Team Focus: Still Many Questions For Improving France
“It’s a style that I don’t have yet.” Didier Deschamps’ words to describe his reasons for calling up Nabil Fekir for the first time, back in March, were unusually imprecise and vague. Fekir tends to have that effect on people. That particular blend of bewitching footwork and devastating end product that led Lyon legend Bernard Lacombe to refer to the club’s rising star as “our Messi” is the type of X-factor that has coaches dreaming of successfully finding their ways out of tight corners in big major tournament matches.
There will likely be plenty of those for France next summer as they host Euro 2016. The stadiums and infrastructure in the Hexagon look impeccably prepared, but Deschamps’ team are not quite there yet. That’s part of the reason why the coach - who knows so well, of course, how unconvincing pre-tournament form can be transformed into ultimate glory - was so keen to give Fekir his first start for Les Bleus in Friday’s visit to face Portugal.
Deschamps’ clumsy attempt at describing Fekir’s magic has extra poignancy now, after the 22-year-old’s full bow was cut short after just 14 minutes. It later turned out that the news was the worst possible; Fekir had ruptured the cruciate knee ligaments in his right leg, and will be out for “at least” six months, according to his club.
If it’s a devastating blow for Fekir and for Lyon, it’s a headache for Deschamps too. He had changed France’s shape specifically to get the most out of Fekir, from the habitual 4-3-3 to 4-4-2, despite his openly expressed doubts that the latter formation can see a team go all the way at the top level.
3 defeats in France’s previous 4 matches persuaded Deschamps to take the gamble. So did Fekir’s recent form. Usually thought of as a playmaker, the penny seems to have dropped recently that he is probably at his most dangerous as a second striker. The arrival at Lyon of another French international, Mathieu Valbuena, from Dinamo Moscow saw Fekir pushed into this role in the early weeks of this campaign, and how he responded. In the opening 4 games of the Ligue 1 season, Fekir scored 4 times and provided an assist.
The idea of him paired with another product of Lyon’s Tola Vologe academy, Karim Benzema, was a seductive one. They grew up just 4 miles apart on the eastern outskirts of the city, but they share more than just that. Fekir and Benzema are both players of rare intuition, and Deschamps’ pre-match insistence that Fekir “has to be in the final 30 metres (from goal) as often as possible”, coupled with his ability to pass as well as score - 9 Ligue 1 assists to go with 13 goals last season, as well as 2.8 key passes per game this campaign - makes a strong case.
Clearly Fekir faces a fight to be fit for the tournament at all now, even before we get onto the issue of him establishing himself. Deschamps should consider retaining the new formation, though, as France looked more solid and convincing on Friday than they have done for months, even taking into account a sterile Portugal performance, probably affected by the shadow of Monday’s important qualifier in Albania.
Perhaps first to benefit from the reshuffle was Moussa Sissoko. The Newcastle midfielder is really valued by Deschamps, but never looks truly comfortable in an orthodox wide right role. He’s probably too short on ball tricks for that, but tucked slightly infield into more of an inside-right role, he really looks the part.
Sissoko is the ultimate all-rounder, impressing against Portugal with an 88.9% pass success rate, 2 dribbles and 2 key passes. He played a big part in swinging the momentum France’s way, with Blaise Matuidi the perfect mirror image on the narrow left.
Matuidi’s interpretation of the role is a little different. Used to dovetailing with Maxwell at Paris Saint-Germain, he can go outside, almost as an auxiliary attacking left-back. His passing was below its best of club level - 82.6% success rate, compared to 92.1% with PSG - but was perhaps a reflection of his more dynamic role, producing 4 tackles and an interception as well as mustering 2 efforts on goal. Matuidi’s presence at the sharp end of France’s best attacks of the first half - one saved by Rui Patrício, the other volleyed over the bar - showed his ability to drift inside too, and this too will have interested Deschamps.
Behind them, Morgan Schneiderlin made a convincing case that he - and not Yohan Cabaye - should start in the anchor role when the curtain goes up at the Euros. Cabaye’s return to prominence with Crystal Palace is good news for France, but Schneiderlin edged him in every relevant department (4 tackles to 3 in 45 minutes apiece, 3 interceptions to 2) but most important was his superiority on the ball; 87.8% pass success to 80%. France’s game flowed much better with the Manchester United man there.
This is the upside of the midfield diamond. Rather more perturbing was the peripheral presence of Paul Pogba. Most in France - and plenty outside it - expect the young Juventus man to make Euro 2016 his tournament. A team-high 85 touches showed his and his team’s will to get him into the game, but he was rarely more than neat and tidy. That Sissoko, a player of great desire but far lesser natural gifts, managed 2 more key passes than Pogba says a lot.
Maybe the night’s big winner was Valbuena. Far apart from scoring the decisive goal with an excellent free-kick in his 11 minutes on the field, the 30-year-old knows exactly how to make the most of playing at the tip of the diamond, and he will get plenty of practice at club level in the coming months, playing just behind a forward duo of Alexandre Lacazette and Claudio Beauvue. Having been largely outstanding for France in recent years (only Benzema rated higher than his 7.56 at the 2014 World Cup), Deschamps knows he can trust him.
France’s line-up for next summer is still open to a lot of conjecture. Deschamps has the talent, but he doesn’t have much time.
Can Deschamps get this France side firing on all cylinders in time for Euro 2016? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below
