Real need is for quota on number of French fools

THERE was once a time when French football was thought to lead the world.

France won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 with a team that included some of the world’s best players, yet around that time it was believed that their true edge lay off the field, where enlightened institutional thinkers had constructed the world’s most sophisticated system of football production.

Gerard Houllier was even presented with a specially minted World Cup medal to acknowledge his contribution in 1998: it seemed Zinedine Zidane couldn’t have done it without him.