The French Hopes of the Post-Henry Era

Thierry Henry’s successor on the bench of the French Espoirs team, Gérald Baticle made his very first selection this Thursday.

Like Didier Deschamps, Gérald Baticle, the new coach of the Bleuets, was called upon this Thursday to unveil a list of 23 names to attack the qualifications of the Euro Espoirs and the upcoming matches against Slovenia (on September 6 in Angers) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (on September 10 in Le Mans).

Deprived of Michael Olise and Manu Koné, retained in the A team, Gérald Baticle has kept no less than 12 Olympic vice-champions dear to Thierry Henry in his France group.

Note the returns of Georginio Rutter, Quentin Merlin and Ismaël Doukouré; as well as the first call-ups of Robin Risser and Dilane Bakwa.

The 23 Blueberries selected by Gérald Baticle:

Goalkeepers: Nkambadio (Paris FC), Risser (Strasbourg), Restes (Toulouse)

Defenders: Doukoure (Strasbourg), Belocian (Leverkusen, ALL), Esteve (Burnley, ENG), Gusto (Chelsea, ENG), Lukeba (Leipzig, ALL), Matsima (Monaco), Merlin (OM), Sildillia (Fribourg, ALL )

Midfielders: Akliouche (Monaco), Diouf (Lens), Lepenant (Nantes), Ugochukwu (Chelsea, ANG), Magassa (Monaco), Millot (Stuttgart, ALL)

Forwards: Doué (PSG), Bakwa (Strasbourg), Kalimuendo (Rennes), Odobert (Tottenham, ANG), Tel (Bayern Munich, ALL), Rutter (Brighton, ANG)