French Football Weekly

After an international break, Kris, Phil, Conor and Jez round up how France have finished 2018, and look forward to the next round of Ligue 1, including OL v Saint-Etienne on Friday.

A limited team this week as Phil and Conor Ketley round up the Ligue 1 results, the European fixtures, and the Coupe de la Ligue. They focus on Montpellier 3 - 0 Marseille and Monaco's ongoing tailspin, before looking at games to watch at the weekend. Go Nimes.

The team gets together to round up all the results in Ligue 1 and Europe, but mostly focus on Le Classique, where PSG won 2-0 away at Marseille. Kris, Jez, Rich and Phil discuss defense, discipline, form and focus as the Coupe de la Ligue kicks off around them.

The FFW Towers bug continues (sorry about the coughing) but doesn't stop Kris, Phil, Jez and Rich from rounding up the results in Ligue 1, Thierry Henry's poor but explicable start at Monaco, Montpellier in the sunshine, Lille's changing approach, whether Ligue 1 is worth watching, the European competitions, and much else.

There's a bug going around FFW Towers, but this won't stop us rounding up France's matches against Iceland and Germany, Thierry Henry taking over at Monaco, and the matches to look out for as Ligue 1 comes back for round 10. Plus, Deschamps' pyro birthday cake for his 50th, a Charles Aznavour tribute at Armenia v Gibraltar, and a Ligue 2 round-up.

A duet this week as Phil and Jez mull over the French teams' performances in Europe, what's happened in Ligue 1, who's passing to each other at PSG, and what exactly Monaco think they're doing considering firing Leonardo Jardim.

There's been three games in Ligue 1 since we last podded, so there's a lot for Rich and Conor to explain to Phil as she's been on holiday for the whole time and hasn't seen a kick of football. Lille and Saint-Etienne are both doing well, and Monaco seem finally to be struggling with their habit of selling key players every summer. We also have the second round of the European competitions which see Lyon drawing 2-2 with Shakhtar Donetsk as we record, followed by PSG v Crvena Zvezda and the potentially awkward-to-watch Borussia Dortmund v Monaco on Wednesday in the Champions League. Then, onto the Europa League, where time-zone issues mean that you can watch all three French teams in sequence, starting with FC Astana v Rennes, then Bordeaux v Copenhagen, and finishing with a must-win game for OM away at Apollon Limassol.

Europe incoming! Kris is joined by Rich, Phil and Conor to round up a fairly chaotic round of games in Ligue 1 and look forward to six French teams going into European action. OM get ready to play behind closed doors, PSG have new shirts for their trip to Liverpool, and Lyon might be rightly nervous about what will happen at the Etihad - we are getting in the biscuits in for three fun days in the opening round.

It's a full-house as Kris, Jez, Rich and Phil get together to review France's performances in UEFA's reasonably-successful-so-far attempt to make people take friendlies seriously. These included an impressive debut for Alphonse Areola, a goal for Olivier Giroud, a still wonky first-choice formation, and a lot of post-match celebrations as the World Cup was presented to the home crowd at the Stade de France.

As the transfer window slams shut(TM), Kris, Jez and Phil try to work out who's where and how the traditional big four - PSG, OL, OM and Monaco - have done this summer. Have they strengthened their squads, made necessary replacements, or just trod water? Phil's been at a wedding and hasn't seen any games, Jez forgets to mute his microphone when answering the front door, and Kris tries to hold everything together.

Four teams have two wins in Ligue 1 so far - including both of the promoted teams, as Nimes and Reims make it clear that they aren't just here to make up the numbers. Kris, Jez and Phil look back at an interesting weekend that saw PSG continuing to play the kids, OL being stymied, Marseille struggling against les Crocos, and Bordeaux losing while having a fairly significant manager issue.

The new Ligue 1 season kicked off with goals, goals, some more goals, and then yet more goals - 33 in all, including a seven-goal thriller between Angers and Nimes, two red cards, both promoted teams winning, some hilarious goalkeeping ricks, and Wahbi Khazri possibly shading the goal-of-the-week in the face of some very strong competition. Kris, Jez, Rich and Phil get together to talk about every game, most of the goals, whether PSG are going to keep playing the kids, if this could be Lois Diony's season, Montpellier's shirts, VAR, and many other things.

After a short break, the team's back together! Still giddy from France's World Cup win, Kris, Rich, Phil and Jez mostly ignore the title 'race' to talk through who could make it to Europe, and which teams could be in trouble. They discuss the transfer market so far, bitch about TV coverage, and answer your questions along the way.

They did it! Phil, Jez, Rich and Conor are here to review the World Cup final that France won 4-2 against Croatia, Les Bleus' performance throughout the tournament, our hat-tips for best players, other high-points, and a look forward to what this could mean for the French team going forwards.

Yes! France are in the final of the World Cup after beating Belgium 1-0, and will face Croatia who beat England 2-1 after extra time. Phil, Jez and Conor review the match in which the French defence chucked a wet blanket over some of the best attackers on the planet, preview the final against a Croatia team capable of playing through fatigue after three matches went to 120 minutes, and nervously make their predictions for the final outcome. Phil also sings.

After France beat Uruguay 2-0, they are into the semi-finals, where they will face Belgium. Phil is joined by Jeremy Smit and Conor Ketley to round up how les Bleus played against the Albiceleste, and look forward to how the game against the Belgians will pan out.

Well. Phil and Jez get together to review the 4-3 win over Argentina, and look nervously forward to the quarter-final against Uruguay. After a positive performance including a great second-half ten minutes against an Argentinian side dealing with a lot of issues, including Benjamin Pavard's wondergoal and a brace from Kylian Mbappe, les Bleus will have a very different challenge on Friday.

A duet this week as Phil and Jez get together to look at the win over Peru, the *whatever that was* against Denmark, and forward to the Round of 16 game on Saturday against Argentina.

We are one game into Group C of the World Cup, and France won 2-1 against Australia on Saturday. Kris is joined by Jez and Phil to break that down and look forward to France's next game against Peru. Jez has a rant, Phil has some stats to reference, and Kris wants to know more about France's sock choices.

The gang's all here for a bumper pod to preview France's chances at the World Cup, as Kris, Jez, Rich and Phil look at the France squad, upcoming opposition, and compare the 1998 vintage with the 2018 promise. The excitement is mounting before France's first group game against Australia on Saturday.