Should France sit Trezeguet?

[efurze]

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/euro2004/h ... 57&cc=5901

looks like Santini saw this thread!

 

[patrick42uk]

saha's rise to the top has been nothing short of phenomenal. he wouldnt have, and i'm sure nobody would, envisaged starting for the best country in the world whislt at one of the world's top clubs at this point last year. well done to him.

 

[JazzG]

Seeing as Trezguet has performed worse than Henry who hasn't been great either then if anyone should be dropped it should be him.

Henry had a lot of nerves going into the match and needed the goal to settle him down, think he will do much better now that he has 2 goals under his belt.

patrick, you really have something against Henry don't you?

 

[efurze]

dont know whats funny about that. trezeguet has started badly, but it doesnt make him a bad player. you want to drop him for his form? well henry went into the tournament having only scored once in 10 games (penalty against leicester) and looking pretty average since tottenham at white hart lane. that poor form carried into his games so far in the tournament. so why not drop henry?

It's not a question of form at all, it's about tactics! I think Trezeguet is great and have nothing against him. HOWEVER, the style of play he brings has obviously not been working. This is probably because of the Arsenal influence, but France has looked much better with Henry dropping deep with the other attackers rotating into space - a scheme Treze isn't very good in at all! He's done nothing but sit like a damn monolith up front with a defender camped on him, and it's killing the creative potential of the attack. Let Henry, Pires and ZZ do their thing with as little positional restriction possible and I guarantee those 3 will tear up any defense - they're just too good.

The two good things I saw Saha do against Swi: 1) He tracked back into midfield to get the ball and do something useful with it, and 2) when Zizou carried the ball up through midfield and approached the box, Saha GOT OUT OF THE WAY, rotating deeper and creating space for Z to work or TH to run on. THAT is the way to get TH (and therefore France) at his best. I don't think it was any coincidence that when TH broke from the wing for his 2nd, he found space enough in the box to work and score without Treze sitting there waiting to be served.

Trezeguet is great, but what he's good at isn't working right now. Time to try something else. With Saha starting, I predict Greece will get demolished - and, even more importantly, from good goals as well.

 

[patrick42uk]

i feel its unfair to single out trezeguet for france genrally underperforming. trez and henry have worked very well in the past, but maybe the partenrship is stagnating and france could do with a fresh one. but i still dont feel there is a priory reason why trez should have to make way, henry hasnt performed significantly better.

jazz g, i'm jealous of henry's good looks, wealth and footballing talents :wink: seriously though, his arrogance sometimes annoys me. i'v also been dissapointed with him in some crucial games however unfair that might sound. its just that some of his performances raise the expectation level from him. i also dislike the fact that he seems to be immune from criticism from some fans.

 

[Anonymous]

Both are not playing well

Trez has a had a injury plagued season and you could forgive him for playing below par.

Henry on the otherhand has had a superb season.

looking at that, you would think henry would have a fanstatic EC2004

so who would you drop?

 

[quattro]

jazz g, i'm jealous of henry's good looks, wealth and footballing talents :wink: seriously though, his arrogance sometimes annoys me.

why should that be significant?

i'v also been dissapointed with him in some crucial games however unfair that might sound. its just that some of his performances raise the expectation level from him.

not his fault people expect too much of him.

i also dislike the fact that he seems to be immune from criticism from some fans.

also, not a reason to say he should be benched earlier than trezeguet if those were the actual choices.

as for me, i think both should still start. they are the best forwards france have to offer. however, knowing that most teams are going to play defensively against france there has to be a way to keep trezeguet from being shackled as that is exactly whats going to happen to him if he is played as a pure target man. if one of them just has to be benched, then i'll start with the one who just scored two goals. its a no-brainer really.

 

[patrick42uk]

i was explaining by general annoyance with the guy, it wasnt specific to this topic.

 

[n_henry]

Well, good luck to Saha. He does deserve a chance. But I wouldn't count out Trez yet - now that Titi looks like he may be coming into his own, it can only help Trez, I think.

But start Saha against Greece.

 

[Andrew]

Henry is really out of form as well. He scored those two goals but apart from that he hasn't done all too much this tournament. I think he's a bit stuffed as he was at the end of the season, let's hope he can pick it up again next season. But Trezeguet has been even worse. He seems lost up front. I would still start him though against Greece, but if things go wrong or he doesn't play well I would get Saha on asap.