Hosts France favourites for Euro 2016 despite Olivier Giroud up front, absentees galore and a dubious defence

The list of French stars NOT in coach Didier Deschamps' final 23 would make up a decent international side but there are issues at both ends of the pitch.

Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane inspired France to the title the last twice Les Bleus played host to major tournaments.

Now, Didier Deschamps – the captain who lifted the World Cup for Zidane and co in 1998 – is under huge ­pressure to complete the hat-trick at Euro 2016 with the next generation.

This time, the French build-up has been beset with problems on and off the pitch, with the whole spine of a team absent from their final squad.

Raphael Varane, Mamadou Sakho, Lassana Diarra and Mathieu Valbuena are all missing, while Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa were controversially excluded .

Yet such is the talent in French football, the hosts are still ­favourites to lift the trophy in Paris on July 10.

Deschamps won silverware as France captain — now he aims to repeat the trick as their coach

Now a nation waits to see who will be the inspirational heroes to follow in the ­footsteps of Platini, Alain Giresse and Jean Tigana at Euro 84, and Zidane, Thierry Henry and Youri Djorkaeff at France 98.

The new ­generation play at the top clubs across Europe: Anthony Martial at Manchester United, Antoine Griezmann at Atletico Madrid, Paul Pogba at Juventus and Kingsley Coman at Bayern Munich.

Leicester’s N’Golo Kante has also stormed into the squad and West Ham’s Dimitri Payet has earned a recall. His superb recent winner against Cameroon showed he is bringing his club form and dead-ball expertise to the international stage.

West Ham idol Payet's free-kick wizardry has earned him a France recall

The two ­problems: scoring goals and stopping them.

Top-scorer Benzema has been left out after his alleged involvement in the blackmail of Valbuena, so Olivier Giroud will lead the line.

If he is not good enough to win the Premier League for Arsenal, can he score the goals to win Euro 2016?

The alternatives are Martial or Mexico-based Andre-Pierre Gignac.

The Premier League-based defence is also a concern, with the centre-back pairing of Eliaquim Mangala and Laurent Koscielny looking as watertight as the banks of the Seine after the recent weeks of torrential rain.

In pre-tournament friendlies against Holland (3-2), Russia (4-2) and Cameroon (3-2), France had to score three times to win.

You can’t emerge ­victorious in an international ­competition like that.

But roared on by a French public seeking unifying success to take away attention from widespread industrial action and the threat of more terrorism, Deschamps’ team will be serious contenders.

Football transfer rumours: Arsenal's Olivier Giroud heading to Wolfsburg?

The Rumour Mill is usually at its most plump and juicy when there isn’t much football news to report upon elsewhere. When space needs to be crammed with half-truths and gossip, and people need their fill of news and so forth. So given there’s not much else around today for anyone to get excited about, you can only imagine there’s going to be some red hot stuff ahead.

We could start here, at the good old Guardian, where there’s word that new Manchester City head honcho Pep Guardiola is set to start the uphill battle of grappling the title from Leicester City’s grasp by triggering Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte’s release fee, which stands at €50m. It says here - here - that: ‘The club’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain was pictured in Bilbao last month, with Basque newspaper EITB reporting that City have told Athletic officials that they are willing to meet his release clause. “It is a specific request of Pep Guardiola,” read the report.’

On to other places now, and word on the street is that Wolfsburg, afterre leasing Nicklas Bendtner, have learned their lesson about signing lumbering Arsenal fancypants strikers who probably think they’re a bit better than they actually are, and are… oh, wait, hang on … they’re keen on Olivier Giroud. Hmmm. Yes. Well. Other targets for them Wolves – not them Wolves – supposedly include Besiktas striker Mario Gómez, according to Kicker magazine. Sound the alarm.

Oooh, here’s one – France Football report that Liverpool are running the rule over Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Javier Pastore, a man who’s mulling his future in France due to… well, largely due to not playing that many games. Just the 10 starts this season, all in all, and you’d imagine young Javier more fancies his chances of dislodging Adam Lallana than Ángel Di María. Sorry Adam.

Andriy Yarmolenko. He’s good. So good, in fact, that his current chairman thinks it would be beneath him to play for some of the finest clubs dear old Blighty has to offer. Well, sort of. Dynamo Kiev president Ihor Surkis doesn’t think the winger will leave his club this summer, but if he does then it will be for one of the big dogs. “He is already a top player, so he should go to a top club,” Surkis said. “My position is that we should not let Yarmolenko go to such clubs as Everton and Stoke City. Dynamo is Dynamo and Stoke City is Stoke. We’re playing in the Champions League and Stoke City are fighting for survival.” Well, they’re 10th, but who’s counting?

How ‘bout some sexy new contracts? John Terry wants one, and what John Terry wants from Chelsea, John Terry usually gets, but even this one might be beyond his creaking ol’ limbs. Erik Lamela fancies one too, hoping to stick around with Tottenham despite their abject, disgraceful and catastrophic failure of a season. And Riyad Mahrez is in line for a spanking, shiny, digit-filled deal too. He’s probably earned that one.

And finally, here’s word from South Wales, where the local journal has it that Francesco Guidolin has impressed Watford sufficiently that they are considering replacing Quique Sánchez Flores with him. The Pozzo family, Watford’s owners, know the Italian well after he spent four years managing Udinese.

Olivier Giroud backed by Arsenal manager to go on a scoring spree after Hull brace ends drought

The Frenchman went 11 games without a goal before his double in the FA Cup replay and Arsene Wenger says it's a weight off the striker's shoulders.

Arsene Wenger has backed Olivier Giroud to go on another scoring spree now the France striker has been set free by his brace at Hull.

The Arsenal boss admitted his Gunners are striving to “stay alive” in three competitions this week – starting with Sunday’s quarter-final with Watford.

And Giroud is set to play a central role after coming back from the dead and ending an 11-game barren run with his double strike on Tuesday.

The £13million forward has form for following famine with feast – and scored seven in seven in one burst in the autumn.

And along with fellow forwards Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott, Wenger reckoned his fellow Frenchman is ready to fire again as the Gunners continue their quest for a record third consecutive FA Cup.

Drought: Giroud was closing in on a dozen games without a goal

“It is a weight on the shoulders when the players don’t score,” he admitted. “So the fact that they score will of course take that weight off. But it is a bit cyclic always, especially for Giroud. Giroud has cycles so it was a weight off his shoulders.

“Football has to be instinctive and you have to play with freedom. When you play with a bit more freedom, when the goals are natural. Every striker will tell you that.

“With Giroud, this season for example he has had games where he has gone boom, boom, boom, boom boom and after he had a little spell where he didn’t score and now I hope he has a repetition of his former spell and start to score again.”

Super cool Giroud always appears unfazed as he approaches defenders and life with a Gallic shrug.

But Wenger admitted: “Between what he says and what is real, even I don’t really know what is going in there. You know that if you don’t score and you are a striker, somewhere you are not happy.”

Walcott revealed after the Hull win that Arsenal, who ended a five-match run with a win at Hull, had held a fiery team meeting to get their faltering season back on track.

“We manage this club in a very modern way,” Wenger insisted.

“We do many meetings with the players. Sometimes we encourage them to do as well their own meetings. Incidentally, I was completely aware of that. Just like to reiterate that was before the Swansea game that we lost. That was not unusual and, as well, not a miraculous result!”

In pictures - Hull 0-4 Arsenal:

Gunners host Watford before mission impossible at Barcelona in the Champions League and then a crucial league match away to Everton.

Wenger said: “We want to stay alive in all of them but then again lets be focused on the next one. I don’t know if the FA Cup is our best chance of a trophy. I don’t think like that.”

Asked if his players could be complacent about finishing in the top four for a 20th consecutive season, the Gunners boss insisted: “The players are not in the comfort zone and want to do well and they’ve not given up (on the title) or the Champions League.

“I feel we can have a run but we know how quickly it can change – we lost two games and suddenly looked like we would be in the Championship next year so it is game by game and all we know is we can not afford any more slips ups.”

Arsenal’s Wenger hoping Olivier Giroud back in ‘boom, boom, boom, boom, boom’ cycle

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has backed his strikers to hit the goal trail in the coming weeks after finally finding their scoring boots.

The club face Watford in their FA Cup sixth-round contest on Sunday looking to become the first team in living memory to win the competition three times in succession.

Wenger’s side reached the last eight courtesy of a 4-0 replay win at Hull City – which saw Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott both score twice apiece to end their respective barren spells in front of goal.

Frenchman Giroud now has 20 goals for the season as he celebrated the birth of his second child with a double at the KC Stadium – but he had gone 11 games without a goal before then.

Similarly, Walcott had just six goals to his name this season before his fifth-round double – while Alexis Sanchez’s strike to earn Arsenal a point at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend was his first in the Premier League since October.

But now they are all back among the goals, Wenger believes the pressure has been lifted ahead of a pivotal week which sees Arsenal travel to Barcelona needing to overturn a 2-0 home defeat to advance in the Champions League before a trip to Everton on in the Premier League.

“Look, it is a weight on the shoulders when the players don’t score," Wenger said.

“So the fact that they score will of course take that weight off. Overall, I am pleased that they scored.

“But it is a bit cyclic always, especially for Giroud. Giroud has cycles so it was a weight off his shoulders. And Walcott too.

“You know this season for example he (Giroud) has had games where he has gone boom, boom, boom, boom, boom and after he had a little spell where he didn’t score and now I hope he has a repetition of his former spell and start to score again.

“You know that if you don’t score and you are a striker, somewhere you are not happy.

“Alexis as well against Tottenham scored. He suffers maybe more than everybody when he doesn’t score.

“Football has to be somewhere instinctive and you have to play with freedom. When you play with a bit more freedom, the goals are natural. Every striker will tell you that."

While Wenger admits that he has spoken to his attacking players about their goals drying up, the Frenchman was keen to stress it is more of a team effort – creating the sort of chances the likes of Giroud, Walcott, Sanchez and the fit-again Danny Welbeck can tuck away.

“We speak about it but the best way to speak about it, to sort it out is to play better collectively," he added.

“When the quality of the cross, the quality of the final ball is better it is easier to score and sometimes what you forget when you get in the final third, you have 0.1 to 0.2 seconds to make the right decision.

“And when you have a little hesitation, just a fraction short – in midfield you have 1-2 seconds to make a decision sometimes – when it gets there, just to be very quick and very decisive, decisiveness can go when you are not successful for a while."

Football: Long double brings Arsenal down to earth

Arsenal's Premier League title ambitions were dealt a painful blow as they were not so much beaten as humiliated 4-0 by a Shane Long-inspired Southampton on Saturday.

SOUTHAMPTON: Arsenal's Premier League title ambitions were dealt a painful blow as they were not so much beaten as humiliated 4-0 by a Shane Long-inspired Southampton on Saturday.

Favourites to win the title after their 2-1 victory over Manchester City, they knew that they could go to the top of the table by beating an out-of-form Southampton after Leicester City's defeat at Liverpool earlier in the day.

But somehow they made Southampton - short of confidence and goals and reeling from a 2-0 home defeat by Tottenham Hotspur a week ago - look like the team aiming for the top.

Dutch-born Curacao defender Cuco Martina, only in the team thanks to an injury to first-choice right-back Cedric Soares, put Southampton ahead with a sensational long-range strike in the 19th minute.

Long, himself only playing because of injury to top scorer Graziano Pelle, added a second, Jose Fonte headed in the third, and Long made it 4-0 in injury time.

St Mary's is not a lucky ground for Arsenal, where they lost on New Year's Day last season and have not won since December 2003.

But this was a potentially damaging result and display and Arsene Wenger's men must now aim for six points and nothing less from home matches against Bournemouth and Newcastle United.

Yet Arsenal started well. Unchanged from the starting XI that had beaten City last Monday, the visitors could have gone ahead in the second minute, but Olivier Giroud headed the ball well over from Mesut Ozil's corner.

Southampton looked energetic and in the mood to put recent disappointments behind them, but their early attacks foundered on the Arsenal defence.

When the visitors broke away, Aaron Ramsey's clever disguised pass reached Nacho Monreal, whose deflected cross almost drifted over the head of Maarten Stekelenburg.

Monreal had another chance when Martina headed unconvincingly out of defence and the left-back under-hit his shot straight at Stekelenburg.

ARSENAL SNOOZE

But that error by the man from Rotterdam was soon forgotten.

When Per Mertesacker headed away a routine cross from the left, any danger to the Arsenal goal seemed to have been averted until Martina hit the ball first time with the outside of his right foot, sending it curling past Petr Cech and into the bottom-left corner from fully 30 yards.

No-one looked more surprised than Martina, who was making his first league start after being restricted to a couple of Europa League appearances since his £1 million ($1.48 million, 1.35 million euros) close-season move from FC Twente.

Southampton could have added a second three minutes before half-time when Long outpaced Mertesacker, but with only Cech to beat, lifted his shot high over the bar.

Seconds earlier Theo Walcott had nodded wide at the near post from another Ozil corner, but Arsenal's previous dominance was a thing of the past, and things got even worse in the opening period of the second half.

When James Ward-Prowse sent a free-kick onto the head of Virgil Van Dijk, only the flag of the assistant referee ruled out a goal. It was a close decision.

But Southampton were not to be denied and in the 55th minute they deservedly doubled their lead.

Long began the move, passing to Mane on the right and running into the box for the return pass. Laurent Koscielny, his marker, tripped after fleeting contact with Long, who was left unmarked to shoot past Cech.

It was 3-0 in the 69th minute as Southampton scored a goal that summed up everything wrong with Arsenal on the night.

As Ryan Bertrand swung in a corner from the right, no Arsenal defender attacked the ball convincingly, in contrast to Saints captain Fonte, who threw himself between Koscielny and Mathieu Flamini and headed past Cech.

Now it was just a question of how many Southampton would score and having gone close when he hit the post, Long added a fourth when he drilled home a deserved second.

Stoke expose Van Gaal, Long dents Arsenal bid

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal's future was plunged into serious doubt on Saturday as his side lost at Stoke City, while title-chasing Arsenal crashed to a demoralising 4-0 defeat at Southampton.

United have now gone seven games without victory in all competitions -- their worst run since 1989-90 -- and speculation is rife that Van Gaal will pay for their slump with his job.

He had described the match as "must-win", but his side were deservedly beaten 2-0 at a windswept Britannia Stadium after Bojan Krkic punished a Memphis Depay error to open the scoring in the 19th minute before Marko Arnautovic slammed home a brilliant second goal seven minutes later.

Asked if he felt he still had the support of the United board, Van Gaal said: "You will have to wait and see, but I think so. I feel the support of everybody in the club."

He added: "It's more difficult because I'm also part of the four matches (in succession) that we have lost."

Van Gaal's side slipped to sixth in the table, three points below the Champions League places, with Stoke, managed by former United striker Mark Hughes, now three points behind them in 11th place.

After a highly eventful Boxing Day programme, Leicester City remained top despite a 1-0 loss at Liverpool after Arsenal failed to exploit their slip-up by capitulating at Southampton.

Cuco Martina broke the deadlock for Southampton in the 19th minute with a jaw-dropping 30-yard shot that swerved inside the left-hand post.

Shane Long struck twice in the second half, either side of a 69th-minute Jose Fonte header, as Ronald Koeman's side ended a five-game winless streak in fine style.

"We lost too many challenges today. They were sharper than us," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told BT Sport.

"The title is down to consistency to fight in every single game and produce a performance. Today was a very physical game and we didn't play well enough."

The result, Arsenal's fourth defeat of the campaign, brought Wenger's side spiralling to earth after their 2-1 win over Manchester City last Monday and kept Leicester two points clear at the summit.

Leicester fell to their first away defeat of the campaign, and second in total, after substitute Christian Benteke slid home Roberto Firmino's 63rd-minute cut-back to earn Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp a first win in four league games.

"We started to play too late," said Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri, whose side host third-place Manchester City on Tuesday.

"Liverpool pushed from the beginning and for this reason they deserved to win."

Manchester City reignited their title challenge by bouncing back from defeat at Arsenal with a breezy 4-1 win over second-bottom Sunderland that left them three points below Leicester.

Raheem Sterling, Yaya Toure and Wilfried Bony scored inside the first 22 minutes to put City in control, with Kevin De Bruyne adding a fourth before Fabio Borini replied for Sam Allardyce's side.

But it was not all positive news for City manager Manuel Pellegrini, with Bony skying a late penalty and, more worryingly, skipper Vincent Kompany limping off just eight minutes after coming on following eight games out with a calf injury.

"The only pity was Vincent Kompany's injury," Pellegrini said. "It is a calf. It is difficult to understand."

Tottenham Hotspur tightened their grip on fourth place by overcoming Norwich City 3-0 at White Hart Lane, where Harry Kane scored twice -- the first a penalty -- and Tom Carroll also found the target.

Diego Costa netted twice as Guus Hiddink began his second spell as Chelsea interim manager with a 2-2 draw at home to Watford, Oscar missing a late penalty that would have given the champions all three points.

Troy Deeney, with a penalty, and Odion Ighalo put Watford 2-1 ahead after Costa had given Chelsea a 32nd-minute lead, but the Spain striker equalised in the 65th minute from Willian's pass.

Oscar had a chance to give Chelsea victory when substitute Eden Hazard was fouled by Valon Behrami, but the Brazilian slipped as he took his penalty and sent the ball looping into the crowd. Chelsea remain 15th.

"At the end it is a fair result," said Hiddink, who will be without Costa through suspension for Monday's trip to United.

"But we had some chances and it was a pity Oscar slipped for the penalty."

Elsewhere, Crystal Palace rose one place to fifth after drawing 0-0 at Bournemouth.

Managerless Swansea City escaped the relegation zone as Ki Sung-Yueng's ninth-minute tap-in saw off West Bromwich Albion, while bottom club Aston Villa drew 1-1 at home to West Ham United.

Swansea's win dropped Newcastle United into the bottom three and they remained there as Tom Cleverley's 93rd-minute header earned Everton a last-gasp 1-0 win at St James' Park.

Manchester United's Anthony Martial sets up Olivier Giroud goal just FOUR minutes into full France debut

Martial was given the chance to impress on just his second international call-up and got off to the perfect start against Denmark

Anthony Martial's dream season has continued to get better after he impressed just minutes into his full France debut.

The £36million Manchester United man was handed his first start for the national team by boss Didier Deschamps in their friendly with Denmark on Sunday evening.

He immediately repaid his manager's faith in him by teeing up Olivier Giroud to put France ahead just four minutes into the match.

Since his move to United, Martial has bagged four goals and put in a host of impressive performances, despite being initially branded as a last-gasp deadline day panic buy.

He now stands a great chance of representing his country at the European Championships next summer, during their home finals.

Say cheese: Martial and the rest of the France team line-up before kick-off

Getting stuck in: Martial battles with Lars Jacobsen for the ball

France started their friendly clash like rapid-fire with Denmark, as Arsenal star Giroud doubled the scoring just two minutes after he netted his first.

Giroud recently admitted that he needed to toughen up and work his way back in the Gunners side, after he was dropped for Theo Walcott.

Back of the net: Giroud made an instant impact, taking advantage of Martial's assist.

High five: Giroud celebrates his second goal for France

Denmark's Erik Sviatchenko scored a late consolation for the hosts, but they lost the match 2-1.

Alongside Martial and Giroud, Morgan Schneiderlin, Moussa Sissoko and Eliaquim Mangala were the other Premier League stars to feature in the game.