The France team faces Austria in Vienna on Friday evening in the League of Nations
After two bad results against Denmark and Croatia, Didier Deschamps is looking for the right formula for the Blues
In the role of doublires, the French coach can bet on Nkunku, Maignan, and that's about all.
It's not a scoop but it is worth remembering: the France team has a team capable of winning the World Cup, not two.
If the substitutes did better in Croatia (1-1) than the holders at the Stade de France (1-2), the overall and individual level of play glimpsed during the second day of the League of Nations does not encourage enthusiasm. .
There is obviously this context of the end of the extended season, these players rinsed as not allowed and even others, like Ibrahima Konaté, called back to the front when he finally thought he could take it easy on a yacht in Greece.
The inexperience too, of a collective that weighed less than 200 caps against 150 for the only Luka Modric opposite, not to mention the absence of automatisms.
So many points underlined by Didier Deschamps after the draw while admitting that "it's not an excuse".
A bit though.
It's one thing to have a chance to join a perfectly oiled team, it's another to be let loose in the wild in a group without great affinities.
But it is also in difficulty that the best are revealed, those on whom DD can count in the event of injury, a decline in the forms of the holders or a negative result dynamic as at the moment.
And in this game, very few have come to light.
So, what plans B for Deschamps?
Maignan and Nkunku at the level
We will never know what would have happened if Kimpembe had not come to make up for his mistake by saving Mike Maignan from a face-to-face with Budimir in the 18th against Croatia.
But his reassuring outings, his quality of recovery and his saving stop in front of Vlasic at the end of the game confirm what everyone already knows.
Namely that, as Adrien Rabiot said at a press conference the next day, “Mike is the next generation”.
Not that there is an urgent need to replace Hugo Lloris, but it's always good to take.
Rabiot, always:
“Mike impresses me.
I saw him play all season in the Italian league, I watched Milan games a lot.
If they have been so solid, it is also thanks to Mike.
There are not too many doubts about his status in the team.
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Nor is there any on his ability to be mobilized now in the absence of the captain.
The only other Frenchman to have survived among the understudy, Christopher Nkunku honored his status as the best player in the Bundesliga.
He didn't score but if Diaby and Griezmann had been sharper in front of goal, he would have gotten away with two assists.
His past as a midfielder combined with his new condition as a striker allows him to be influential over a large part of the field, and he has shown that he can be extremely effective in the transition phases, in particular through his ability to carry the ball.
Again, it's the teammates who talk about it best.
Ibrahima Konaté, in this case.
“Christopher, I don't need to describe him.
He moves a lot in the game, he picks up a lot, he has an impressive striking technique, so he can easily endanger opposing teams.
“It is hard to imagine DD firing Griezmann from the starting 11, but if there is one who can threaten Colchonero's place with Benzema and Mbappé, it is him.
Wissam, what for?
To avoid making too many enemies, let's first salute the immense work of the Monegasque, capable of transforming one of his rare drinkable balls into a decisive pass, which is more for Adrien Rabiot, which is a feat in itself.
But to paraphrase a colleague whose name we will not name, wonderful player that he is, WBY is at level A ', winning level of the Europa League.
Very high level but a hair below what could bring, we don't know, at random, like that: Olivier Giroud.
In addition to his scoring qualities, the AC Milan striker has the advantage of having a completely different style of play from that of Benzema and Mbappé, which is very useful when it comes to fighting between two stoppers, in the air or through his pivoting game.
Ben Yedder in the France team is dead, with Spain it would be a genius, but with the blues I prefer Giroud a thousand times
— Riles Videos (@Videos2Riles) June 6, 2022
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As for Ben Yedder, Philippe Clément may affirm that "he who had a lot of qualities with the ball grew up in the collective game without the ball", we just found him quite ordinary when he did not touch the ball.
And compared to what DD said of the Monegasque before the rally (“he wants to show his qualities because he is an effective scorer, skilful in the short game and at the finish”), it is not that either.
4-man defense as a spare wheel?
Against Croatia, Didier Deschamps was also able to test a ghost, or rather a ghost, the four-man defense.
“I'm not frozen, I don't want to give up on what we did before either,” justified the coach, no doubt worried about seeing the pillar of his past success crumble.
Without falling into catastrophism, France concedes more goals and more chances than in the past.
At three or four, the feeling of fragility and imbalance in favor of the offensive sector remains the same.
Marking errors on the lanes or defensive alignment, there were against Denmark and Croatia.
“It's not just the system,” concludes DD, it's also the players.
Benjamin Pavard, who was delighted to finally be able to play in his natural position, did not really shine in central defense.
Presnel Kimpembe had a good game but showed, by conceding a silly yellow card after the equalizer, that his nerves could give way when the team lost control (a very Parisian evil).
Saliba is still tender.
Ibrahima Konaté, who has just arrived to compensate for Raphaël Varane's injury, may have a niche to take.
The only certainty in this ocean of hesitation is that Deschamps is more worried about finding the right formula than performing in the League of Nations.
“These are also preparation matches, in anticipation of what awaits us at the end of the year.
“Only four games left, casually, to find a second wind before Qatar.
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