Despite France’s progress, critics still remain unanswered
Sweden, Colombia, USA. Add Luxembourg, and you have an unlikely bunch of national teams that France have failed to beat. Despite completing a victory against Australia and Peru, critics of Les Bleus still very much remain unanswered. While the occasional win against the likes of Italy and the Netherlands may paper over the cracks, France have still struggled more recently to find the right formula for success.
On a bright Saturday afternoon at the Kazan Arena, France will face Argentina, a side who struggled to get out of their group. France should win this encounter, as they don’t heavily rely on one singular player, but should they underperform, the performance will define the player’s careers, including the likes of Paul Pogba, whose recently has been receiving heavy criticism from the French media.
The manager
Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Paul Pogba, Samuel Umtiti, Raphael Varane, Antoine Griezmann. When speaking about balance in a World Cup team, France are undoubtedly one of the most balanced sides at this year’s World Cup. Unlike teams like Argentina and Portugal, there isn’t an over-reliance on a single player to score the goals, and they are very adaptable as a side. With the power and pace that they possess, they can either can a high-pressing system and hit teams on the counter, or play in a way that revolves around Olivier Giroud. Well, it’s the latter.
Didier Deschamps is not a bad manager. He’s won Ligue 1 with Olympique Marseille back in 2011, and has a World Cup’s winner medal back from 1998, so he knows how to win a World Cup. The issue here is not his credibility as a manager, but whether he can get the best out of this France squad. In Euro 2016, they made the finals, but the results usually papered over the cracks. France’s opening match against Romania was a tight 2–1 victory, with many questioning the style of play Deschamps has in mind. The same questions were raised again when France came from behind to beat the Republic of Ireland 2–1, with many such as Gary Lineker citing Paul Pogba as “one of the most overrated talents in the world”. This is a side that should inspire and should score goals at ease, but something is missing.
He made the wrong choices in a World Cup qualifier in Sweden in June 2017. He decided to start Blaise Matuidi, Moussa Sissoko and Payet instead of N’Golo Kante, Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe, who were all in better form and shape. Les Bleus lost the game and the manager lost a lot of credibility. Last September in Toulouse, France could not beat Luxembourg in another World Cup qualifier after Deschamps again got his selection wrong. His inability to respond when Les Bleus threw away a 2–0 lead at home against Colombia to lose 3–2 in a friendly in March was also concerning.
France need a manager that’s capable of getting the best out of his players, holds no grudges (Karim Benzema & Mathieu Valbuena) with the players, and not afraid to drop players when they underperform. Should France underachieve at this year’s World Cup finals, they should consider hiring the legendary French player Zinedine Zidane. Not only has Zidane has shown what he can do on the field, but he’s also shown his competence as a manager. At Real Madrid, arguably the toughest managerial job in the world, he won the UEFA Champions League 3 years in a row, and gained respect from every player in the squad.
Tactics
Euro 2016 finalists, finished top of their group for qualifying, and are on an unbeaten run. On paper, it seems like everything is going well for France, however, their performances still remain unconvincing. Didier Deschamps as the past few years as France manager is still not 100% about his starting lineup. While Olivier Giroud is a critical player to holding up the ball and creating space for others, this decision would mean leaving a star-studded player such as Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappé, or Ousmane Dembélé. During France’s match against Australia, France struggled to hold onto the ball in the final third and create any strong concrete chances. While Giroud will drag defenders towards him and create space, France struggled to break through a very well drilled Australia, lacking that “target man”. France didn’t start with Giroud, and as Deschamps said after the match, “Giroud’s absence just proved how much we need him”.
But, some may not say the issue is the striker’s role, but choosing how many players in play in midfield. While France did play 3 in midfield, their choices in the to play 2 has costed them. While playing 2 in midfield would allow someone like Griezmann to play just behind Giroud, this leaves the 2 central midfielders spending the game trying to cover space. During France’s friendly against Colombia in March, their inability to try to keep the ball in a 2 man midfield strongly suggests the struggles that France will have if they continue to play 2 in midfield.
France typically play in a “4411” or a “433”, with Giroud spearheading the attack and most responsible for adding physicality to the France attack. France has qualified from the knockout stage at ease, but Deschamps is still yet to know his best eleven. For the Peru match, Deschamps made 2 changes, including playing defensive midfielder Blaise Matuidi out of position on the left flank. Surely when you have the likes of Thomas Lemar and Nabil Fekir on the bench, you should go with players that normally play on the left flank and offer more going forward. For a team that’s so well rounded, going forward should one of the main priorities.
There remain several significant tactical questions, from the ideal number of forwards to the arrangement and responsibilities in a loaded and mobile midfield that features top players with overlapping abilities. Deploying Olivier Giroud as a target forward leads to one sort of approach. Putting Antoine Griezmann atop of a 4–3–3 produces quite another. And pundits and former players continue to chip away at the intangibles, looking for cracks in the foundation and wondering whether this generation of Frenchmen will succumb to the distractions or selfishness that bedevilled many predecessors. When Griezmann airs his “decision” special on the eve of the tournament, or whenever Pogba behaves oddly, commentary and questions flow that reveal fears of flaws and failures past.
The absence of consistency from some of the players, the key players especially, has been a problem.
Tactically, Deschamps is also still searching for his best formation. Should he stick with the 4–4–2 that worked in 2016? Or is 4–3–3 more suited to this squad and better equipped to win the World Cup?- BBC Sport
Squad age and experience
While issues primarily circulate around the manager, the French squad are also incredibly young. France in general are just way too young all around the pitch. The average squad age of a World Cup winning team is 26.5 years, whereas the average squad age of the French national team is 25.6, the second youngest squad at this year’s World Cup finals. The average defender age of a World Cup winning team is 26.9, yet France have the youngest average defender age, at 24.4 years of age. The average attacker age of a World Cup team is 25.7, whereas France have an average attacker age of 24.6 By now, you should get the picture: France may not have the experience nor the current quality to win the World Cup. Mbappé, Dembélé, and Lemar are still very young on the scene, with all of them only appearing for Les Bleus after Euro 2016, which was only 2 years ago.
In 2014, while Germany had veterans such as Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Miroslav Klose, they also had young players making their first bow at a World Cup, including the likes of Toni Kroos, finding the right mix between old and new. In 2010, Spain had the experience of Carles Puyol, Joan Capdevilla, and Iker Casillas, yet had new blood in Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, and more. What Spain and Germany had, France lack. Mixing the old and the new.
“I had to understand the difference between working with a boy like Frank Lampard who, at the age of 23, was already a man — who thought football, work, professionalism — and the new boys today, who at the age of 23 are kids.
“Today I call them ‘boys’ and not ‘men’. Because I think that they are brats and that everything that surrounds them does not help them in their life nor in my work. I had to adjust to all of that.
“Ten years ago, no player had a mobile phone in the dressing room. That is no longer the case. But you have to go with it, because if you fight that you are bringing about conflict and you risk putting yourself in the stone age.”- José Mourinho
This is a completely new generation. Out of the eleven that started against Peru, 6 of the players had played in the last World Cup, yet none of them back in 2014 had 50 caps. In 2014, they had experience in Karim Benzema, Laurent Koscielny, and Bacary Sagna, whereas now, they don’t have many that have the experience, leadership, and expertise to lead this team.
The talent is definitely there
With such a huge talent pool and France being a footballing nation, many are involved in the sport at a young age, and going through the ranks certainly helps. Take a look at the Netherlands, who recently failed to qualify for the World Cup. Despite have a far smaller talent pool than France, the Netherlands has always been known as a place for a creating great young talent and putting trust into youngsters.
However, recently, the talent for the Netherlands has been drying up, and because that, there’s few quality young players coming through the ranks and into the senior squad.The Netherlands have attempted to implement a similar model to France, however, what separates them from being like France is the talent that they have access to.
When asked about why France have such a talented wave of young players at the moment, French international Thomas Lemar replied, “I think in France, you could say clubs give young players the chance to integrate quickly into a professional world.”
Lemar also dismisses the idea that age plays a role. “From the moment you become a professional, there is no age or anything like that. Just your talent, you need your talent to speak for itself. Then the supporters, the staff, and the club will all see what you’re capable of on the pitch.”
Winning the World Cup 20 years after Zidane would be very special for Pogba and this France squad. However, if they’re looking to become firm favourites for the World Cup, they certainly need to answer many questions, whether it’s the tactics or the quality of this side.
But as said in French, rien n’est impossible.
