Forced to give up due to an ankle injury, the best passer in the history of the France team leaves a big void for this March sequence. A (good) headache for Deschamps.
In Clairefontaine
Didier Deschamps would have done without it. Monday evening at Clairefontaine, his players finish with a light session at the start of the training period and the Blues coach talks with his assistant Guy Stéphan and the press manager Raphaël Raymond on the edge of the pitch. The three men, located a few meters from the journalists, validate the press release sent shortly before 7 p.m. to formalize the withdrawal of Antoine Griezmann (hit in the ankle for having resumed too quickly with Atlético Madrid in the Champions League) and the arrival of Mattéo Guendouzi. An earthquake runs through the castle. For the first time since 2017, the native of Macon will miss a meeting of the Blues – against Germany on Saturday and Chile on Tuesday – thereby stopping his record series of 84 consecutive matches in the selection. Delusional.
In itself, Griezmann’s withdrawal (127 caps) in March is fundamentally not serious, for friendly meetings and almost zero sporting stakes. A similar situation in June at the Euro would have a completely different consequence. But the absence of the best passer in the history of the selection, a first since 2017, says a lot about his weight and his place among the vice-world champions.
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The only one with Giroud in all the Blues’ international campaigns since 2012
With Olivier Giroud, he is the only international to have been present in all international campaigns under Didier Deschamps since 2012. The quarter-final at the 2014 World Cup, the final of Euro 2016, the Russian coronation in 2018, the fall in 8e final at Euro 2021 or even the last World Cup final in Qatar. A longevity that no longer needs to be proven for a man who is quite simply the brain of the Blues.
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By replacing Griezmann (33 years old in two days) with Guendouzi, Didier Deschamps also demonstrates the absence of a creative player in the midfield within French football. In a different profile, Christopher Nkunku, more attacking than the Madrilenian, fits into the mind of the boss of the Blues as his suitable replacement. Problem is, the former Parisian keeps frequenting the infirmary at Chelsea. Versatile due to his physical qualities, his propensity to be valuable in the offensive and defensive phases, clairvoyant thanks to a game intelligence well above average, Antoine Griezmann has no equal in the French team in creating links and meet the expectations of your coach.
FRANCK FIFE / AFP
Griezmann has no equal in Blue
It’s not for his beautiful eyes that “DD” made him play 84 matches in a row for the national team. With “Grizou” on the field, the 2018 world champions have a playing master of whom many national teams are orphans. Ditto at club, with Diego Simeone who urged the return of the former FC Barcelona player, injured in the ankle, to overcome the pitfall of the round of 16 of the Champions League against Inter Milan. To the detriment of his physique, since the medical staff recommended a return to the field after six weeks and he only benefited from half to recover his health.
Antoine Griezmann absent, the entire game of the Blues must be rethought against Germany and Chile, for the last two outings before the Euro list. “ We are not going to find a player with the same characteristicswhispers Deschamps on his “darling”. If he has the record for continuous matches, it is because he took up a lot of space, because he was systematically there. A replacement position for position is very very very difficult to find. We will arrange in a different way. »
Change system? Try a two-pronged attack? Stay in 4-3-3?
What possibilities are available to the boss of the vice-world champions? Knowing that Griezmann occupied a hybrid position of relay player in a three-way midfielder with Tchouaméni and Rabiot since the World Cup and a position supporting the striker (Giroud, Thuram, Kolo Muani) in the offensive phase… As we have said, no summoned player is capable of fulfilling this role, which could lead to two hypotheses.
Stay in 4-3-3 and include a classic midfielder to complete the trio. In this case Eduardo Camavinga or Warren Zaire Emery would be on the front line to start against Germany with Tchouaméni and Rabiot. Or change the playing system and switch to two leading attackers in 4-4-2, in a more offensive formula (Dembélé, Tchouaméni, Rabiot, Mbappé – Thuram, Giroud). The solutions exist and have the advantage of allowing Deschamps, constrained and forced, to test things with a view to the Euro. Where the return of the Griezmann brain is expected.