At the Stade de France,

The preparation of the France team is not quite finished since there is still a week before the match against Germany, but the day after their day of rest behind closed doors, Wednesday, the Blues will switch to this that the schedule qualifies as “the start of the Euro 2021 period”.

We can therefore consider that the bulk of the preparatory work was carried out by Didier Deschamps' players after their 3-0 victory against Bulgaria.

Enough in any case for some conclusions to be drawn.

Weak opponents but strong internal emulation

It was understood when the France-Wales referee decided to apply the double penalty against Neco Williams after 26 minutes, the pre-Euro would be biased by opponents too weak compared to what will wait for the Blues in the group of death that kills. “We had two games, the first was skewed with exclusion, and the Welsh put us in more difficulty than the Bulgarians. "This sentence from Didier Deschamps means what it means, and no matter how much we tell us that it is in real matches that the truth is found, we will not be taken away that France would not have been less well. without these two exhibitions.

DD: “There is a progression in the work, in what we are able to do.

On June 15 (against Germany), the level will be even higher, but in the attitudes we are right.

There is internal emulation, let's keep it going.

We insist on this point.

The training sessions of the France team are of a high level, as is the degree of involvement of the players.

All are on mission.

Tolisso winner in the middle?

If we didn't know Coco Tolisso and his ability to come back out of nowhere like Marc Raquil at the end of the 400m, we would be surprised. But this time, we can say that we almost saw it coming. So yes, Duke Adrien Rabiot unwillingly rolls out the red carpet for him with his small injury, but the Bayern Munich midfielder has shown enough quality and physical guarantees to apply for the starting status in a week. We can regret not seeing him being aligned as a rear playmaker to let Kanté project himself to one side, even if, on closer inspection, this is already what happens when the game calls for it. Without being spectacular, he is, like Benzema and Pogba, vital in the management of the game. His perfect interweaving in the middle trio should push DD to renew him, and it is not stolen.

When Pogba is serious like that ...

There is a bit of Tolisso in Paul Pogba's season at Manchester United, except that the Pickaxe returned to business at the end of March.

The French environment oozes good form.

We feel that he has given himself the means to gain strength, and his body language does not lie: he is in the same state of mind as in 2018. “Paul is a very important player on the field and in leadership, says Deschamps.

He knows what I want from him, he can do anything.

Even more in this system which gives him more freedom of movement.

Against Bulgaria, he flaunted his skill in building, eliminating and recovering.

All while ensuring the spectacle.

We want sombreros-cushioning for the chest every day at breakfast, Paul.

The laterals, potential Achilles heels

If there is only one downside (other than Karim's injury), we may mention the side.

Pavard, Hernandez and Digne, all showed against Bulgaria small signs of weakness in defense which forced Varane and Kimpembe to intervene.

To put into perspective all the same.

We can imagine that they will never play so high against Germany or Portugal and that they will show more attention when the time comes for a real fight.

At least we hope so.

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