At the Stade de France,
We didn’t think we’d ever be able to say that (and I promise it’s the first and the last), but thank you to those who voted to give the organization of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, and therefore to postpone the deadline for five months and wheelbarrows. Because given the current form of this group, even if fate offered us a more than lenient draw in the group stage, not sure that we would have seen the tail of a round of 16 this summer.
Beaten for the first time in its history by Croatia, Monday, the France team ends this League of Nations campaign with the dunce cap on the head and a zero in the notebook. Unable to win any match in four outings, the Blues are last in their group and are already certain not to see the color of the Final Four of the League of Nations. That again, you tell us, we should get over it quickly.
Ha well look, that’s it, we got over it!
No, what worries us a little more is that the World Cup is (almost) tomorrow and that the Blues have not given the impression of having advanced one iota since the last rally. After having put his system at three behind in the closet because of the inaugural defeat against Denmark and tested a flat 4-4-2 in Croatia (1-1) and Austria (1-1), Didier Deschamps opted Monday evening for a 4-3-3 that the Blues had not practiced since the start of the World Cup in Russia, with the result that we know. In the first period, the French delivered a poor performance and it was only when they came back with two points that they turned on the light a little. And even…
Players rinsed, executives absent, difficult to draw a true balance sheet
In a press conference, “DD” did not try to dodge, speaking of the need for a “questioning” of the whole group at the next rally. But for him, impossible not to speak of the general fatigue of his troops. “The energy is so much higher in the opponent and that makes it hard to fight. We certainly did not have the means for this match. We take a goal from the penalty spot at the very start, it puts them in comfort and us in difficulty. But it is like this gathering, where the organizations are very much in demand. We lacked strength, energy, character. You have to accept it, even if it hurts not to have been able to win a match. These June gatherings have been complicated since I’ve been here. This time it is even more so. »
If the excuse of fatigue is admissible, with four games in eleven days to punctuate an already very long long season, it does not explain everything. It was also the case opposite for the Croats and they did not seem to us as much to pick up. So, should we start biting our nails, when there is only one rally left, at the end of September, before the big departure for Doha? A little anyway, yes. The team of eternal optimists can always tell us that it is far too early to be alarmed, that the World Cup is only five months away, that these end-of-season matches have never been successful anyway. for the France team, that five holders were missing (Lloris, Varane, Lucas Hernandez, Pogba, Kanté and Griezmann) at kick-off on Friday, the fact remains.
Competition, what competition?
Of course, the state of form of the bulk of the troops will have nothing to do by November, after a summer break, a holiday in the sun, a few mojitos and good pre-season physical preparation. And maybe even Griezmann will have recovered by then, who knows, but these four games still revealed more problems than usual. In the absence of some executives, we would have thought to see a few heads emerge on the bench just to put some competition in the group. However, apart from Nkunku, Maignan and possibly Tchouaméni, the others lost more points than they won.
Starting with the pair of middle def’Kamara-Guendouzi, irrelevant against the Croats, to which we add the enigmatic Adrien Rabiot, always there without really knowing why, and which only make the absence of Camavinga of this list all the more incomprehensible. We will want less Koundé, again lugged on the right of the defense on Friday, him, the central defender, or Clauss, left on the bench all evening, and who ultimately did not have many opportunities to show during this gathering what he could bring to this team. As for Ben Yedder, the gatherings follow one another and look alike for the Monegasque striker, killer on the Rock but kitten with the Blues.
A quarter full glass
“I prefer to keep the glass half full, even if it’s only a quarter full, tried to convince himself Deschamps, without much success. This gathering allowed me to give time to young people to harden up, even if it means making mistakes that are paid for in cash. There are always answers, additional data compared to certain players, the competition that there may be. There is more, at least… There, there were four games, that necessarily brings new elements, just in case. On that level, it’s always rewarding. »
And on the side of worry? “Certainties, in football it does not exist. I’m not worried, “replied the coach, without succeeding there either in persuading many people. The only tricolor to have deigned to point the tip of his nose in the mixed zone after the match, captain Presnel Kimpembe also tried to calm things down, without more success. “Worrying? No, the neo-captain of the Blues. We know that there is a World Cup coming but we still have a little time to prepare for it. Even if it will arrive quickly. You take the words out of our mouths, Presko.