Unlike Christ, his beloved guide, Olivier Giroud is not eternal. And even if the Milanese striker does not intend to leave his part to the dogs and postpones the day of the keel as much as possible, we will still have to imagine life one day without him and prepare his succession in the French team with a view to the next deadlines. That’s good, the Blues are moving forward in this last international window of the year in Charente, with a pipe in their mouth, after having already validated their qualification for the next Euro, a month ago against Ireland. Deschamps will therefore have plenty of time to test potential candidates against Gibraltar on Saturday and in Greece next week.
On the still smoldering embers of the World Cup final lost by the Blues last December, in our legendary (false) restraint, still excited by what Randal Kolo Muani had just offered us – despite this damn face-to-face lost against Martinez – we were already rubbing our hands by predicting that the succession was assured. Problem is, the neo-Parisian has become nothing more than the shadow of his ghost in recent months and it is not his match against the Netherlands that would put this observation into perspective.
If he still stays one step ahead in the mind of the coach, who defended him again this week at a press conference against the nasty journalists who don’t “like” him, the native of Bondy could quickly feel the Marcus Thuram’s breath tickles the back of his neck, he who should be established at the forefront of the French attack on Saturday evening. Last selected during the World Cup in Qatar, Lilian’s son now has a good card to play for a possible starting position. Not bad in just under a year.
Because after having played on the sides for a long time, the former Guingamp player has made a fairly spectacular change in recent months by choosing to specialize in the number 9 position outright, with a certain success if we judge his start to the season for Inter (5 goals and 5 assists in all competitions in Italy). “What he is doing now at Inter, having established himself at the forefront, is quite unique,” judges his former coach. Jocelyn Gourvennec. Although he always had this goal in the back of his mind, “Tikus” nevertheless needed time before taking the plunge. A story of lack of maturity but also a need to have fun by participating in the construction of his team’s game.
Inter and the number 9s, a love story
“At Guingamp I used him two or three times up front but, by analyzing his performance in this position with him, we agreed that the time had not yet come, he was not ready,” remembers Joce. It’s a very complicated role, you go to the coal, you’re often alone against two central players, it’s a lot of duels, with a lot of thankless play with your back to goal. As he was younger, he wanted to touch the ball more, to find himself free on the side to start one-on-one dribbling, an area where he is very strong. But today he is ready and sure of his choice, and that is the most important thing. » According to the player trained at Sochaux, this is precisely why he chose to join the Nerazzuri last summer, a club which is a bit on the ball when it comes to being a world-class central striker. From Ronaldo to Christian Vieri, via Adriano and Diego Milito, or Lautaro Martinez today, Inter has a true cult of number 9s.
“You should know that two years ago, Inter contacted me, I played as a winger but they already identified me as a 9. Few of them had this vision. . They had very precise knowledge of my potential development. Italy teaches me to be job specific. This is one of the reasons why I chose Inter. It will really allow me to settle into this central position,” he said. among our colleagues from The Team in October. After having injected himself intravenously with the specificities of the position by watching videos of the exploits of Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic or David Trézéguet, the youngest of the Thuram siblings says today he thinks “about scoring goals every second of the week”.
“The shift for him, in my opinion, is that he went from a player who loves the game, who is there to have fun, to a player who is there to win,” confirms Gourvennec. Psychologically, he is no longer content with being happy to play, he wants to win, to win and to score goals, and in a club like Inter that is what we will expect of him. » His furious golazo in the Milan derby gave a taste of his scoring qualities to Inter fans, who definitely adopted him that day. However, it was not a foregone conclusion.
No more difficulties alone at the peak?
Inter follower for Corriere Della Sera, Paolo Tomaselli evokes both “the curiosity” and “the doubts” of fans upon his arrival at the club in July. “Everyone thought that Lukaku was going to come back to form a fiery duo with Lautaro Martinez,” he explains. They didn’t see Thuram as a starter at all. And its friendly matches (zero goals scored) did not help to reassure the supporters. But his start to the season put everyone in agreement. People were very pleasantly surprised. What amazes me is the speed at which he has integrated Inter’s playing principles. He has blended in, he is totally connected to his teammates and he manages to make Lautaro Martinez even better. They look like a couple who have lived together for many years! “.
To be honest, we weren’t counting on such success either, at least not so quickly, for a player who averaged ten goals for Mönchengladbach. It now remains to be seen whether he can repeat this in the French team, he who needed eleven (end of) matches to score his first goal in the selection, it was at the Parc des Princes, against Ireland, the September 7 (2-0 victory). And that evening, Thuram came in to occupy the point of the attack alone, unlike the World Cup, where DD played him on the wings.
The last doubt that remains – beyond his clothing choices at the Sexion d’Assaut, obviously – is precisely his ability to shine and weigh on defenses by being alone at the forefront, in the 4-2-3-1 and Deschamps’ 4-3-3. “He will always be more comfortable with two people, in my opinion. He must have solutions around him, relays in the possession phase,” affirmed his former coach at Sochaux, Albert Cartier, among our colleagues at So Foot in September.
“I don’t think it could be a problem for Marcus,” says the Breton coach. He is a player who can do almost everything, he has a great elimination capacity, he is technically adept. He is certainly tall, strong and powerful, but he is also very skilled with the ball. » It will take at least that to break through the Gibraltarian fortress. If for ordinary people like you and us, this match has about as much interest as a soporific day of the French championship, for “Tikus”, it is an event not to be missed.