The Arsenal players in the France international squad would appear to have the edge on their Premier League rivals in the plans of the France manager Didier Deschamps, or at least for the opening game of the Euro 2016 tournament tonight against an unfancied Romania team.
The fact that our excellent centre back Laurent Koscielny is due to get the nod ahead of the Man City defender Eliaquim Mangala is hardly surprising really, as the Gunner was one of the most consistent and impressive players in the Premier League last season, while the only consistency with Mangala is how he has continually failed to justify his huge transfer fee.
But if Sky Sports are right about our big centre forward Olivier Giroud being preferred to the Man United forward Anthony Martial then there will be a few more raised eyebrows, especially after Giroud suffered his longest ever barren spell for us last season and only got back among the goals very recently.
The Arsenal striker was also booed by the French fans in one of their recent friendly games, but Deschamps seems to be like Arsene Wenger in having great belief in the big man’s ability. A lot of Arsenal fans will disagree but I can see their point, especially in a game like tonight’s when they can expect Romania to sit deep and defend for their lives.
Being English I do not want France to win Euro 2016 but I would love to see our Arsenal stars shine tonight, so Allez Les Bleus! Or Allez Olly and Laurent at least!