Les Nouveux Bleus

          It was obvious for all to see that the French national team was in crisis at the World Cup in South Africa. With training ground bust-ups, players being sent home and an inquisition by the French government it was obvious to all that the French team needed a bit of a shake up. The figurehead of this 'French Revolution' is Laurent Blanc who left his post at Bordeaux to take up managing Les Bleus in the wake of France's World Cup embarrassment. Naturally with a new manager and the need for a complete overhaul of the team, new players have been selected to play for Les Tricolores. Here are a couple of players that have particularily caught my eye...

        Dimitri Payet - Originally from the French colony of Réunion, the 23 year old Saint-Étienne attacking midfielder was called up for the French national team for their Euro 2012 qualifiers against Romania and Luxembourg. Making his debut as a substitute for Karim Benzema in the 86th minute of the Romania game, Payet made an impact immediately by dribbling to the byline before neatly pulling it back for Yoann Gourcuff to slot home from the penalty spot. This wasn't beginners luck, Payet assisted Gourcuff yet again in his second cap against Luxembourg. His rich form is hardly  surprising as he has frequently set Ligue 1 on fire this season with his mazey runs that have pulled Saint-Étienne up to third in the table and have also seen Payet reach the top of the goalscorers chart with 8 already this season.

     

  Yann M'Vila - At only 20 years of age M'Vila was called up for Les Bleus for the first of his 4 caps so far in Laurent Blanc's first game in charge against Norway. Despite losing the game 2-1 M'Vila was highly praised by the French media who widely regarded him as France's best player. His decision making, positioning and distribution has not only helped him keep his place in the French team but has also catapulted his club side Rennes to the top of the league. With big clubs sniffing around M'Vila and having already expressed his desire to play for a big club abroad it won't be too long before Yann M'Vila is snapped up by one the the bigger European names.

       With this new look French side and their already successful fledgling international careers it his highly likely that Dimitri Payet and Yann M'Vila will be in many of Blanc's selections to come. One player yet to make his Tricolores debut but who will most definitely be considered for France's next game against England in a friendly at Wembley is M'Vila's Rennes team mate Yacine Brahimi. Despite a dark year for French football the future is bright for Les Bleus...
  

The Dutch Goal Machine - Ricky van Wolfswinkel

       From Cruyff and Van Basten to Kluivert and Van Nistelrooy, the Netherlands have always produced quality strikers and true to form they have produced yet another in Ricky van Wolfswinkel. The Utrecht striker has had a lightening start to the season which has included 9 goals in 9 appearances in the Eredivisie and 6 goals in 9 appearances in the Europa League, including a hat trick against Celtic. Van Wolfswinkel started his career at Vitesse where he made his first team debut on the 25th April 2008 against Sparta Rotterdam. After 33 appearances for the Arnhem club Van Wolfswinkel moved for around €5 million to his hometown club FC Utrecht after rejecting a host of big name clubs. His prolific goalscoring this season earned him a call up to the national team for the friendly against the Ukraine in August and has also attracted even bigger names such as Liverpool, Tottenham and Napoli to pursue Van Wolfswinkel. It is undoubtably only a matter of time before the Dutch striker applies his trade in a bigger league.

Unai the Great?

       La Liga has been dominated over the last 7 seasons by the Spanish super powers Barcelona and Real Madrid but this year a thorn in the side of the top two is debt ridden Valencia who, after 6 rounds of matches, lie at the top of the league with 16 points. With debts estimated to be around €400 million, a half built new stadium and having to sell two of the brightest lights of Spanish football in David Villa and David Silva this many had little hope for Valencia this season. One asset they do have though is manager Unai Emery.

     Having taken over from Ronald Koeman in 2008 Emery led Valencia to 6th place in his first season in charge and Europa League qualification. A year later Emery delivered once more by getting Valencia to 3rd in La Liga, securing Champions League qualification, and reaching the quarter finals of both the Europa League and the Copa del Rey. This season, however, is by far his biggest task. The sale of David Villa, Valencia's top goalscorer for the last 5 seasons, to Barcelona left a massive hole in the squad that many thought he would be unable to fill however he seems to have consummately filled that with the signings of Roberto Soldado and Artiz Aduriz. The latter in particular seems to be a masterstroke of a signing having scored 3 goals in 5 appearances after his £3,870,000 (€4,300,000) from RCD Mallorca in the summer. Aduriz's form for his new club earned him his first call up for the Spanish national team in the 3-1 home win against Lithuania.

      This Saturday will be Valencia's biggest test so far this season and the first chance for Emery to show that his side have the true strength to contend for this year's La Liga when they visit the Camp Nou to play Barcelona. Although it's still early in the season this game could be pretty pivotal in the title race for Unai and his men.