Benz, never played well under Domenech in NT. Gicnac is one of starting striker for France in qualifier so it logical that Dom choose him over Benz. It's like Mexes never play good under Domenech and Domenech prefer Boumsong over Mexes. A biggest miss is Nasri i think. And also i like Cabaye actually played for Lille this season
The positive is i like Domenech noted about Valbuena, he is one great player for OM this year. Do you know about the new guy M'Villa, Fred? What kind of player he is?
About Planus, i actually not understand either. Is Ciani the figure and better CB than him in Bordeaux? And Ciani is the one called up before?
You're right about Benz not playing so well with the NT, and yes Gignac has been a lot better than him at NT level. But still, he deserves to be at the very least 4th choice striker.
Mexes didn't get a lot of chances with Domenech in any case, he played one bad game where he was responsible for two conceded goals and was never called up again. Then you have players like Escude and Squillachi who have always been poor for the NT but they still get called up anyway.
Cabaye had a very good season with Lille this year, but the central midfield position is tough in the French NT. Toualalan, Lass Diarra and Alou Diarra are three central midfielders who have cemented their position. IMO the real loss was Benoit Cheyrou, he deserves to be on the NT for me.
Valbuena is indeed a welcome addition, he has always been talented, but could never really find the consistency needed for the top level. He's been on fire in the past 3 months though, and he's forced his way into the first team despite Deschamps saying at the start of the season that Valbuena didn't figure in his plans and that he could find a new club.
As for M'Vila. I didn't watch enough of Rennes this season, but i've seen him a few times and i really don't understand the hype. He's a tough ball winning midfielder that strikes me as very energetic and he's not all that bad technically. But i would have taken Moussa Sissoko or Benoit Cheyrou ahead of him any day, even though the latter two are very different players than him, France already has enough defensive minded midfielders in the two Diarra's and Toulalan.
As for Planus, you are right. Ciani is the main defender in Bordeaux and he is in general a better defender than Planus. But lately Ciani has been a disaster and Planus has held his own in the last 5-6 Bordeaux games. That is not enough to choose one over the other of course, but hey this is Domenech we're talking about.