Euro 2016 - Group A - Cuisine de France vs The Home of Dracula

iroced

Went through this thread and as a French have to say I don't quite get all the debates about our team and some of our players.

We played a nervy opener in which our young inexperienced team (at this level) struggled to get away from the pressure of the event. Bar Lloris, Koscielny, Kanté, Payet & Giroud.

We had 2 years playing games with nothing at stake and all of a sudden they're in the Stade de France with about 70 millions people behind them! We're also after a crazy last couple of weeks with many players getting injured and the remnants of the Benzema affair polluting the atmosphere. So it was expected we were going to struggle in this game. That said, after Lloris great save in the opening minutes, Romania never looked dangerous and if Evra was not that full of himself stupid we'd probably have at worse "controlled" our lead until the end.


Now I see people criticising Koscielny & Giroud. Well, they're not world class and will never be. But they are good players who integrate well into a team (something Varane & Benzema, despite intrinsically better, have mostly failed to achieve for France). Koscielny had to cover 3 positions Friday evening and did it good. Evra who can't defend and had maybe his worst ever game with Les Bleus and Ramy who sank under the pressure (he got better as the game went on but what a nervy start :eek:). And Giroud always offers attacking opportunities and keeps trying. He's also very important for his defensive duties (especially from corner kicks). He's on 8 goals in his last 8 games for France so for such a criticized player it's not too bad .

Our weaknesses are the full backs. Evra & Sagna. Though Sagna's been doing better than expected lately (notably his crossing quality). But overall they're not enough for this level. We all know Evra's there for his role in the squad, he's Deschamps man. And there's no stand out replacement anyway. The one who could have been tried long ago is Tremoulinas. On the right, Jallet could have been tried more. It's too late now anyway.

Our real concern is Pogba. He can't find his position with Les Bleus. Ideally he should play on the left wing but it is Matuidi's place and a key one too since Matuidi covers for Evra defensive "laxity".
I'm not too concerned with Griezmann yet. He could have had 2 goals (hit the post and had a shot deflected inches away). He's a bit tired by his great season with Atlético and will need to be well managed by Deschamps but he should come back to his best. His partnerhsip with Giroud is also very interesting for us.

Good points is we found our number 6 after L. Diarra injury. Kanté had a wondergame for someone who was just only celebrating his 5th cap with Les Bleus :eek:. This guy is amazing!
And we finally found our playmaker. Payet was brilliant for 90 mins. We can thank Bielsa who turned him into a consistent player last season!