Lemerre's World Cup blues

By uefa.com's Andrew Warshaw

Time is a great healer but as the days pass and the psychological wounds begin to heal, the post mortems are far from over. The tears may have dried up and FIFA World Cup may have moved on but the question still remains. Where did it all go wrong for Roger Lemerre and his vanquished world champions?

Press criticism
As the French coach considers his future against a barrage of criticism in the national press, fingers have been pointing in virtually every direction to try and explain the unprecedented failure of a team which plummeted from near-invincibility to complete capitulation in a matter of weeks.

Worrying warm-up
Some say the signs were already there. That the worrying warm-up campaign when France suffered a rare home defeat against Belgium and could only draw with Russia were a worrying indication of what was to come when things got serious.
Others point out that it was too great a risk playing Zinedine Zidane in the final preparation game against the Korean Republic and that, had France's mercurial playmaker been rested, he would have come on strong in the competition proper.

Zidane injury
Instead, of course, Zidane got injured, his sudden and unexpected unavailability so disrupting Lemerre's well-laid plans that France were never able to compensate for his absence. When he did return, for the third game against Denmark, the mountain France had to climb was far too great for the world's most expensive player.

Ageing defence
Yet the Zidane factor, as it came to be known, was not the only reason for France's sensational early exit. Lemerre's defence always had a ponderous look about it and all the pre-tournament concerns were realised when experienced but ageing players simply could not cope with strong, powerful forwards running at them with pace.

Lemerre’s loyalty
Now, as they look ahead to defending their other trophy, the UEFA European Championship, a total dismantling of the back line seems inevitable. Marcel Desailly and Frank Leboeuf were always likely to be found out. Lemerre may have known as much himself but he was nothing if not loyal to those who had served their country so valiantly in the past.

Pires absent
Yet there were other factors which also contributed to France's failure. While Zidane's injury should not be underestimated - Lemerre himself admitted the Real Madrid CF star was pivotal to France's hopes of retaining the World Cup - it should not be forgotten that the world champions' next best midfield player, Robert Pires, was also conspicuous by his absence. Had the Arsenal FC man been available, he and his country might just have managed to absorb the loss of Zidane in the first two games. Without both Pires and Zidane, however, the task proved too great.

Striking impotence
Arguably the biggest disappointment for Lemerre, however, must have been the inability of his much-lauded forwards to have any influence at all on the opposition. With the leading scorers in last season's Italian, French and English leagues in his squad, Lemerre must have thought that however many goals France conceded, they would score more.

Lone forward
Four years ago, the French won the World Cup without a recognised striker yet when they had three of the best in David Trezeguet, Thierry Henry and Djibril Cissé, they failed to find the net once. Lemerre's policy of playing only one forward may have contributed to the situation but he could not have imagined all three of them failing to maintain their club form of last season when they scored 68 goals between them.

’We could have scored six or seven’
"When you look at the games we played we could have scored six or seven," said Chelsea FC midfield player Emmanuel Petit. "It is very difficult to understand and very frustrating. All we lacked is a little luck."

Henry dismissal
And that, perhaps, is the one factor which critics of Lemerre's team have failed to appreciate. No side has won the World Cup without a healthy dose of luck. France themselves had it in abundance in 1998. This time, it deserted them completely. When Henry was sent off against Uruguay with his country desperately needing a lifeline, for instance, you sensed you were about to witness the end of an era.

New era
When it was all over, a crestfallen Lemerre bemoaned the lack of competitive matches in the build-up to the World Cup. Whether he was clutching at straws, no one will ever know. But one thing is certain - a new era is about to begin for Les Bleus.