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If Newcastle Have A French Future – Is It A Bright One?

11 years ago
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You might have noticed that Newcastle United have signed a ‘few’ French players in recent times.

The general consensus being that you get more ‘bang for your buck’, or in this case more footballing talent for your pound…once you change it into Euros to buy them.

Maybe there is value to be had with French players but maybe the only question is – are they good enough for the Premier League?

At some stage this season, Newcastle could conceivably play the following eleven in the Premier League;

Krul, Debuchy, Colo, Mapou, Haidara, Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Sissoko, Marveaux, Gouffran, Remy

In fact, it would only take injuries to Cisse and Santon for this to be many fans’ first choice eleven, a side containing 9 French players. If you really wanted to force the point then you could chuck Obertan at centre-back and Amalfitano in goal.

So basically we’d be relying on more or less a French team to do battle in the Premier League

Now like most of the rest of you I have been carried along by the idea of all of these players from across the Channel choosing to come to Newcastle. The romance of it all…when you are winning.

What would you think though if Newcastle suddenly replaced half a dozen of our French players with a job lot from Greece, Ecuador or Bosnia-Herzegovina?

The latest world rankings of national sides has just been published and this is how they line up;

1                     Spain

2                     Germany

3                     Columbia

4                     Argentina

5                     Netherlands

6                     Italy

7                     Portugal

8                     Croatia

9                     Brazil

10                 Belgium

11                 Greece

12                 Uruguay

13                 Bosnia-Herzegovina

14                 England

15                 Switzerland

16                 Russia

17                 Ecuador

18                 Ivory Coast

19                 USA

20                 Mexico

21                 Chile

22                 Peru

23                 France

24                 Ghana

25                 Norway

The rankings are not an exact science but when you are ranked 23rd it is not a glaring error and you should really be top five.

If you take it a step further, the reality is that only Debuchy, Sissoko and Cabaye are regular first choice squad members for France. Mapou and Ben Arfa could force their way in at any time but need to show more than they did last season.

It is now some time since France were the dominant force in World football, lifting the World Cup on home soil in 1998.

Maybe it is no coincidence that what many fans would consider Newcastle’s best two players aren’t actually French and indeed ARE featuring in national squads that figure in the top five ranked countries in the world.

Newcastle paid top dollar for Coloccini and Krul was brought in as a kid, neither were ‘bargain’ buys in a competitive transfer market of established players.

I obviously really hope that our French players are up to the job of helping Newcastle bounce back.

If the future continues to be French then I hope the Gallic adventure hasn’t blinded us to reality.

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