Former Premier League manager Gerard Houllier has warned England of the class and quality of France’s young players ahead of Euro 2012.
Houllier believes that France are much improved since appointing Laurent Blanc after a disastrous 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
“Laurent inherited a team in a tricky situation because he had to do without some players due to the penalties and sanctions after the World Cup,” said the former Liverpool and Aston Villa boss.
“The progress is one, the results, because they qualified directly for the European Championship. Two is building a new team, so he has to make a combination between experienced players and the younger ones.”
Houllier’s players to watch for France were: Loic Remy (Marseille), Kevin Gameiro (Paris Saint-Germain), and Moussa Sissoko (Toulouse).
I’m a bit surprised he didn’t include Karim Benzema, especially since the Real Madrid star was wrongfully left out of France’s World Cup squad in 2010.
“The young French players that they may not know, but should be looking out for, include Loic Remy, who plays for Marseille,” Houllier continued.
“He started at Lyon, went to Nice and is now at Marseille. He is quick and can be a handful.
“Probably Kevin Gameiro, who plays for Paris [Saint-Germain]. He is a goalscorer and is quick as well. In midfield, Moussa Sissoko from Toulouse.
“I don’t know whether Blanc will take Rafael Varane, but he is a young centre-back who plays for Real Madrid.”
Despite warning the Three Lions of the danger that France possesses, Houllier expects both teams to advance to the knockout stages, which means elimination for Sweden and co-hosts Ukraine.
“It’s the first match, so I think it will be a draw. It will be very hard and competitive, but I think it will be a draw,” added Houllier.
“The French fans, like the English ones, expect to go through. It’s not the most difficult group, but we didn’t have a difficult group in the World Cup either, so we have to be careful.
“Playing Ukraine will be tricky because they are the hosts, and you never know about Sweden, who qualified for the finals from a very tough group.”
The first game could be make or break for either England or France.
If one team takes the three points they will surely on their way to the knockout stages.
However, the losing team in this scenario could find themselves on the brink of elimination.
Sweden is more than capable of fulling off an upset victory and the hosts have historically done really well at the European Championships.
Will England and France both reach the knockout stages of Euro 2012?
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