In Düsseldorf,
Although we are far from the Australian trip two years ago in Qatar, both from a point of view of the weather as well as the scenario and the score, won hands down in Doha (4-1) at the time, this first meeting of the Blues at the Euro against Austria is still enough to give the French people bananas this morning. Which is not a luxury in these times.
So yes, it would be dishonest, even criminal, to say that we have gotten off on our good days, but let us still put things in their context: we are talking about Didier Deschamps’ French team in a great competition. Based on this observation, remembering the purges against Romania in 2016 and Australia in 2018, we would be stupid to be choosy this year.
The Blues are present in the fight
Certainly, the sluggish first period did not give much indication of the ambitions of this group, with few coordinated movements or obvious complicity between the players – and even fewer scoring chances – but the main thing at this moment -there was already to finish in one piece facing Austrians in lumberjack mode, on the verge of caricature and on the verge of urban violence.
“It was borderline,” admitted Didier Deschamps at a press conference. The players were prepared for that, but it’s one thing to prepare them and another for them to know how to respond. There was a lot. There were a lot of discussions, we did what was necessary to ensure that the France team was ready this evening. We were, even if we left a little… At least a nose! To have been up to the task in terms of intensity is a satisfaction. »
Arriving in the mixed zone with eyes red from the shower, Adrien Rabiot, the other strong man in the midfield with N’Golo Kanté, delivered almost the same analysis as the coach. “It was a fairly committed match, you could see it from the outside. We knew it before the match, we were prepared, it’s a very physical team and we had to get up to speed, respond to the intensity. It would have been good to increase the score, we should have scored more but the victory is deserved after a very competitive match. »
“It’s certain that it would have simplified the match for us if we had put them at the bottom,” said Jules Koundé a few minutes earlier. But overall we are quite satisfied. »
Efficiency in front of goal to be refined
If Wöber’s goal against his camp before the break at least had the merit of forcing Austria to reveal itself a minimum, finally leaving a little space behind its back to a French team which does not like anything better than attacking on rapid transition phases, it is true that the Blues messed up the finishing in great widths.
We obviously think of this face-to-face with the goalkeeper, missed somehow by Kylian Mbappé. But in the “I eat the paper properly” kind of way, Giroud’s at the very end of the match, after a perfect cross from Kolo Muani, wasn’t bad either. “We could and should have managed certain situations better in the first and second half but it’s overall positive,” preferred to put things into perspective, the coach, who knows the importance of a first victory to launch such a competition.
The tone of voice and the words would certainly have been very different if his team had had to share the points despite a good ten clear chances, but this one lived up to its reputation. “We were very solid, that’s what also characterizes us,” appreciated the Duke in the mixed zone. With a rather satisfactory Upamecano-Saliba central hinge for a first at this level of competition and an authoritarian Mike Maignan, whose “radiation in the air” pleased DD, the Blues offered themselves a first outing that we would describe as serious.
Griezmann the diesel, Mbappé the warrior
Besides that, among the less good news, Antoine Griezmann’s match, less impactful than usual, would almost seem like a non-event. The Blues’ handyman has historically had more difficulty than the others in digesting the preparation phases, especially since he is coming off a crazy 47-game season with the Colchoneros. No doubt (or very little) that it will gain momentum in the days to come.
As for Kylian Mbappé and his nasal septum, bursting towards the extreme left of the face, the latest information suggested that we were going to avoid an Antoine Dupont-style drama during the Rugby World Cup. Taken to Düsseldorf hospital as soon as the final whistle blew, he ultimately did not need to be operated on and he could even apply for a starting place on Friday against the Netherlands. When we tell you that this adventure smells good!