Has France's Golden Generation made way for second-rate replacements?

As a Gooner, France has always been a country close to my heart, football-wise. The cheese-eating surrender monkeys have managed to produce fantastic talent, time and time again throughout my lifetime particulary. Before this year's tournament began, they were easily and understandably the favourites to progress from Group A.

I'm someone who lost patience with England a long time ago. Since then, I've been (often naively) relying on teams such as Holland, Germany, Spain, Brazil and France particulary to play fantastic football that I can watch and enjoy. But just 90 minutes into their campaign, and I'm beginning to doubt the French. They've failed to disappoint on many an occaision; the last World Cup springs to mind, where they beat Brazil amongst others, galvanized a team around the incredible Zidane and unjustly and narrowly missed out on penalties to a rude and defensive Italian side in the final.

It took only a glance across the pitch yesterday to sum up France v2010 for me. No man-mountain like Vieira, no barnstormer like Henry, no wizard like Zidane, no finisher like Trezeguet even, no rock like Thuram, no passer like Petit, no creator like Pires, no cornerstone like Makelele. Instead, Abou Diaby: a man that's only just good enough to get into the Arsenal side, a side that are a shadow of their former players. Nicholas Anelka: Great finisher but getting on now, not to mention the fact he can be as moody as Berbatov, are top class defence's going to be quaking in their boots? Sidney Govou: hasn't hit the back of the net months at international level, and last hit a newspaper back page with his dealings with child prostitutes.

Sure, there was the mercurial Ribery. Sure, they had Malouda and Henry on the bench. Sure, a team is more than the sum of it's parts; ask Mexico, South Africa even. And credit where credit's due, Abou Diaby had a brilliant game in the centre of the park. The point I'm making though is that France had an exceptional decade or so. Zinedine Zidane will be remembered as one of the globe's greatest ever players, Thierry Henry will be remembered by English football fans as one of the most naturally gifted and entertaining footballers to grace our shores, and I'm sure all Irishmen will agree.

In a space of eight years (excluding some bizarre, Far-east woes), the French lifted the World Cup, reached the final again and became champions of Europe. But those days seem to be well and truly over. I hate to write off a team as early as one game in, but unless Anelka, Gallas, Gourcuff, Ribery and co can pick themselves up, find strength from somewhere and emulate the heroes of the past generation, Les Bleus will be on the first plane back to Paris.