Euro 2012 Comment: France's Forward Options Leave A Lot To Be Desired - Where Can Laurent Blanc Turn For Goals?

Laurent Blanc walked into a prestigious position with excessive problems when he agreed to become the new France manager. The Raymond Domenech era was ultimately regressive, despite a World Cup final appearance in 2006. France's football fabric has been torn. The side are currently ranked outside the top 20 nations in the world behind Australia, Slovenia and other teams of lesser esteem.

Some of the issues within the French squad were glaringly apparent upon Blanc's appointment; the factions, poor morale, suspensions, strikes. But one area of difficulty for the new boss which slipped under the radar was the dearth of striking talent currently available to les Bleus.

The 85 goals over a decade or so for Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet papered over the cracks in the French attack. Those two merit a place on France's all-time top scorers' list, but it is notable that Zinedine Zidane and Michel Platini, midfielders, complete the top four. The highest-scoring Frenchman still available for selection is Sidney Govou, with 10.

The new generation was supposed to be led by Karim Benzema, but personal differences with Domenech and a poor first season at Real Madrid have left the young forward in a state of inertia. The other options available to Blanc have not yet imposed themselves on the international scene.

Domestic heavyweights like Andre-Pierre Gignac and Jimmy Briand simply do not cut the same figure in the national team colours. Indeed, for the Belarus defeat, Briand, Benzema, Jeremy Menez and Kevin Gameiro were the names put forward for selection in attack; only Benzema has scored for his country. He has done so eight times for 28 caps, underwhelming, as was Nicolas Anelka's goal return before he was effectively forced into international retirement.

For Blanc, the it is hard to see from where the goals will come. He specialised in set-piece strength at Bordeaux, with Yoann Gourcuff conjuring, but does not have a Maraouane Chamakh in the French ranks. Guillaume Hoarau is of a similar build to the Moroccan but is unproven at international level.

Blanc needs to establish his number one forward soon or his side could be out of the running for a Euro 2012 place before long. It is time for one of the below to take responsibility and fill in where Henry and Trez left off.

Karim Benzema	Jimmy Briand	Andre-Pierre Gignac	Kevin Gameiro
Caps: 28 Goals: 8 Strike Rate: 1/3.5 Last goal: 14/10/09	Caps: 4 Goals: 0 Strike Rate: n/a Last goal: n/a	Caps: 16 Goals: 4 Strike Rate: 1/4 Last goal: 14/10/09	Caps: 1 Goals: 0 Strike Rate: n/a Last goal: n/a

Guillaume Hoarau	Jeremy Menez	Sidney Govou	Hatem Ben Arfa
Caps: 2 Goals: 0 Strike Rate: n/a Last goal: n/a	Caps: 2 Goals: 0 Strike Rate: n/a Last goal: n/a	Caps: 49 Goals: 10 Strike Rate: 1/4.9 Last goal: 6/9/08	Caps: 8 Goals: 2 Strike Rate: 1/4 Last goal: 11/08/10

Djibril Cisse	Loic Remy	Louis Saha	Bafetimbi Gomis
Caps: 40 Goals: 9 Strike Rate: 1/4.4 Last goal: 8/10/2005	Caps: 3 Goals: 0 Strike Rate: n/a Last goal: n/a	Caps: 19 Goals: 4 Strike Rate: 1/4.75 Last goal: 11/10/06	Caps: 5 Goals: 2 Strike Rate: 1/2.5 Last goal: 27/5/08

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