France's era of dominance is over, says Wenger
Sunday September 12, 2004
LONDON: France are no longer a dominant force in European soccer and the frustration shows in Arsenal's French contingent, the Premier League club's manager Arsene Wenger said on Friday.
“For a while France have been flying, but that does not last forever. Now they have come back to more basic performances and more basic results,” Wenger told reporters.
Wenger watched Raymond Domenech's France draw 0-0 with Israel in Paris last weekend and the former world and European champions then only managed to scrape a 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands on Wednesday.
“In the past, people have been watching France's games just to see how many goals they would score, but those times have passed now,” Wenger said.
The disappointing result on the Faroe Islands was also marred by a red card for Arsenal's Patrick Vieira, France's new captain, who earned a booking for diving in the box.
“Things were going very smoothly, but now they are not going as smoothly as they want and I can say that my French players have come back from international duty a little bit frustrated.”
Arsenal midfielder Robert Pires has added to the increasing pressure by criticising the new Domenech regime following the departure of Jacques Santini after a disappointing Euro 2004.
Wenger believes France must re-build from scratch and lower their expectations.
“You can see that there are some problems in the France camp,” he said.
“They look as if they are struggling against smaller teams now. They have had players who have retired, there is a new manager and a new approach.” – Reuters
[路透社]温格：法国队优势不再
伦敦：周五阿森纳主教练温格表示，法国队在欧洲足坛已没有优势可言。
“法国队曾经一度处于领先，现在却越是趋于平凡了。”
上周末温格在巴黎观看了法国0-0以色列的比赛。而在周三的比赛中，前世界杯和欧洲杯双料冠军法国队仅仅以2-0艰难战胜法罗群岛队。
“以前大家看法国队比赛时，想到更多的是法国队能打进几个球，但现在不是了。”
在对法罗群岛的比赛中，阿森纳球员维埃拉更是因在禁区内假摔领受第2张黄牌被罚出场。
“阿森纳队里的法国队员，也因国家队比赛受到了影响。”
其中，阿森纳的中场球员皮雷对主教练多米尼克非常不满。
温格认为法国队必须从新开始，并降低期望值。
“法国队内存在一些问题。”
“即使对阵弱队，法国也不是那么轻松。还有些老队员退出了国家队，又换了新的教练，新的打法。”
