Les Bleus broke our hearts…and (as fans) we deserve better
With the events over the past few days, its easy to feel like the Bleus have turned their back on the fans
*Post written to the tune of Everybody Hurts by REM…audio at bottom of post (below the jump)*
Please note: The timeline of events has been updated thanks to additions and clarifications made in the comments section of the post. Credit to Justin and Sandrahn!
I’ve been a fan of the Bleus since 1998, ever since the team’s glorious World Cup win in Paris – I became a passionate fan of the Bleus after their infamous first round exit in the 2002 World Cup. But, the feeling of losing so miserably after such joyous feelings and high expectations upset me, and formed my desire to follow the team until the day they would avenge the past and win the World Cup again. With each year I’ve become more enthralled with the Bleus- and though I joined the France-mania in 1998, I’m hardly a fair weather fan who jumped on the bandwagon. Since 2002,I can count the number of games I’ve missed on one hand. At times, it’s even mysterious to me how I have developed such a strong connection with Les Bleus. There have been a lot of times when I could have abandoned the team because the Bleus are not always an easy team to love. Growing up in Texas (the founder of freedom fries), it was hardly a passion that was encouraged and I’m pretty sure I was the only one on the France bandwagon. Even outside of those cultural issues, both the French Football Federation’s as well as the team’s performances and behavior the past decade have alienated even their most ardent supporters. In 2006, France fans were given a brief reprieve when they managed to string together 3 magnificent performances in a row (Spain, Brazil, Portugal) to make it to the finals of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. For reasons we all know, we did not win that Cup. And it is clear that without a miracle, we will not win it this year either. And it breaks my heart. Really.
There are differences in fans’ dedication levels. Bandwagon or fair-weather fans will get excited and follow teams only when they’re playing well or during big competitions such as the World Cup. But hardcore fans get very connected emotionally and dedicate themselves to the team every year, despite its record. These people experience powerful emotions from watching the team and support them through the ecstasy of winning and the agony of defeat. These are the types of fans which seemingly live and die with their favorite teams and athletes. In any match, scenes of one fan throwing back their head in desperation are juxtaposed against the opposition’s supporters jumping up and down in jubilation. While the Mexican fans broke our their sombreros and tequila (before you accuse me of breaking out an ethnic stereotype, some of them actually did that), France fans experienced a barrage of emotions: sadness that their team was most likely going home in the first round, anger that the players didn’t seem to care, confusion over why a team of talented players could create neither a credible offense or defense and frustration that had the FFF made changes in 2008, this could have been avoided.
That bond is a two-edged sword. A win by your favorite team can pick you up, but a loss is demoralizing (to say the least). Beyond losses, fans can feel a personal connection to players, which is why when even “off the field” scandals like Frank Ribery’s occur, fans can feel betrayed. There’s a lot in my relationship with the Bleus that I’m not proud of. I’ve cancelled lunches and dates at the movies because a game was on. My temper has snapped like a twig more than a few times and I’ve yelled at everyone in the room when the pundit misrepresented or distorted game or a player, or when one of my friends had the audacity to chat during a game. Of course if we won, it’s shots for everybody…
As a France fan, I’ve experienced many great and unforgettable moments. But as Bleus supporters know too well, there have been too many moments when they find a way to break your heart. When I saw Fabio Cannavaro and the rest of the Italian team raise the Cup in 2006 and heard the celebration from the Spanish fans in 2008, it was gut-wrenching. But neither of those can compare to what I have felt since the game against Mexico on Friday.
Since then, the shit has really hit the fan and I have felt more like I was watching a soap opera unfold rather than a team of world-class professionals participate in one of the biggest events in their career. While it was clear going into this tournament that all was not well, I never would have imagined that things would spiral out of of control this quickly. We all knew Domenech was not the right man to lead the Bleus for this tournament – that was abundantly clear in 2008. But, for reasons they have yet to explain, the FFF declared he was the appropriate man for South Africa. Since then, the atmosphere surrounding a team has resembled a country about to break into civil war. The FFF were pitted against both the public and the their famous alumni who repeatedly (every chance they got) denounced the FFF and Domenech. For most of the two years, Domenech has taken a majority of the hits and criticism. And while he is certainly not blameless by any means, surely we can all agree that there is enough blame to go around. But the lack of transparency and the team’s insistence of shrouding everything in secrecy has made it difficult to determine how to assign the blame. Instead, we are left to put the pieces together by a dramatic press corps who seem more interested in selling papers than writing the truth, a team of players whose oversized egos result in them constantly deflecting and blaming everyone else, Domenech who is clearly clueless and has no clue what is going on and how to fix it as well as the Federation who appear willing to do almost anything to salvage their reputation. And yet none of these people appear willing to take any responsibility for the position we are in now. And what position is that, you ask? Let’s just summarize the events of the last few days…
http://france.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2006/les-bleus-broke-my-heart-but-its-time-to-move-on.html
Friday, June 11
- France settle for a draw in their opening match against Uruguay, picking up several yellow cards in the process.
- Gallas boycotts the media, reportedly because he disagrees with Domenech’s decision to make Patrice Evra the team’s captain instead of him.
- Malouda is reportedly dropped from the starting line-up against Uruguay for his honesty in a press conference, signaling there there is unrest among the team.
- The press report that there are factions among the players who are squabbling over power and tactics. Ribery, Gallas and Anelka are identified as the primary instigators of the problems in the team.
- According to the press, Yoann Gourcuff has been alienated by his teammates. It is reported that he often eats alone and doesn’t speak to many people on the team. In a press conference, Captain Patrice Evra states (paraphrasing) that Yoann never speaks to him and that if he wants to talk to Gourcuff he has to go through Toulalan. Bleus alum, Bixente Lizarazu, implies that Yoann may not fit into the group because of his privileged background, which makes him “too nice and too polite” to fit in. The day before France’s 2nd game against Mexico, the division is reported to have grown so much that Anelka and Ribery refuse to pass the ball to him. It is said that they are pressuring Domenech to replace both Gouvou and Gourcuff in the starting 11 (the replacements reported include Henry, Valbuena or Malouda).
- Eric Abidal in a press conference admits that his and Gallas’ central defense partnership needs to improve- though he primarily appears to be talking about their on-field communication, the press speculate there maybe off-field issues impeding their ability to work together.
- France loses 2-0 their game against Mexico and Jeremy Toulalan picks up a 2nd yellow, suspending him from the final group game against South Africa
- Gourcuff is dropped from the starting XI vs Mexico- reportedly because his teammates won’t pass the ball to him. He is replaced by Malouda.
- Immediately following the game, some French press speculate that Domenech asked Henry and Cisse to play the second half and they refused.
- On Saturday, France Football report that Anelka and Domenech get into an argument at the half time of the Mexico-France game in which Anelka tells Domenech to “Fuck off, you son of a dirty whore.” The press report that is why Anelka was immediately substituted by Domenech for Gignac.
- The FFF announce that Nicholas Anelka has been dropped from the team after he refused to apologize for his statements. The FFF state that this decision was supported by Domenech as well as the team who voted to exclude him.
- Nicholas Anelka releases a statement denying the quote attributed to him in France Football, but acknowledges that he and Domenech did have a heated discussion. He insists that the conversation should have been kept in confidence, states his love for the team and extends his support to ALL his Bleus teammates.
- Evra appears in a press conference with a representative from the FFF. It is said that Domenech has refused to speak to the press. Evra does not condemn Anelka and appears to be more upset about the events being made public. He states that there is a “traitor” in the team’s midst- though he remains ambiguous, the fans and press speculate he could be referring to Domenech, Gourcuff or a member of their training staff.
- The press report that Zidane is instigating problems by pushing for a particular line-up that doesn’t include Gourcuff and Gouvou through Ribery and Anelka. The papers report that initially Domenech seems open to the change until he hears the source of the idea is Zidane.
- The France team travels to the training grounds but refuses to train. The players arrive without shoes, indicating they had no intention of ever training. When Patrice Evra explains this to a member of the training staff, he and the staff member have to be pulled apart by Domenech as they get into a fight in front of the press.
- The team signs autographs for fans but refuse to speak to the press.
- Once they completed signing autographs, they board the bus and have conversation with Domenech with the curtains drawn. After 20 minutes, Domenech reemerges to read a statement from the players of the team which says that they are boycotting training in response to the FFF’s dismissal of Anelka. They state that Anelka was dismissed based on speculative press reports, that they made no effort to clarify the actual events that happened or to support the team and they did not consult the players over the decision. Importantly, the statement of the players indicates that all members of the squad agreed to boycott the training “without exception.”
- Later that day, the trainer who was videotaped getting into a fight with Evra was interviewed on TF1 about the event. He denies the insinuation made in the press that Evra accussed him of being the “traitor” in the squad. He says the argument was over his frustration with the players decision to not train because he had just finished setting up the cones for the session and creating drills for the players to complete.
- Frank Ribery and Domenech appear on TF1 where Ribery acknowledges the team’s failures and expresses his regret for not living up to the expectations of fans but continues to emphasize that the team believes there is a “traitor” who wants the team to fail. Ribery also denies getting into a fight with Gourcuff and Domenech seems to mock the idea that Gourcuff could get into a fight with anyone because of his serene personality.
- Team Director Jean-Louis Valentin resigns in the wake of the training boycott, stating his displeasure with the team’s decision.
- Anelka’s club teammate John Terry defends Anelka, stating he is an honorable person and a great teammate.
- Anelka’s other club teammate, Didier Drogba, remains ambiguous when asked about the situation. He admits exchanging texts with Florent Malouda but says that the French squad do not typically discuss intra-squad issues with people outside the squad.
- Bleus Alums – Zidane, Makelele, Aime Jacquet, Lizarazu - condemn the team’s decision not to train. They complain that the players should show more “respect for the shirt.”
- Gourcuff’s former teammate Marouane Chamakh defends Gourcuff on French television, describing him as both a good teammate on and off the field.
- French President Sarkozy also condemns the team’s decision not to train.
- The FFF issue a statement stating there will be an investigation into the matter.
- The Bleus resume training, though their training gear does not contain any of the names of the sponsors who are reportedly considering withdrawing their sponsorship.
- In an interview, Blanc admits being offered the Inter-Milan job but states he turned it down because he thought he could help Les Bleus improve whereas the Inter team was already a success
- Domenech calls players’ strike “an aberration, an imbecility, a stupidity without name”
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