Why France Rejection of Ex-Arsenal Star Samir Nasri is Baffling

France announced their provisional World Cup squad yesterday and manager Didier Deschamps opted not to select Manchester City duo Gael Clichy and more importantly Samir Nasri.
The former Arsenal attacker was arguably one of the best players for Manchester City in their double winning campaign.
The French international scored 11 goals and provided 13 assists for the English side and also featured in 3 games for his country including the 2-0 loss in the first leg of WC play off against Ukraine.
Although it was expected that Deschamps will exclude Nasri from the world cup squad but the rejection of such a highly rated midfielder in reality makes no sense.
Here is the complete list of French stars selected in the provisional squad.
France do not have the world’s best stars and quality depth in their attacking setup as compared to the likes of Spain, Brazil, Argentina etc. Yet one of their most gifted players in Nasri was not selected.
Spain manager Vicente Del Bosque did not select Real Madrid playmaker Isco who played 31 La Liga games for Los Blancos and netted 8 times. However, few eyebrows were raised as the depth in their attacking midfield department is immense. The likes of Silva, Navas, Iniesta, Mata, Cazorla, Fabregas & Pedro are top quality players.
As far as France are concerned, Ribery is their best player whose form has dipped in the past year. Moreover, Sociedad’s Antoine Griezmann had a brilliant season. That is perhaps that, no other player comes close to the quality of Nasri, not Valbuena, not Grenier, definitely not Sissoko.
Deschamps did lift the World Cup as captain of France in 1998. As a manager, he is one of the better ones around with top level experience. Whether or not his decision of leaving Nasri will backfire, only time will tell.
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