The Stade de France is a place of marvels, most of them unwelcome at the moment. Last Saturday, the crowd was amazed by the inability of Raymond Domenech’s side to score in the drawn World Cup qualifier with Switzerland, despite a clutter of chances. Those of statistical tastes are agog, too, that France will complete a season without a home victory for the first time in 47 years.
Hands tremble as they turn to the next page in the record books. The team drew again in Israel on Wednesday and people shudder because it was Israel who beat them 3-2 to provoke the collapse that left them stranded outside the 1994 World Cup. France have never failed to reach the finals of a major tournament since then.
There are also contemporary reasons for dread. France have drawn 0-0 at home with each of the main rivals in group four, Israel, the Republic of Ireland and Switzerland, so leaving themselves with dangerous work on foreign soil. Life would be more agreeable for Domenech if he could depict himself as a steadfast man weathering a natural period of decline, but no one lets him off so easily.
Though France were bound to fall from the towering standards set in winning the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, there ought to have been a softer landing. The side should not be struggling against Ireland and Israel. Even if Zinedine Zidane, Marcel Desailly, Lilian Thuram, Bixente Lizarazu and Claude Makelele have retired from international football, Domenech still has an enviable squad.
That may, in fact, be his problem. This disciplinarian coach has shown no aptitude for handling prominent players. The focus is on Domenech because the talent of his footballers was proved long ago. Thierry Henry was missing through injury this past week but Fabien Barthez, Willy Sagnol, William Gallas, Ludovic Giuly, Patrick Vieira, David Trezeguet and the resurgent Sylvain Wiltord were all in action.
Domenech himself is no cipher. In the 1970s he was one of those defenders who play on the debatable border between determination and violence, yet he is also a cultured person who enjoys acting in amateur theatricals. The 53-year-old is at home in the era of saturation television, even if he is feeling less talkative these days.
Prior to taking over from Jacques Santini, he spent 11 years in charge of les Espoirs, France’s Under-21 and Under-23 teams. He thereby has a long acquaintance with several members of the present squad and must have been some sort of mentor to Henry when the striker was humiliated by demotion to that level after the 1998 World Cup.
Domenech, however, is now dealing with the same people in full adulthood and their respect for him is far from unconditional. French Football Federation president Claude Simonet, deciding against Laurent Blanc and Jean Tigana, handed him the post and he was seen as a safe option. That factor does not impress footballers.
Domenech may have been trying to show off his status, but he raised hackles when he implied that Robert Pires was a moody person of uneven commitment. Having praised his best performances, the coach added: ”Another day, he gives the impression of not knowing how to do anything.” Pires and Domenech have been estranged since the player was substituted at half-time in Cyprus five months ago.
France ought still to cope without Pires, but the remainder of the squad, including the other Highbury representatives, are not at peace.
The querying of Domenech’s judgement is incessant. Gallas sometimes has to play at left-back for Chelsea but the coach is alone in believing that is really the best position for a right-footed centre-half. The idiosyncrasy went further still in the qualifier with the Republic of Ireland.
Though Rio Mavuba, born on a refugee boat off the coast of Angola, has an arresting personal history, that cannot explain Domenech’s haste in giving the then 20-year-old midfielder a competitive international debut against Roy Keane. Mavuba did not cope well and, ironically, youth-development expert Domenech is blamed for a highly public setback in a promising player’s career.
The coach is unlucky to have come to power in a period of change but France’s place at the 2006 World Cup finals should still not be in doubt. Even though the public at large would miss them, other teams will be quietly joyful if a major power is absent from Germany next year. — Â