FRANCE - Summer 2012 thread

Henry never scored in a Euro final, CL final or WC final despite playing in all 3. Pretty Cr@p considering the hype he gets.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:Henry never scored in a Euro final, CL final or WC final despite playing in all 3. Pretty Cr@p considering the hype he gets.

Romario never scored in a CL or WC final despite playing in both in the same year. Must have been overhyped too.

Still, both are light years ahead of Bobo'Mercenary,all pace and power with no skill'Vieiri.

The Professor wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:Henry never scored in a Euro final, CL final or WC final despite playing in all 3. Pretty Cr@p considering the hype he gets.

Romario never scored in a CL or WC final despite playing in both in the same year. Must have been overhyped too.

Still, both are light years ahead of Bobo'Mercenary,all pace and power with no skill'Vieiri.

Well actually Romario is a bit overrated, especially by some brazilian posters on here. Straw man argument doesn't work anyway.

Please don't make me laugh. Henry has been a major flop in both La Liga and Serie A, 2 leagues which Vieri was topscorer in.

Dunno where you got all pace and no skill from. Sounds more like a description of Henry.

I'm an Arsenal fan, but I always thought Henry was overrated.

BrianS wrote:I'm an Arsenal fan, but I always thought Henry was overrated.

You're a wise man.

He can't even score a goal every 2 games in the KO phases of the CL.

He never performed away from home in the league v Chelsea, Man U or Liverpool in his 8 years in England.

He has never scored in about 4,356 major cup finals.

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

BrianS wrote:I'm an Arsenal fan, but I always thought Henry was overrated.

You're a wise man.

He can't even score a goal every 2 games in the KO phases of the CL.

He never performed away from home in the league v Chelsea, Man U or Liverpool in his 8 years in England.

He has never scored in about 4,356 major cup finals.

European golden boot 2 times, EPL top scorer 4 times, french player of the year 5 times and he's overrated. And he took Arsenal to the CL final almost single handed. Their only final to date.

Gone wrote:

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

BrianS wrote:I'm an Arsenal fan, but I always thought Henry was overrated.

You're a wise man.

He can't even score a goal every 2 games in the KO phases of the CL.

He never performed away from home in the league v Chelsea, Man U or Liverpool in his 8 years in England.

He has never scored in about 4,356 major cup finals.

European golden boot 2 times, EPL top scorer 4 times, french player of the year 5 times and he's overrated. And he took Arsenal to the CL final almost single handed. Their only final to date.

Really? 5 goals in 13 games (none of which came beyond the quarter finals) constitutes single handedly carrying the team? He was probably the main reason they didn't win the CL after his choke job in the final.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

Gone wrote:

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

BrianS wrote:I'm an Arsenal fan, but I always thought Henry was overrated.

You're a wise man.

He can't even score a goal every 2 games in the KO phases of the CL.

He never performed away from home in the league v Chelsea, Man U or Liverpool in his 8 years in England.

He has never scored in about 4,356 major cup finals.

European golden boot 2 times, EPL top scorer 4 times, french player of the year 5 times and he's overrated. And he took Arsenal to the CL final almost single handed. Their only final to date.

Really? 5 goals in 13 games (none of which came beyond the quarter finals) constitutes single handedly carrying the team? He was probably the main reason they didn't win the CL after his choke job in the final.

He won the games against Real and Juve getting Arsenal to the semifinals. For the first time if I remember.

Gone wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

Gone wrote:

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

BrianS wrote:I'm an Arsenal fan, but I always thought Henry was overrated.

You're a wise man.

He can't even score a goal every 2 games in the KO phases of the CL.

He never performed away from home in the league v Chelsea, Man U or Liverpool in his 8 years in England.

He has never scored in about 4,356 major cup finals.

European golden boot 2 times, EPL top scorer 4 times, french player of the year 5 times and he's overrated. And he took Arsenal to the CL final almost single handed. Their only final to date.

Really? 5 goals in 13 games (none of which came beyond the quarter finals) constitutes single handedly carrying the team? He was probably the main reason they didn't win the CL after his choke job in the final.

He won the games against Real and Juve getting Arsenal to the semifinals. For the first time if I remember.

He scored in the game against Real after missing a $h!t load of chances.

He scored a tap in against Juventus, though Fabregas' goal was more decisive. I wouldn't say he won the game for Arsenal by any stretch of the imagination.

As chokers go, Henry is up there with Toni.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

The Professor wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:Henry never scored in a Euro final, CL final or WC final despite playing in all 3. Pretty Cr@p considering the hype he gets.

Romario never scored in a CL or WC final despite playing in both in the same year. Must have been overhyped too.

Still, both are light years ahead of Bobo'Mercenary,all pace and power with no skill'Vieiri.

Well actually Romario is a bit overrated, especially by some brazilian posters on here. Straw man argument doesn't work anyway.

Please don't make me laugh. Henry has been a major flop in both La Liga and Serie A, 2 leagues which Vieri was topscorer in.

Dunno where you got all pace and no skill from. Sounds more like a description of Henry.

What a great argument.. it's like saying Vieiri was a big flop in the ligue 1 for Monaco. He was very young at that time, on the bench, plus maybe the style of Serie A didn't suit him. Some players play better in different leagues (Sevchenko, Forlan) depending on their strengths and weaknesses.
It's true that Henry flopped several times when he shouldn't have (final of U.E.F.A against Galatasarai). I won't put him on the same scale as a Ronaldo or a Zidane, for example who were players of exception who always played well when it matters and during finals.

Henry is a good striker or should I said was a good player. He is 31 and past his best days.

Fact is I'd put Zidane, and Luiz Ronaldo ahead of him in his generation, without major reservations. Otherwise, he's no bigger choker than your dinho, shevchenko, kaka (who still has time), figo, bergkamp, rivaldo, and likes, who are all yet to score in a major final. Few have scored in confederation cups final though. Oh, there are some others who have scored in the final, and yet, aren't to be classified in same level as aforementioned names like say, deco, cristiano ronaldo, lampard, inzaghi, etc. Time for some perspective. also I think players like teary has their egos inflated by playing in a team like arsenal, I don't remember a star name there perform in the other strategies. IS this because of Wenger's adamant transformation of such players to play as a unit? Pass and move, push it to the runs than to the legs. This is not adapted by many coaches, and it'd be difficult to transmit that efficiency to teams where your individual dribbling, and individual skill comes to play, where the players are the enforcer than the team. That is why, most arsneal players lose their individual style, and identity after working with arsene wenger.

Yes, I follow Les blues, and I'm convinced teary henry is past his best. But I look at their games, and come to think what has benzema done so far for the NT? Zilch! He is young, and he needs time. He needs a figure like teary around though. But for his partner, I'd be doubtful they'd start anelka ahead of teary, because both benzema's and anelka's selfishness, and sulking arrogance would be hard for the team. Teary believe ti or not, is a major figure beacuse of his time in arsenal, monaco, and his earlier France days. He might have past it, but it takes a pair of b**** to drop him. Aragones did that to Raul (as hard it is to admit), and I'd expect the next gaffer to do the same to Teary.

Kaka is not a striker. He played great against Liverpool in the first final and made the second goal in the second final. He also got Milan to the finals with great games in the groups stage, Celtic, United. He was the top scorer of the CL. How is he a choker? He always turns up for big games.

Kaka has played in two finals and setup, what three goals? He has hardly choked. He was the best player on the pitich on the pitch until after HT in his first CL final.

Like Gone say's, you can't expect Kaka as an AM to score in every game.

Alive and Kicking wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

The Professor wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:Henry never scored in a Euro final, CL final or WC final despite playing in all 3. Pretty Cr@p considering the hype he gets.

Romario never scored in a CL or WC final despite playing in both in the same year. Must have been overhyped too.

Still, both are light years ahead of Bobo'Mercenary,all pace and power with no skill'Vieiri.

Well actually Romario is a bit overrated, especially by some brazilian posters on here. Straw man argument doesn't work anyway.

Please don't make me laugh. Henry has been a major flop in both La Liga and Serie A, 2 leagues which Vieri was topscorer in.

Dunno where you got all pace and no skill from. Sounds more like a description of Henry.

What a great argument.. it's like saying Vieiri was a big flop in the ligue 1 for Monaco. He was very young at that time, on the bench, plus maybe the style of Serie A didn't suit him. Some players play better in different leagues (Sevchenko, Forlan) depending on their strengths and weaknesses.
It's true that Henry flopped several times when he shouldn't have (final of U.E.F.A against Galatasarai). I won't put him on the same scale as a Ronaldo or a Zidane, for example who were players of exception who always played well when it matters and during finals.

Henry is a good striker or should I said was a good player. He is 31 and past his best days.

No it's not. Vieri was doing fine at Monaco until his injury.

Obviously the style of Serie A didn't suit a pace merchant like Henry.

whats it with some people on this board and their obsession with players scoring goals in Finals.

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

Gone wrote:

BoBo Vieri 32 wrote:

Gone wrote:

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

BrianS wrote:I'm an Arsenal fan, but I always thought Henry was overrated.

You're a wise man.

He can't even score a goal every 2 games in the KO phases of the CL.

He never performed away from home in the league v Chelsea, Man U or Liverpool in his 8 years in England.

He has never scored in about 4,356 major cup finals.

European golden boot 2 times, EPL top scorer 4 times, french player of the year 5 times and he's overrated. And he took Arsenal to the CL final almost single handed. Their only final to date.

Really? 5 goals in 13 games (none of which came beyond the quarter finals) constitutes single handedly carrying the team? He was probably the main reason they didn't win the CL after his choke job in the final.

He won the games against Real and Juve getting Arsenal to the semifinals. For the first time if I remember.

He scored in the game against Real after missing a $h!t load of chances.

He scored a tap in against Juventus, though Fabregas' goal was more decisive. I wouldn't say he won the game for Arsenal by any stretch of the imagination.

Normaly I wouldn't bother but for the the other people- Henry was never just a goal scorer for Arsenal. In that CL run he was involed in every single KO goal. He made the assist for Cesc. He made the through-ball for Toure (Helb's simple short low cross was the assist) and he took the free-kick for Campball. If only we had 11 on the pitch- the way Puyol and Marqez were struggling with him by himself I'm sure the team could have at least score two more goals.

If Henry was actually a good finisher, i'm sure you could've scored 2 more goals.

The only reason henry gets criticism is the same reason I criticise ronaldo imo. Both players want to go down as one of the best players to ever play the game but because both lack the genius neccessary for this it makes them far easier to criticise. It is all relative.

shazlx wrote:Normaly I wouldn't bother but for the the other people- Henry was never just a goal scorer for Arsenal. In that CL run he was involed in every single KO goal. He made the assist for Cesc. He made the through-ball for Toure (Helb's simple short low cross was the assist) and he took the free-kick for Campball. If only we had 11 on the pitch- the way Puyol and Marqez were struggling with him by himself I'm sure the team could have at least score two more goals.

I've never agreed more with Martin Samuel than after this game - he was talking about Arsenal fans speculating as to what the score might have been had they kept XI men on the pitch.

His answere was the same as mine: 3-0 to Barcelona.

If Lehman hadn't been sent off you would have been chasing the game v Barca.

Puyol I'm not a fan of but struggling ?!

Puyol totally mugged him off - summed up best by a moment in the 2nd half when Henry was on the left near the toucline with Puyol between him and Valdes.

A lot of defenders would have closed him down and been mugged with teh push and run but not Puyol.

He just stood 10 yards off him as if to say "come on then" - Henry approached him and tried his trademark but he was too close to Valdes by then and he pushed it straight to the Barca keeper.


@ Messiah - its an obsession with players performing in big games.

Henry never performed away from home to the other 3 of the big 4.

Its about being quiet but making one or 2 vital contributions that win teh game or dominating the game and having a positive influence on your teams perfoemance without necessarily scoring or assistng.

France squad to play Romania and Tunisia:

Goalkeepers:
Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Hugo Lloris (Lyon)

Defenders:
Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), William Gallas (Arsenal), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Rod Fanni (Rennes), Philippe Mexes (Roma), Sebastien Squillaci (Sevilla), Gael Clichy (Arsenal)

Midfielders:
Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth), Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Hatem Ben Arfa (Marseille), Alou Diarra (Bordeaux), Patrick Vieira (Inter), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux)

Strikers:
Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Karim Benzema (Lyon), Florent Sinama-Pongolle (Atletico Madrid)

Is this Florent Sinama-Pongolle's first full call-up to the national team?

So what's Fanni like then?

What about Ribery going public & slating the too defensive French tactics?

Think he's right. Though shouldn't use the media for discussions like this.

Did he? He's totally right to say so anyway. For once Domenech can do fock all because Ribery is one of the most important players.
Domenech will apparently put Henry by himself up front, so it's likely to be a very defensive team.

Some rumors say that Domenech will be replaced no matter what the score between France and Romania. Hope they are right.

Calidad wrote:So what's Fanni like then?

Quick, black, tall and neat on the ball. Good understudy to Sagna.

Romania 2 France 2
Petre 6'
Goian 17'
Ribery 36'
Groucuff 69'

We should have won this game.
Our defence is $h!t.
The duo Ribery-Gourcuff seems very promising.

Foot365 rating :
FRANCE
Mandanda : 5
Sagna : 5
Boumsong : 4
Abidal : 4,5
Evra : 4,5
A.Diarra : 4,5
Toulalan : 6
Ribéry : 7
(Briand, 90eme)
Gourcuff : 7,5
Malouda : Non noté
(Benzema, 38eme) : 5
Henry (cap) : 6

I thought Sagna was excellent, and Evra is good as well. It's the Center halves who are bad. Diarra-Toulalan recovered well in the second half. And, I thought Henry had another good game. Benzema has not done enough to sustain a place in the first 11. Gourcuff deserves 9/10, and my MOTM. Ribery is excellent. I'd try Ben Arfa for Benzema in the next game.

I'd try this against Tunisia.

----------Mandanda
Sagna-Squillaci-Gallas-Evra
------Vieira---Toulalan-------
---Gourcuff---Ribery--Ben Arfa
----------Teary-------------

Ok, so Mexes had one bad game.... but Boumsong always has a bad game.

Mexes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Boumsong, just can't understand how Boumsong can play over the likes of Mexes & Gallas.

Suprised MALOuda started over Ben Arfa yesterday. He is not only a better player, but has also been scoring regularly since his move to Marseille.

Calidad wrote:Suprised MALOuda started over Ben Arfa yesterday. He is not only a better player, but has also been scoring regularly since his move to Marseille.

Are you really surprised? I mean, are you really surprised by his selection any more?