Pogba and the Blues did not assume the status of hyper favorite of the meeting – Tibor Illyes / AP / SIPA
After having had Germany playing their favorite football, that of waiting and control, the France team were expected at the turn against a more modest Hungarian team. Hugo Lloris expected like all of us to see the Blues set foot on the ball, and that’s what happened. More than 60% of possession, more passes than the adversaries, in short, and without wanting to make our Belgians, all the indicators show that France dominated the game.
The general impression is very different, and this is the double disappointment of the afternoon: the men of Didier Deschamps have neither won, nor really enjoyed the phases of possession. Even the goal, which came from a quick exit from Lloris after a poorly played corner by Hungary, combined with a recovery and a fantastic job from Mbappé, sounds like an admission of failure. Is it only like this that our Blues know how to score? Are we doomed not to vibrate more than that despite the pile of individuals in the middle and in attack?
Lack of realism yes, but not only
Asked about the issue at a post-draw press conference, Didier Deschamps does not quite agree with this observation. “That we are able to do better, that yes, but there were very good sequences. The coach is probably alluding to this very cute combination between Benzema and Digne on the left for Mbappé’s header, or Griezmann’s opening for the Paris striker completely scuttled by Karim. We can pull one or two out of the hat and cry out at the lack of realism, yes we can. And that’s what we do, by the way. “In the first period there were good situations, good opportunities, he missed this last gesture to score this goal, regrets Hugo Lloris at the microphone of TF1. By taking the advantage it would have really changed the dynamics of the match. “
Another hypothesis is that we did not score because we did not put ourselves in these situations often enough because we did not have the means. Of course, the opponent, who ran six and a half kilometers more than the France team, was on top of each ball in addition to being perfectly organized defensively. But isn’t the characteristic of a great team to succeed in moving these blocks? To combine, find the intervals, drill? The observation is clear, we saw too little in the Hungarian 25 meters. But it is not (only) the fault of the trio Mbappé, Benzema, Griezmann. Because, as Deschamps clarified after the meeting, the attackers are not the only depositors of this offensive animation, especially not in a game of possession.
” [Les trois de devant], the quality they have, the complementarity they can have it… But they should not be dissociated from the full-backs and midfielders which can free up space and make the passes, too. “
Defensively too, the management was difficult
And this is where we intervene to say that Rabiot went through the meeting like a ghost (oddly it was much better with Tolisso, used to playing in a playful team), that Pogba was washed out after his five-star match against the Germans, that Kanté wandered a little less between the lines than usual and that Pavard was still in the cabbages after his shock on Tuesday evening. The Blues lacked this continuity in movement, these relays, this mobility and these short pass routes to screw up the Hungarian machine. And a little bit of success, it’s true. We can say what we want, without luck, Portugal came out with the same draw against Hungary and for the same reasons.
Finally, the last interesting point raised by Corentin Tolisso in the mixed zone after the match to continue on the idea that this team is still struggling to control its matches in high position: defense. Fiola’s goal starts from there: a line of defenders a little advanced and presto, we take the broth. In the second half, it was perhaps even more glaring. “We had the ball most of the time and they were the ones who blocked it, so they were the ones who had the spaces in front, analyzes the Bayern Munich midfielder. It was different to deal with the game against Germany. “Problems that will have to be resolved before the last match, because Fernando Santos’ Portugal, despite all the individualities at their disposal, will not play much higher than the Hungarians.