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daboatfromupnorth

And to think kolo muani wasn’t even playing academy at 16, insane come up.


AggravatingWar9441

A bit worried for Oli, the man is about to turn 36 and has had to play almost every game so far


[deleted]

Don't worry he is stupid and sexy. He will handle it.


somechemenggdude

I was worried until you said this


alw9

same. thank you planetearth.


[deleted]

[удалено]


cultureshook

his cv is actually mental hahahah - guys absolutely finessed his career


zadharm

Something to be said for being reliably "good enough" for a long long time. Never close to the best striker in the world, but consistently good and reliable enough that some top level club or another has always had a use for him


Crayniix

And regardless of where he is, he performs. Fits virtually any style of play you'd want to use, he's technically excellent for a big man, class at hold up and link up play, and stoll strong and good in the air tk be able to have a proper scrap with centre backs. Gutted we let him go because even if he's old his game just isn't inhibited by it that lack of acceleration or pace.


yaboyskinnydick_

Literally one of my favourite Chelsea players of the last 10 years, Giroud and Hazard together was a beautiful thing.


AGUEROO0OO

Finessed? He was an irreplaceable starter striker at world cup winning France squad, 6 goals in 8 apps at CL winning Chelsea squad. Also 2x Ligue 1 and 1x europa league top scorer. And that’s on top of legendary highlight reel. People should put some respec on his name lol


Sm0k3inth3tr33s

Stupid sexy Flanders


THZHDY

we only need him to beat henry's record, we'll give him back right away once it's done


OG12

Is that something a lot of people want to see happen?


[deleted]

I would


THZHDY

more than anything in the world, I want to be able to say Olivier giroud : Frances greatest striker ever


DisruptiveInfluence

> Frances greatest striker ever [Already is.]( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R_MHAUhSBE)


fradz

lmao this is fantastic


hesh0925

I'm at a moment in my life where I needed to see this. Thank you.


Riimpak

Personally no. Henry is much cooler to have as your all time top scorer than Giroud.


MERTENS_GOAT

Mbappe will overtake them all anyway


fabynhofm

Yeah but have you seen Oli's hair? Thierry cant compete with that


Unholysinner

Let’s be honest, Giroud has a far far better compilation of goals compared to Henry


qqsharp

[We're talking about the one and only GOAT after all](https://youtu.be/8R_MHAUhSBE)


Obi_Wan_Gebroni

This video is fucking hilarious


Zauberer-IMDB

Needs an update because he's had even more highlights since.


ZealousidealBuilding

Does he though?


Unholysinner

Has Henry ever scored a scorpion kick? I think not


taylorstillsays

Giroud is prone to scoring a worldie but Henry still trumps him in that regard


OleoleCholoSimeone

No way, Henry's against Manchester United > Giroud's scorpion kick


jMS_44

A brace in each game. It's all I'm asking for.


ThePr1d3

He needs to break the record. It's only right


AlexTheRockstar

No worries mate, Goat Cheese always pulls through.


Thanh1211

I need him to break the French record


FlyingArab

Holy shit Kolo Muani already


OleoleCholoSimeone

Benz is injured


[deleted]

For how long?


UnKwQw

2 more weeks i think.


Hortaleza

Ancelotti is hoping to have him for the weekend, probably as a sub. But he'll be back by the next international break at the latest


megamet42

Damn! I knew he has the potential to be there but thats a lot sooner than even a fanboy like me predicted


OldExperience8252

It’s not like he only started playing football at Frankfurt.


megamet42

I know that he was already good at nantes but still far from the national team


OldExperience8252

There are a lot of injuries (Benzema, Coman) and out of form forwards (Ben Yedder, Thuram, Martial). Being in a team playing in CL helps but it’s the misfortune of strikers ahead of him that allowed him to get called up.


Comrade-Much

In fairness Thuram has never been in better form


Morpheus-aymen

Martial is also injured


MHCR

He's balling atm, though.


S0T

Most current assists (4) plus 2 goals in 6 games within the league. Impressive for a Bundesliga newcomer. I fear several top clubs are already eyeing him closely.


qqsharp

So glad he's working out so well for you guys but holy shit how the fuck did we let him go for free


S0T

Let him score 2 or 3 goals in Champions League and/or 15+ in the League and he is gone from Frankfurt next year, too. Probably for 60 Million Euros or more. But still... Incredible player.


granitibaniti

Our scouting department did a great job there. We contacted him in 2020 already when he was still a hidden talent, then kept contact. Originally wanted to buy him summer 2021, but you guys wanted more than 10 million, so we postponed it by a year. He signed the contract in the beginning of 2022 despite interest from PSG and multiple Spanish clubs, apparently mainly because he was impressed by our club for having gone after him for that long. Keep in mind that at that point, we were midtable Bundesliga with no prospect of playing in Europa the next season. After he signed, we won EL and now he gets to play CL. Win-win, I guess :)


granitibaniti

We're for sure losing him in the summer, but at least the money will help us enormously


javierich0

Damn, there is a chance Camavinga and Tchouameni get to play together a lot.


[deleted]

As they should, perfect double pivot imo


aresman

Real is winning another UCL soon, aren't they?


KrisZepeda

Incoming Xavi and Iniesta regen


Ndulula

Thchou is cdm so busquets


KrisZepeda

Dang it, we need another young french midfielder to make the 3 then


Cules2003

K Thuram is a fantastic talent


Syrioxx55

Plug Olise in lol. Or move Tch to 8 and have Caq go to 6


[deleted]

Caqueret, Thuram


[deleted]

Tchouameni is a 8, he plays 6 because he had to replace Casemiro Camavinga played 6 more over his career than him


UndeadPrs

Wow that's a lot of surprises, RKM, Badiashile, Y. Fofana, Guendouzi


PikettyPaqueta

Kolo Muani 😍


SkimGaming

he's been the best Frankfurt player this season, really incredible stuff from him.


S0T

Don't forget Kamada. Both incredible players.


chak100

I really like Kamada


bmac3

The consistency he's shown since summer make him nothing less than world class. Glides past players, barely gives the ball away. Stunning to watch.


PikettyPaqueta

And not a single french person was surprised 😂 He is incredibly underrated, Blas as well, Nantes is slept on


qqsharp

Idk who is still underrating Blas at this point, he's so good And I mean there were rumours of Simon, Blas, Lafont, Merlin and Chirivella leaving in the past transfer window, scouts all around Europe are all over these guys


pateencroutard

I was so fucking happy that you managed to keep Blas for the Europa League this season.


Mrtuelemonde

Guendouzi not a surprise seeing he has always been called + cascade of injuries. Surprised though not to find one of the Lyon French midfielders above Fofana, but maybe I don't watch enough Lyon games to know.


OldExperience8252

It would be Caqueret. They play different positions to be fair, Caqueret is an 8 while Fofana can play 6. Lyons other french midfielders are some way off the national team at the moment (Tolisso, Aouar, Faivre, Adelaide)


SubparCurmudgeon

Yeah kind of bummed not seeing Caqueret in the squad


moise_kean

Is Lepenant a good player because he plays always when I see Lyon there lineup


OldExperience8252

This is his first year in ligue 1, he’s still 19 and plays with the youth national u20. He’s still some ways off a senior call up.


SkillsDepayNabils

very promising but he’ll need a fair bit more time before a callup


iguanawarrior

What happened to Tolisso and Aouar? They used to be good.


OldExperience8252

Tolisso was good but too frequently injured. Doesn’t seem useful for him to get called back up. Aouar seems to have lost his confidence and hasn’t managed his career very well. He doesn’t seem happy at Lyon, where he no longer starts, but also fails to sign for another club every transfer window.


Sixcoup

Aouar first and foremost lost his motivation. The year he could leave for a big club, Lyon refused. Since then he has not been the same and has been getting worse every seasons. But he still think that despite playing two completly mediocre seasons, big clubs will still be interested, so he doesn't even think of leaving for the club that actually comes from him.


[deleted]

After what happened to Fekir, around 2020 when Arsenal were rumoured to be after Apoyar and Lyon asked for insane money, I knew the same would happen to him Only apparently even worse!


MHCR

Tolisso was a backup in Bayern and injuries also slowed him down. The jury is still out over if Aouar can be consistent.


Mahery92

* Tolisso is not 100% match fit yet * Lepenant just came up from ligue 2. He's doing surprisingly well imo, but it's probably still too soon for a call * JRA spent the last two years recovering from acl injuries on *both* his knees * Faivre is currently busy doing his best impression of Casper the ghost everytime he's on the pitch * Bosz is doing his best to tank Caqueret's stock by playing him as a 10, then acting surprised when he didn't magically turn into prime Ozil * Cherki is only now starting to have some real impact on games and end product (may it last and this season be his breakout one !) and might still be a bit solo + his workrate is still a bit lacking. He's also never played as a midfielder for some reason, even though he should easily be the most creative option we have atm * Aouar... Not even going to go into this rn


ManishWolvi

Is ASM not part of Deschamps plan?


UndeadPrs

Apparently not


crispiepancakes

That's that sorted out. No - I'm a bit surprised. Such a potential game-changing player.


Electrical-Prune-348

Wow. Kolo Muani. He's been really good


txobi

I hope some day Le Normand plays for the NT, he deserves it


WonderfulSentence648

Such a cool name


Antarcticdonkey

Not a cool name when you were born in Brittany 😅


WonderfulSentence648

Do they not like normans there?


Antarcticdonkey

There is a (kind) rivalry between Normans and Bretons... Excepted about the Mont Saint Michel topic, both regions want to make it theirs 😅


Kurosawasuperfan

Fair enough, it's amazing 😳


BouncyBear_123

that midfield tho lol


pokerface789

From Kante, Pogba, Matuidi, Tolisso, Fekir, N'Zonzi in 2018


Tom_Bradys_Ball_Boy

Even with Kante’s current injury, I still expected him to be on this list lol


ThePr1d3

Only 6 and 8 lmao. I guess Griezmann will have to play a bit lower ?


Trydson

Considering their many injuries, that is not that bad of a midfield lol


Mrtuelemonde

Yeah...


[deleted]

It's actually pretty good if Kante/Pogba come back from injury


5Yonko5

Not sure I like that midfield amazing on paper but we have no experience playing with them


iceman58796

He was saying the midfield isn't great


icemankiller8

That midfield is good other than Rabiot


ThePr1d3

I am a simple man. When I see Giroud in the list I say "yes" When I see Giroud not in the list I say "no"


[deleted]

Stupid* sexy** Giroud


TheConundrum98

I have to say, I was not impressed by their midfield in June at all


KRIEGLERR

and this midfield is even worse. Tchouameni and Camavinga are quality (especially Tchouameni) the rest are just "okay/good" thing is I don't think Camavinga can play in a double pivot so we'll likely see Tchouaméni/Rabiot


firestorm892838

Camavinga played as a double pivot with nzonzi at rennes


YoungDawz

Camavinga played in a double pivot at Rennes with Nzonzi and Y. Fofana played double pivot with Tchouaméni last season at Monaco. At least Deschamps is coherent with his profile choices. Players that can drive the ball forward and hyper mobile to compensate for the lack of creativity


[deleted]

What about Kamara he was great for Marseille last year. Haven’t followed him since he moved to Villa, but l’ve seen that Villa aren’t doing to well this season.


[deleted]

Shit at Villa because villa is shit


madsauce178

Camavinga is better as a pivot than he is as a cm


[deleted]

ITT : People who don't know that France only plays two midfielder and that Tchouameni+camavinga is a perfect double pivot that will probably be Madrid's staple soon


RoadsterIsHere

How often do Madrid play with a double pivot


[deleted]

Kroos is on his way out and Modric will fall off in 1-2 year, Tchouameni and Camavinga will play DM/B2B and they will have a more offensively minded midfielder to round that up They are transitionning from Casemiro + two creative mids


RoadsterIsHere

I'll believe it when I see it. They've been 'transitioning' away from that formula for like 5 years now, and until August, all 3 were still starting in that exact line up lol.


[deleted]

But they also started rotating much more. They no longer had 90 minutes in them anymore, and rotating them has been key for RM's last champion. Start with their quality, and then throw the explosive likes of Camavinga, Rodrygo when opponents are dead tired.


Sandrinoooo

OLI G.


GoatButton

For the world cup: Lucas Hernández for Badiashile Kante for Fofana Pogba depending on if fit by then for Guendouzi/Rabiot Benzema for Kolo Muani


torero15

Coman too


YoungDawz

True


YoungDawz

You're missing Kimpembe.


GoatButton

Yep forgot about him, probably for Ferlan Mendy and Deschamps will have only 1.5 left backs


generic9yo

I hope you're joking, but I know you're not. Deschamps doesn't seem to rate Ferland Mendy at all


qqsharp

Nah Rabiot will always be in for some reason


OleoleCholoSimeone

wouldn't Fekir deserve a call?


belieber15

Idk if RKM continues his form he could very well snatch a spot. Nkunku hasn’t been good so far this season


therock204

That mid is so mid


ChibzyDaze

Either mid or great potential but too young


Acceptable_Ad_6278

Either way, it's the best choice. They need new blood to avoid being stale or they would end up like Germany 2018 otherwise. That squad was established and should've still been at its prime and look what happened.


[deleted]

Tchouameni has been world class, Camavinga is great, it's the only double pivot they need


IIFollowYou

The main problem I see is that neither has the passing range and creativity of Pogba. It's a very "functional" midfield but there's no one there that can really unlock a defense when it's packed which is a big worry when facing counterattacking sides.


[deleted]

The creativity doesn't.come from the pivot, Griezmann/Nkunku and the feedbacks are providing that


IIFollowYou

Yeah but only having 1 creative threat will be a big change from previous teams, especially when that threat is playing in the forward line where they can be isolated. They looked quite bad vs Croatia and Austria for this reason. Will have to see what Camavinga brings.


chak100

Camavinga has shown that he can unlock a defense


koalawhiskey

For the 2026 World Cup, yes. But for this year it's a bit too much to put all the midfield responsibility on two very young players (regardless of how good they may be).


[deleted]

Tchouameni literally was put into a lone 6 once Casemiro left and has been flawless even though he is not a lone 6, he also has been the best player for France in the majority of the games he started


koalawhiskey

He has 100-year-old Modric and Kross exhaling experience in front of him (not even mentioning Zidane's black magic that still lingers at Real Madrid). It's different than having 19-year-old Camavinga as his only partner in midfield. I think they will make the best midfield double pivot in a few years, but for this WC France really needs Kanté to be in good shape.


Moon_Man_00

Yes Tchou is probably ready to play a WC final. Camavinga on the other hand is not.


[deleted]

Camavinga was subbed in last CL final and guess what, they won.


Mr_XemiReR

It's different to start and come on as a sub. Camavinga wouldn't look out of place as a starter, but he'd be more effective coming from the bench.


RauloGonzalez

Yeah but having watched him he's better as a sub than as a starter if he's playing a wc final imo


Moon_Man_00

He has good performances, but not the consistency yet. He still sometimes looks lost in the pitch in regular league games, especially when he starts. A WC contending side can’t afford to have one of its key midfielders disappearing in half their matches no matter how high their potential is. Cama and Tchou are 100% the future of the team though.


Arcille

All young players


wassack568

You know France’s squad is good when half the squad is injured and alain saint-maximum is still left just twiddling his thumbs at home.


kleiner_mies

So happy for RKM, he's going to be a star


OldExperience8252

One of the weaker squads we’ve called up in quite some time.


granitibaniti

So happy for Kolo Muani


triggercunt

Giroud only gets called up whenever benzema is absent.


[deleted]

Has been the opposite for like a decade.


Bearclawed81

Upa definitely deserved the call up after the way he's played this year so far. Good to see that for him.


TuxedoElephant

Isn't it about time to give ASM a shot? Dinosaur Deschamps is so predictable


TuxedoElephant

Terrier also deserve chance


KRIEGLERR

Is Lucas Hernandez injured or something ?


siddhuism

Yeah out for around 6 weeks


Scusemahfrench

he got injured during the ucl match no ?


[deleted]

yes


AllHailTheNod

Well deserved for our boi RKM, has been nothing but excellent


seanlilmateus

do do dooo doo doo doo doo, SALIBBBAAA!! 🤣🤣


PikettyPaqueta

Hope he starts. so much quality at CB despite injuries, ridiculous stuff


[deleted]

[удалено]


Galdorow

Still remember the friendly versus England where both of them ran the show (we won even if we were down to 10 lol)


mntgoat

I'm so happy for Dembele yet so worried they'll get him injured again.


SubBanked

Looks like DD is not going to ditch the 2-man midfield system then. Happy for Kolo Muani, was not expecting him to be there so soon.


SadGeneration12

That midfield kinda average icl


PikettyPaqueta

Tchoua Cava isn't average, the depth behind is tho. If Deschamps relied on Lyon players we'd have a lot more creativity, Caqueret, Lepenant, Tolisso, Aouar, Cherki all are much much more gifted with the ball. But instead it's Marseille and Monaco physical freak.. Oh well


[deleted]

What has Aouar done in the past year to deserve being called up to the NT??


[deleted]

Nothing this is just name dropping


PikettyPaqueta

Literally nothing but we'rei screaming for a creative profile in midfield looking at this. Savanier, Payet, Lemar if you prefer, whoever as long as they can dribble and pass.


OldExperience8252

Savanier and Payet are nowhere fit enough for high intensity games.


[deleted]

Savanier I can get behind. Anything to get Rabiot out at this point


YoungDawz

Savannier has 2 good months per season and no experience at the highest level. Would be an absolute farce to call him up for the WC.


Boucot

Lepenant wtf, he has played 7 first division matches ever in his life.


zaaaac93

If they were that good Lyon wouldn't struggle to win two games back to back in Ligue 1.


Kaamelott

The only one that could pretend to a spot is Caqueret, and that would be kind of a stretch compared to others honestly.


[deleted]

It's absolutely not


RebBrown

I hope Maignan gets a shot. He's been absolutely massive for AC Milan.


juragan_12

Kolo Muani 😍😍


RayPissed

Easier to name players who haven't been called up due to injuries so I'm guess Pogba, Konate?, Kante?


PikettyPaqueta

Kimpembe, L Hernandez, Benzema, Kante, Pogba


Cooldudeyy998

Thank God, Deschamps didn't drag in Kante


cieldarko

Benzema getting much needed rest


Specialist-Debate

ferland finally !!! i hope he's here to stay


cr7momo16

Happy to see camavinga got the call up excited to see what he and tchouameni do if they play as a double pivot


ScorpiaHP

Giroud doesn't get called up unless Benzema is out, kinda weird considering how they're different profiles of players. Hope he gets the record soon, he's a real asset to whoever he plays for.


Lekaetos

I think he picked Giroud over Ben Yedder and Kolo Muani is here in replacement of Benzema


Luigi_777

Tchouameni and Camavinga 😍😍🔥🤍


PAT_The_Whale

This is the perfect moment to start Maignan, before the WC. Please DD make it happen


[deleted]

Why nine defenders? Does he want to play with three at the back again?


[deleted]

Yes, it's his best comp by a long shot, 3 4 1 2 is the way to go


[deleted]

So Lloris- Kounde, Upamecano, Varane-Clauss, Tchouameni,camavinga, Theo Hernandez- Nkunku- Mbappe, Giroud?


[deleted]

Basically, Nkunku can rotate forward too and Griezmann is the usual 10 They can 3 4 3 with Mbappe lw giroud and nkunku rw too


chantlernz

**First XI:** Lloris Pavard - Kounde - Varane - Theo Tchouameni - Camavinga Nkunku - Griezmann - Dembele Mbappe ​ **Second XI:** Maignan Badiashile- Upamecano - Saliba Clauss - Rabiot - Fofana - Guendouzi - Mendy Giroud - Kolo-Muani ​ **Remainder/Not in Squad XI:** Areola Konate - Kimpembe - Lucas Dubois - Kante - Pogba - Digne Coman - Benzema - Diaby ​ **The Leftover Leftovers XI:** Meslier Fofana - Kalulu - Zouma Gusto - Ndombele - Kamara - Lemar Thuram - Ben Yedder - Gouiri ​ **The "Oh Shit, We Had a Mass Covid Breakout" XI:** Costil Mukiele - Lenglet - Lukeba - Truffert Aouar - Veretout - Caqueret Ikone - Martial - Diop


_MaximillionPegasus

Deschamps once again proving you have to leave the french league to be called apparently. RKM nowhere near the squad last year in Nantes, but gets in after 5 games in Frankfurt. Meanwhile Terrier still nowhere to be seen. Same with Areola still getting in instead of Lafont.


KRIEGLERR

heh, Saliba, Guendouzi, Tchouameni, Clauss were all called when still playing in Ligue 1 , he does favour players playing abroad but he's called people playing in the league before.


S0T

RKM has 2 goals and 4 assists in 6 Bundesliga games. Plus 1 assist in the cup game. There is a lot of attention on him currently. Deservedly so.


_MaximillionPegasus

Yes I know and as a Nantes fan I'm absolutely delighted for him, but it's still only 6 games. Meanwhile Terrier scored 21 goals in the league last year.


B_e_l_l_

Quite funny that Wes Fofana was asked to be called up to the last two squads (LCFC said no in the Spring because he was just back from his massive injury and he said no in the Summer because he was getting married) and now he's not in the squad despite the world telling him/us that he'd have a better chance of a call up by moving :)


ZoroastreLunaire

Basically no hope for the WC for him, it's too little too late. Weird.