I’m going to put it out there.
Anthony Modeste should be part of France coach Didier Deschamps’ squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Belarus when he names it on Thursday August 29.
One year ago this notion would have been scoffed at by many, not least a certain member of the French Football Weekly crew, who wagered that he wouldn’t score more than five goals. But after a surprisingly prolific season on loan from Bordeaux at Corsican side Bastia where he was their most-used player and scored fifteen league goals and two in the league cup, the 25-year-old is currently one of the most in-form French strikers.
Les Bleus’ current struggles up-front have been well documented. Deschamps’ preferred attacking option Karim Benzema has gone over 1100 minutes, that’s almost 20 hours, without scoring a single goal on the international stage. Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud, a more than adequate alternative, just does not seem to have the confidence of Deschamps.
So who else can France turn to?
It is a question I asked towards the end of last season when a number of potential candidates presented themselves, but none of them have managed to infiltrate the former Marseille coach’s plans so far. With a double-header against Belarus and Georgia coming up, not exactly the most challenging games but at the same time opponents who should not be underestimated, goals are desperately needed.
Andre-Pierre Gignac’s case for a recall since his last international involvement in 2010 has been championed since his improved form with OM last season. Just recently, former France coach Raymond Domenech added his voice to those calling for “Chicken McGignac” to be included on the international menu. However, the 27-year-old and Deschamps hardly enjoy the most cordial of relationships, even if it must now be time for the tactician to swallow his pride and mend some bridges.
Bafetimbi Gomis’ chances of being on the plane to Brazil, assuming France even get there, are looking slimmer with every passing day as his current situation at Lyon complicates further. New Sevilla signing Kevin Gameiro is still some way off of justifying a deserved second chance with the national side, but his move to Spain is a step in the right direction. Otherwise Lorient’s Jeremie Aliadiere is the only other credible option at this time, and his age, poor injury history and uncertain future in Brittany make him an unrealistic long-term option.
That is where Modeste could help. At 25, he still has plenty of time ahead of him and is in impressive goal-scoring form right now.
Where is the harm in giving him a chance? The Belarus and Georgia matches are not likely games that France will lose, but to win them you need to score goals and Les Bleus are not doing that at present.
11 strikes in 14 games is a poor return considering the quality Deschamps has at his disposal. But while Gignac is being pushed to the front of the queue by the French media, nobody is putting forward a case for Modeste to be included, despite him outscoring the Marseille man in Ligue 1 last season while playing for mid-table Bastia.
Now with German side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, it is surprising (not to mention disappointing to the FFW crew) that Bordeaux sanctioned the sale of the 15-goal striker this summer despite Francis Gillot’s desperate need for a goalscorer. Les Girondins sent Modeste to Corsica in order to prove that he was worthy of a first team place at the Stade Chaban Delmas and he did exactly that, proving the club and his critics wrong.
One year prior to that, the Frenchman had been sent on loan to then-struggling English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers. Steve Kean’s men were eventually relegated, Modeste failed to impress, and he returned having made just a handful of appearances and not scored a single goal.
His season-long spell on “the island” with Bastia had a reinvigorating effect. Gone was the Modeste of old who could only manage 13 goals in 52 appearances for Bordeaux after signing from Nice in 2010. Instead he looked confident and composed and became a genuinely feared opponent for many of the defences in Le Championnat.
That time in Corsica gave the Cannes-born striker the time to mature that he so badly needed after an impressive season on loan with second tier side Angers four years ago when he scored 20 league goals in 37 appearances. At that point, Modeste was a regular French under-21 international and was on the right path to elevation into the senior setup.
Bordeaux saw the potential in him and signed him from Nice, but instead of giving him time to develop, threw him into the first team immediately. Modeste coped admirably at first, netting 10 league goals in 37 games in 2010-11, but one year later he scored only three times all year and his confidence was shattered.
Watching him start the new Bundesliga season in vibrant form with new side Hoffenheim, picking up where he left off with Bastia, has been pleasing. Modeste has three goals from his side’s opening three matches, one in the draw with 1. FC Nürnburg and a double in the 5-1 win over Hamburger SV, a narrow miss in the chaotic 3-3 with Freiburg, and he was in impressive form in preseason too.
“I’m on the top of the world,” Modeste recently told bundesliga.com after the rout of Hamburg. “What could be better than playing in a fantastic league and producing high-quality football with your team?”
It is hard to argue that he did not make the right choice.
Anthony’s claims for international recognition are not quite so Modeste now, then. However, the only way for him to ensure that he gets a chance with Deschamps’ France side is to keep doing what he does best: scoring goals.
Former Saint-Etienne star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has already shown that talent signed from Ligue 1 can have an instant impact in the higher reaches of the Bundesliga. Modeste can continue to stake his claim in the less-pressured environment of Sinsheim, but could yet be the answer to France’s goal scoring SOS.