You should never trivialize a qualification. The French football team has experienced too many failures in its long history (2002, 2008, 2010, etc.) for us to forget that passing a first round of the World Cup or European Championship never falls from the sky or happens without effort. Efforts, this 2024 generation made throughout this first round of the Euro, to resist the Austrian roughness, dominate the Netherlands in the game, or try to defeat a Polish goalkeeper in a state of grace, in the humidity of a German summer now established.
But there you have it, Les Bleus – the world’s second-ranked nation in the FIFA rankings – have struggled to an unexpected extent in their first three matches. A narrow victory, two draws – the last one, on Tuesday 25 June against Poland (1-1) –, two goals scored (one own goal, the other on a penalty): the statistics are not glorious. For the first time since Euro 2012, France has not finished in first place in a group stage during a major competition.
“We don’t have the place we wanted”, admitted Didier Deschamps on Tuesday, as an admission of helplessness. Which augurs a perhaps more complicated continuation of the tournament, since the Blues “switch into a part of the table which, a priori, seems more challenging”as noted by the president of the French Football Federation (FFF), Philippe Diallo.
Beyond the statistics, the impression given is that of a concentrated, combative team, physically up to par, but otherwise desperately ineffective, regularly clumsy, hazardous in its choices, and lacking in symbiosis. The French coach may repeat that his team creates opportunities, and that this is the essential thing, but there is a glaring lack of offensive coordination, foresight during the last gesture, the ability to change pace and really unbalance opponents.
“We have the state of mind, the solidity”
The opposition must be taken into account. The quality of the Netherlands was known. Less prestigious, the Austrian and Polish selections proved to be more than consistent opponents, very fit, well organized. Philippe Diallo underlines the increasing homogenization of the selections: “We see that all the teams are competitive and well prepared. » Didier Deschamps suggests a certain lack of French competitiveness in terms of large players, particularly in the aerial field, when facing this type of team. “For us, it is better to play on the ground and fast”he believes, even if the Dayot Upamecano-William Saliba central defense, one of the strong points of this first round, was not found wanting in this area.
You have 57.31% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.