Team Focus: France Flexibility the Key as Les Bleus Look to 2016

It is beginning to look like a model case study in perfect preparation. France is limbering up for Euro 2016, and things are looking good. If you thought getting set to host a tournament was all about an unseemly last-minute scramble of infrastructure tightening and agonising over selection, think again. Most of the stadiums are ready, and the team isn’t too far off either on the evidence of Saturday’s win over Portugal. 

The anger surrounding France’s demeanour – as well as sporting performance – at major tournaments in 2010 and 2012 is slowly beginning to fade. The atmosphere in the stands at the Stade de France even tended towards the celebratory. Given the tension that has often epitomised the relationship between players and public at the national stadium, it’s no mean feat.  

“Symphonie Bleue” was L’Equipe’s headline on Sunday morning and if that leaned a touch towards overstatement, it was a fair reflection of the current positivity around the group. Much of the credit for this sentiment must go to Didier Deschamps, who has kept alive the excitement generated by the swashbuckling World Cup qualification play-off against Ukraine and has a competitiveness in his squad - perhaps enhanced by the centralised friendlies experiment which sees the hosts playing in Group I, without their results counting towards the final table.

Portugal were an excellent yardstick for progress, occupying a similar area in Europe’s hierarchy just below Germany and Spain, but with legitimate ambitions to pursue titles. A cursory glance at the match statistics suggest relative equality – France and Portugal both had 12 efforts on goal, possession was split 50.7%/49.3% – but closer examination reveals small but important differences that explain why the two nations are at contrasting stages in their development as they get ready for 2016.

While Portugal, under new coach Fernando Santos, are still searching for the right blend in defence and attempting to find a solution at centre-forward (Zenit St Petersburg’s Danny as a false nine was the latest contender on Saturday), Deschamps has a solid base to work from myriad options. 

The cornerstones of that stability are becoming clearer and clearer. Raphaël Varane produced a man of the match display at centre-back (with a WhoScored rating of 7.94), largely snuffing out the threat of clubmate Cristiano Ronaldo, despite the latter’s hot streak of 13 goals in 6 La Liga matches coming into the meeting. Varane made 3 tackles but his agility and control is perhaps better illustrated by his 5 interceptions, 6 clearances and 91.4% pass accuracy, which was useful when he stepped forward to orchestrate attacking moves, especially in the first half (he contributed a key pass as well). His partner Eliaquim Mangala’s 93.6% pass completion was a fair reflection of the pair’s assurance.

It was in midfield, however, that the real difference between the two sides told. If Deschamps’ preferred three of Yohan Cabaye, Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi is not quite set in stone, it will be hard to dislodge any of the trio, even taking into account the quality of competitors including Morgan Schneiderlin and Moussa Sissoko, who both made cameos from the bench.

The sheer power of France’s midfield put them on the front foot from the very start. If only Cabaye, playing in the anchor role, managed to use the ball with the same sort of accuracy that he does at club level (86.5% pass success), their sheer presence dictated the flow of the game. The three made 10 tackles and 11 interceptions between them, with João Moutinho getting little respite from his struggles to impose himself with Monaco. Moutinho hit the target with a relatively modest 75.7% of his passes (a low figure for a player of his poise), while Tiago struggled to impose himself in the early stages of his international return. André Gomes had only 24 touches, the least of any of the 22 starters, before departing at half-time. They did not make a key pass between them.

Yet if France’s stability was impressive, their flexibility was even more so. Karim Benzema spoke after the match of Deschamps making the decision to switch to 4-4-2 shortly before kick-off, subtly reshaping the 4-3-3 used at the World Cup and which appeared to be the recipe for this game. The average player position chart shows Mathieu Valbuena slotting in at the front of the diamond behind a front pair of Benzema and Antoine Griezmann, with Pogba and Matuidi drifting right and left respectively and Cabaye falling back to shield the defence. 

It worked well, with Benzema’s guile and Griezmann’s pace forming an interesting combination. After the Real Madrid man had opened the scoring, Griezmann came close to a second in the first half. Benzema eventually created the decisive goal for Pogba, drifting in from that exact spot on the right to finish. Matuidi’s slight repositioning gave him the chance to ably cover Patrice Evra. 

There was longevity in the plan too, with Dimitri Payet able to reprise the central playmaker role in which he has so revelled at Marseille this season when he replaced Valbuena in the 57th minute. Payet was relatively quiet, but still managed to produce a key pass and find a teammate with 85.7% of his 21 passes.

As discussed in last week’s column, there is plenty more talent available to Deschamps not currently in the squad, but it is his imagination in using the players he does pick that makes it look as if France are on the right track. There is plenty of time to go until it all kicks off in June 2016, but Les Bleus are raring to go already. 

How do you think France's preparations for Euro 2016 are going? Let us know in the comments below