After weeks of rumors and a stupendous crash and burn effort in
their short World Cup stay, it seems France's problems can be
drilled down to the rampant jealousy and ill-will for one man --
Yoann Gourcuff.
Through no fault of his own, the 23-year-old former Ligue 1
player of the year and French Player of the Year, apparently became
the main source of division within the squad that would spiral
completely out of control in just a matter of days. Senior members
of the team like Nicolas Anelka, Franck Ribery, Eric Abidal and
William Gallas, who grew up much less well-off than the son of
French club Lorient's manager, tried to make Yoann an outcast and
destroyed their team in the process. The, ahem, Irish Times
explains:
It is no coincidence these are the players who have frozen
Gourcuff out in South Africa. They resent the way the French press
builds Gourcuff up as Zinedine Zidane’s successor. They envy the
positive attention he receives from the media. They regard him as
arrogant and pretentious because he reads books and expresses
himself eloquently when analysing a game.
Raymond Domenech wanted to build his attack around the 2008/09
French Player of the Year, but several senior players objected,
pressurising the coach to restore Henry or Florent Malouda to the
line-up. In the opening game against Uruguay, Anelka and Ribery
made their stance abundantly clear by refusing to pass to Gourcuff.
[...]
Yet Domenech did not feel he had the authority to sanction them,
and instead dropped Gourcuff for the second game against
Mexico.
Reports of Anelka and Ribery refusing to pass to Gourcuff first
leaked out after that match against Uruguay but seemed far too
unbelievable to give any thought. What top professionals would
sabotage themselves by letting petty infighting and jealousies get
it in the way of who they pass to on the pitch? Of course, these
rational thoughts came before training sessions were
boycotted and traitors were
accused.
So when you shake your head and wag your finger or unleash a
hearty laugh in the direction of this French team, be sure aim away
from Yoann Gourcuff. Even though his red
card in their final match against South Africa failed to
help an already doomed cause.
