Many young, French footballers have been prematurely hyped as the next Zidane over the last decade. Among them, Yoann Gourcuff is probably the one with the greatest chance of living up to the title. The supertalent moved from Rennes to Milan at a young age, where he failed to make a big impression. After two years of mostly subsititute appearances, he was loaned back to France and Bordeaux for the 08/09 season. No one expected him to take off the way he did, not in the least Milan who had offered the French club a buy-out clause of €15M. Gourcuff produced 13 goals and 14 assists from an offensive role in the center of midfield in his first season at Bordeaux, which earned him the Ligue 1 Player of the Year award. He quickly established himself for the French national team, and became a favourite of Domenech's.
Gourcuff's main attributes are his incredible touch on the ball and his vision and range of passing. Coupled with an ability to score goals, it's easy to see the similarities with Zidane. Also being a tireless worker, Bordeaux didn't have to think hard when they opted to meet Milan's buy-out clause. Gourcuff was hyped as the next big thing in French football ahead of the 09/10 season, but this time he had a harder time living up to the high expectations. He started off well, as Bordeaux looked dead set for a second consective title, topping the Ligue 1 table comfortably as the first half of the season progressed. Even more impressive were Gourcuff's and Bordeaux's performance in the Champions League, where they won their group ahead of Bayern and Juventus. But as Bordeaux hit a wall and sunk like a stone during the second half, finishing 6th, incredibly 14 points behind Marseille, and were knocked out in the quarter final of the Champions League to French rivals Lyon, Gourcuff went missing with the rest of his team. He also ceased to stand out in a French national team that struggled to qualify for the World Cup.
Whether Gourcuff can find his form again is critical to France's chances of doing well in South Africa, or even just advancing from their competitive group. Domenech put alot of faith in him when he excluded Nasri from the French squad, leaving Gourcuff as their only central playmaker. But even if he fails to perform at this World Cup, under Domenech's dubious guidance, we shouldn't dismiss the young midfielder, as he has all the attributes to become a main player in world football in the future.
G. Lindström
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