Kylian Mbappé and Didier Deschamps during France-Portugal on October 11, 2020. -

FRANCK FIFE / AFP

  • The France team could not do better than a sad draw against Ukraine on Wednesday for their first qualifying meeting for the 2022 World Cup. 

  • The starting team, turned towards the offensive, however looked great, but the Blues never knew how to pack the meeting. 

  • This is not the first time that they have suffered against small teams who play very closely together in defense ... and that Deschamps reminds that it is not enough to stack talents to make great games. 

It is not uncommon to hear Didier Deschamps admit, smiling, that he does not always understand the codes that animate his young group of players.

The coach is of the older generation, as he repeats, and is not very social media.

Neither on game consoles, by the way, but that doesn't prevent him from referring to it from time to time.

Again Wednesday evening, questioned on his team composition with four attackers - Mbappé and Coman on wings, Griezmann behind Giroud in the axis -, the coach debriefed the sad draw of the France team against Ukraine : “I had already done this animation against Moldova two years ago.

We didn't have a good first half either.

It's not the PlayStation. ”

You will resist the temptation

Obviously, it is not by stacking offensive players with scores above 90 that we will necessarily win matches.

He had already used this formula, in a lengthy interview given to

Le Figaro

at the end of the world coronation in 2018, to respond to those who criticized the style of play of his team.

But although he knows it very well, DD is still a human being, and when you know your opponent is going to play 10 behind, there is a strong temptation to take more risks than usual to increase their chances.

And then that's what we all expect, isn't it? 

Except, we saw it at the Stade de France, that it is not that simple.

Why?

Adrien Rabiot and Lucas Hernandez, attendants at the press conference of the day, did not help us much.

According to them, the difficulties of the Blues were mainly due to the style of (non) play of the Ukrainians, who have never shown any flaws in their very tight low block.

And how much do we defend?

- FRANCK FIFE / AFP

The Juventus player was a bit further, anyway.

“We expected that, but even when we know it, it's not easy,” he recalls.

Beyond the system, it is above all what we put into it on the ground.

We should have entered this match with more dynamism and rhythm.

With the potential we have, we must be able to adapt. "

The former OL coach Alain Perrin, contacted by us, sees two main explanations:

  • The lesser contribution of the side: “They may have less freedom with players like Coman and Mbappé in front of them.

    In any case, we haven't seen them much.

    I was particularly disappointed with Lucas Hernandez.

    The quality of technique, at the level of the centers, was not there.

    Faced with these opponents, it is vital, we must not fail in this exercise, know how to put it well to pass the first curtain.

    And you need athletic impact in the box. ”

  • The profile of Mbappé, who creates traffic jams in the axis: “Coman played his role well, but Mbappé does not really play like a winger, we know that.

    It's the problem of the players who are supposed to be on the side and come in.

    He likes to take spaces, and there were none, or to transplant.

    However, if it transplanted, it further increases the density in the axis and this is not a good thing at all.

    Even if there is a reinforced defense in front, you have to be able to find speed, percussion, by ones-two, to pierce the line.

    It is not by coming inside, at a standstill, that you can do that because you will immediately have a lot of pressure on your back.

    Without speed, you can't get by against these teams. ”


This is nothing new.

The Blues have traditionally struggled in this kind of one-sided opposition.

We all remember the 0-0 villains against Belarus and Luxembourg in the qualifying phase for the last World Cup.

There is also the precedent against Moldova, therefore, which Deschamps recalled on Wednesday.

France, with the same offensive quautor, had hardly won after an infamous first period.

This is what Giroud said at the time: "The problem, with teams like this, very grouped together, which put a lot of impact in duels, is that you have to know how to give solutions in depth. .

Not just come in the feet.

This is what the coach underlined at half-time, he wanted more movements from the four offensives. "

No more open to Kazakhstan and Bosnia

We cannot say that we have made much progress in this area, then.

But for Alain Perrin, the solution does not necessarily have to be found in the composition of the team.

“You would almost have to agree to play lower, to let the opponent believe that he can go out, play a little,” he explains.

It's a bit unnatural, and you have to be careful not to outsmart completely, but you have to keep some space to attack.

So force yourself to retrieve the ball not too high, around the center line.

If we recover it 30 meters from opposing goals, we never get rid of this density. "

In short, the more you dominate, the more difficult it is to create opportunities.

Did you say paradoxical?

Didier Deschamps and Guy Stéphan are surely working on the question, in any case.

Because facing Kazakhstan on Sunday, then Bosnia three days later, the Blues should not see many opponents coming to their camp either.

Even if these two teams have much less experience than Ukraine.

"This team is not made for this kind of match"

The manager has already announced that he will make many changes in Astana to find freshness.

Without being in his head, we would bet dearly on the presence of Lucas Digne at the left-back position, for example.

And why not on that of Lemar in front of him, as a regular at the station, with Coman escorted to the other side.

"The solution in these matches is on the sides," Rabiot repeated Thursday.

You have to move aside, use duplications, go and center. ”

“And shoot from a distance,” adds Perrin.

We can score, it can be deflected, cause a corner or a penalty, be countered and benefit an attacker.

But more generally, I have the impression that this team is not made for this kind of match.

The register of our players does not fit well with that. "

At least, we won't have this problem this summer at the Euro, given the group that fell on us.

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