Anelka not the only one to blame, says Gourcuff

KNYSNA, South Africa (AP):

Nicolas Anelka is too isolated in France's attack and needs greater support if coach Raymond Domenech's misfiring 4-3-3 system is to click at the World Cup, according to teammate Yoann Gourcuff.

Anelka was preferred ahead of Thierry Henry to play as the lone centre forward in the warm-up matches against Costa Rica, Tunisia and China. But his failure to score in any of them means he is now under pressure to keep his place for Friday's opening group game against Uruguay, with Henry, Andre-Pierre Gignac or Djibril Cisse in line to replace him.

Gourcuff thinks it's unfair to only blame Anelka and says France must do better from the wings and midfield.

"We need more presence in front of goal when we cross the ball, to give Nico more support," Gourcuff said yesterday. "We need to get three or four players into the (penalty) area."

France needed a goal from defender William Gallas to salvage a 1-1 draw at Tunisia after creating very little, and missed numerous chances in the 2-1 home win against Costa Rica and their 1-0 loss to China.

"Sometimes there were crosses and only Nicolas was in the area," Gourcuff said. "Against China in the first half, Nico got the ball out wide and crossed it in and there was no one there."

Packed midfield

Because of France's touch and movement off the ball, teams often deploy a packed midfield to protect a defence that sits very deep. Gourcuff says it's up to France to play at a quicker tempo to open up teams.

"We were too slow in our passing, which meant (China) had time to regroup every time. We needed to go faster to pull them out of position," Gourcuff said. "We will work on that, notably on getting more people in front of goal when we're crossing, because our game is all about movement out wide, one-twos, and crosses."

There is a lack of confidence running through the France team, with players seemingly still unclear about their roles.

"We do talk among ourselves and with the coach, to see what each player thinks in a certain situation, so that we will be thinking and doing the same thing the next time," Gourcuff said.