: “It’s a scandal for the French, for the young people here. It’s a scandal for the federation and the French team. They don’t want to train. It’s unacceptable.”
As part of this embarrassing soap opera, fitness coach Robert Duverne and France captain Patrice Evra got into an argument after they got off the team bus. Winger Franck Ribery got a sense of the impact of their actions: “Everyone in the whole world is mocking us now. I’m gutted, because we’re not playing football any more.”
The most telling comment of all, came from Christian Teinturier, vice president of the (French Football) federation, who objected to Domenech remaining as coach after the European Championship two years ago: “ French football is in a catastrophic situation.” This might be the most humiliating scenario ever, in the history of international team sports, not including the Olympics.
When les Blues take to the field on Thursday, for their match against Mexico, the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, will sound much more solemn than it usually does.