The Return of the French?

Rewind one week and the general consensus of the French football team was that they were in recovery, a transitionary phase still, after the disasters of the World Cup and poor tournament campaigns (bar 2006). Last week though, they faced a team considered to be one of the favourites to take the Euro crown in a few months' time, Germany, in their home country and won.

It was a great performance from the French, they weren't on top so-to-speak in terms of the run of play and possession but defended well and were clinical when their chances came about. Samir Nasri in particular played very well, putting in a performance that Manchester City haven't seen this season. It was a discipline we've seldom seen and an attacking coherency that was impressive, biding their time well and picking their moments, Laurent Blanc is certainly doing a good job but was that much of a coincidence considering what he did at Bordeaux?i

The French have always had good footballers, a long list of technically excellent successful ones in fact and this squad doesn't disappoint in that regard. They have a good generation to choose from, when the likes of Hatem Ben Arfa are struggling to get in, then you know there's some real talent there. While there are good footballers in and around the roster, where they are perhaps lacking, is goalscoring.

To stand a real chance of making a statement in Euro 2012, 'Les Bleus' need to employ some real goalscorers. They do have them and have recently used Olivier Giroud but he lacks high level pedigree, scoring well in Ligue 1 is a different ball game when taking international football. So step forward Karim Benzema, the striker has been in very good form for Real Madrid this year and is a player of the right pedigree to add that finishing touch to the French team. He has been used recently in matches but doesn't appear to be a mainstay, in my opinion he needs to be.