TEAM PREVIEW: FRANCE

France - "Les Bleus"

Overview: Brimming with raw talents which often stuff the bras of the world’s sexiest clubs, France only limped to the World Cup as one of the last teams past the post. They finally woke up in the last game of their playoffs against a convincing and deserving Ukraine to nip into the competition.

Many French pundits including Bixente Lizarazu on his radio show question whether this is actually good for their team, and believe that skipping a World Cup would bring about some much needed humility and self-reflection to this notoriously underperforming team.

Or is raw talent and a half-decent coach actually enough?

The Objective: Well, its France, Samir Nasri or Karim Benzema (among others) think that if they didn’t have the whole team in tow they would win it easily. Their objectives will be the Quarter Finals, and a performance to restore their respect as a national team. They will however, be underestimating what is actually a tough group.

Population: 66 million citoyen, of which 300 speak another language except French. Mais pourquoi?

Ethnic Groups: Everything but French really

Registered Football Players: 1,794,940… 4^th in the World. The French league system is massive and goes down to the smallest villages and country road intersections (Yes Lens fans I am talking about you)

Registered Football Clubs: 20,062

Most Successful Clubs: AS Saint-Étienne (one of the greatest teams on the planet I say objectively) has 10 league titles and is the most successful club domestically. They are followed by Olympique Marseille, Nantes, Monaco, Lyon, Reims and Bordeaux. Sorry Swedish fans, PSG is barely in the top 10, dwarfed by the likes of Lille or Nice.

All Time Top Scorer: Thierry Henry scored 51 in 123 outings, but Michel Platini the current boss of UEFA has a better average with 41 in 72.

World Cup Performance: 1998 champignons, 2006 runners up, 3^rd place in 1986 and 1958 and 4^th place in 1982.

54 games played, 25 wins, 11 draws, 18 losses. 96 goals scored, and 68 conceded.

Continental Performance:  1984 and 2000 European champignons. 1996 semi-finalists and 1960 4^th.

Noteworthy: 1984 Olympic Gold and 1900 Silver.

How they get their calories: Fat mixed with duck all drowned in good wine, in which you can dip your baguettes, and a nice cup of tripe for desert.

Most French persons will inform you that their country in fact invented cooking, but the by-product is usually so good you don’t argue, if only to avoid indigestion.

The national beer:  Wine.

Or else,

Kronenburg 1664 from the East of France is like a light Belgian-style Pils.

Pelforth is another biggie, and I find it a bit creamier.

Jenlain also covers large swaths of territory in terms of availability and taste.

For a deeper, unfiltered, fuller taste the traditional cervoise should be opted for.

From the anthem:

They really got this one right, if the team members sing (many don’t) La Marseillaise with the crowd it actually inspires them to play good football for the first couple of minutes.

This is rich, just impossible to select the best of it… but here goes:

What! Foreign cohorts

Would make the law in our homes!

Tremble, tyrants and you traitors

The shame of all parties,

Tremble! Your parricidal schemes

Will finally receive their reward! (repeat)

Everyone is a soldier to combat you

If they fall, our young heroes,

The earth will produce new ones,

Ready to fight against you!

How to blend in with the fans:

Talk about actually not liking football because France is not good anymore, when France was good football was great!

Then you can say that you ended up in Brazil by accident, and that actually it’s terrible what Hollande is doing with these taxes because it means you had to go to Brazil instead of the French coast this summer. You will fit right in!

The stereotype:

I think the word comes from French. Arrogance, coarseness, gruffness, existentialism, and very talented football players most of whom end up playing for Arsenal.

What their neighbours know:

That actually, France is as multi-culti as any country in the world, and a great place to plug through an underpaid life and revel in past glories that the significance of is vague.

How they qualified:

Barely, losing to the Ukrainians 2-0 in Kiev and staging a fantastic 3-0 comeback victory in Paris.

The sad: 

The constant squabbling of the team! Patrice Evra, Samir Nasri, Ribery, Mexes, Toulalan and many, many other player have had major outbursts in the press against others. The harmony of this team is as fragile as possible.

The happy joy joy: The partying went on and on and on in 1998, the country really celebrated their much deserved (albeit home) win that year, and football was well loved by everyone French.

An overview: France on paper are capable of almost anything. The actually translation of that is rare, despite an enormous squad depth and quality. Didier Deschamps managed to find the mix of talent, team mentality and work ethic for a couple of games at least, before it all started falling apart again.

France get high ratings in most of the departments of the fields, but its how it all fails to come together that has been the problem.

Team Strength: Power, talent, experience.

Team Weakness: Psychology, infighting, and frequent squad rotation. The defence is a bit raw, if talented.

The Goalkeeping Department: 8 - Hugo Lloris is an excellent goalkeeper, but has had a horrid season with Tottenham (many spurs fans would say he was one of the bright spots thought). His replacements are quality, both Mandanda of Marseille and Ruffier of ASSE are capable shot stoppers when called upon.

Defenders: 7.2 – France’s weakest department, not because they lack talent there, but because the backline has been very fluctuating in recent years under different coaches. The current set up plays very young players in the middle, Deschamps having opted to drop such veterans as Mexes or Rami (the first rightly so). The wingbacks are very good, Debuchy and Sagna leading a very talented pack.

The middle: 8.6 – not only Ribery, but Pogba, Cabaye, Valbuena, Griezman, France have a hell of a good midfield, balanced with strength, technique, speed and goal getting. I am not giving a very high rating because it has had some chinks in the mechanism, but when this group gets firing as for example in the friendly against Holland in March, they are truly world beaters.

The attack: 8 – some of the world’s most prized attacking assets play for France, as usual. Benzema, Remy, Giroud are not group to frown upon, but neither of the three has managed to win a permanent starting place in the team, and Karim Benzema only recently broke a very long goal drought with France. The replacement players are not much worse, but the fact that all three of these attackers fail to gel perfectly with the team means that the quality of the performances is unpredictable.

The coach: 

Didier Deschamps was nicknamed “the water carrier” by Cantona, but he was one of the 3 key players to help France to their 1990s success. He was essential at Juventus, and started his coaching career by getting the Italian giants out of Serie B.

Although controversial, he has actually had consistent success in his coaching, despite a difficult role at Marseille.

He has gotten very stern and serious, but seems to have the confidence of his players and public despite some shaky moments during their qualification campaign.

The Tactics:

Deschamps uses 4231 which, for your football geeks out there, the French pundits have thought a 433 as a better alternative. Some will say there is not much difference between the two, but I disagree.

Its Deschamps Italian pedigree that has him playing a more controlling game with 4231 over the direct 433 variant.

Everybody knows…. Franck Ribéry. The Bayern star was most expert’s World Player of the year of choice, having done more for his team that year than either Messi or Ronaldo. He also fired all cylinders against Ukraine in France and led his team’s route of the rivals. On the day he is one of the World’s best wingers, and France will need him to be that every day as only behind his best play does the French team manage to rally and hold together their delicate team fiber.

Should be more famous….  Yohan Cabaye is an outstanding central midfielder. After he left Lille the team had two bad seasons, after he left Newcastle for PSG this January the Geordies had one of their worst half seasons in a long time. His freekicks, long shots and long passes, and his sense of game tempo make him a 10 out of 10 in any coache’s book. He arrives late in the box and scores goals as well, and wins back his share of balls.

No one has heard off…  Eliaquim Mangala, except most of Europe’s top scouts these past two seasons. He is very likely to make the boat to Brazil as a central defender, and this powerful and intelligent defender’s future looks very promising and complete at 23. He has been a large part of the core of the successful Porto team this season, and looks set for a big move soon.

Unfulfilled talent:  At 27 most people seem to think he is 35 already, but Yoann Gourcuff is considered by many as a huge-talent-gone-burnout. He played fantastically with Bordeaux, but failed to settle at Lyon which paid a French record transfer fee for him and was largely blamed for the team’s hard times of late. His central playmaking is not really replaced in France, just left out in favour of more balanced players such as Pogba.

Still going…  Arsenal’s Bacary Sagna doesn’t look 31 but he is. I don’t see him as being as good as he used to be and would rather play Debuchy on his natural right side.

The heart of the team…. Matthieu Valbuena has the work rate of an Intel Processor. His performances in 2013 are largely seen as being the rally-call for France when Ribery and Benzema were firing blanks. He assists and scores, and the bigger the team the better he seems to play.

The goalscorer.... None really except for Ribery again, but it’s supposed to be Giroud or Benzema. The French team distributes their goals, but those 3 tend to get the majority.

The young star… None other than Paul Pogba. He played Marchisio out of his first team place at Juventus last season, and has looked nothing short of top world class this season. Ballwinning, playmaking, discipline, creativity, power and scoring stunning goals, Pogba looks to be a future World Player of the Year nothing short of it.

In bad form this season…. Laurent Koscielny has had some shockingly bad defensive outings for Arsenal this season including red cards, but Deschamps seems to be sticking with him.

In great form this season…. Paul Pogba has 7 goals and 6 assists for Juventus this season.

Recognized player not likely to feature… Milan’s Mexes, Man City’s Gael Clichy, PSG’s Jérémy Ménez, and even potentially the locker-room rebel Samir Nasri are set to be left at home. Patrice Evra is also an uncertainty having been way too outspojen in the French press this season. Toulalan is the player the French public most wanted to see return to the fold, but he refused. Lots of other talents like Hatem Ben Arfa will not be playing.

Candidate for discovery of the tournament…  Raphaël Varane the quiet no-nonsense Real Madrid defender seems to have gotten himself a starting spot with France, probably mainly because of personality to couple his decent if not spectacular skill set. He could end up playing really well given his rapidly rising stock and experience at the highest levels of club football, and he could end up being a household name after this cup.

The prospect of tomorrow… There are loads but Antoine Griezmann has been one of the La Liga left wing stars (although he can play on the right) with Real Sociedad, largely responsible for their Champions League runs and domestic success. He is a real talent, and although as much of a potential ego and firebrand as much of the rest of the French team, he seems set to squeeze Samir Nasri out of the team for Brazil, although that is not yet clear.

Worth mentioning: Both Oliver Giroud and Loïc Rémy live in the shadow of Benzema. They are however two personalities that could matter a lot for France, Giroud with discipline and personality and Rémy with his ability to change games with power, pace and injury time goals.

The core team: Lloris (GK) – Sagna, Varane, Sakho or Mangala or Koscielny, Evra or Debuchy (Def) – Cabaye, Valbuena, Ribery, Pogba, Matuidi (not mentioned but he is the new water carrier) (Mid) – Benzema, Giroud, Remy (Fwd)

Could still make the squad…  Nasri, Mavuba, Rami, Grenier, Gomis and a number of others, France always has reserves and loose cannons.

A great team moment:  The 3-0 versus Ukraine in Saint-Denis on November 19^th 2013 which saw certain disaster averted with decisive victory.

A legend:  Let’s not have a blog post about French Footy without mentioning Zinedine “Zizou” Zidane.

Group E: 

Honduras (June 15^th) – For any team this would be a great way to kick off a difficult tournament, with a team weaker on paper. But Honduras have the potential to surprise if taken lightly, with a good offensive-defensive balance. I still predict France to take this one, simply outrunning the Central Americans, but this game will set a keynote for France.

Switzerland (June 20^th) – A much tougher match than meets the eye against a much tougher opponent than evident. Switzerland are a lot better as a team than France is, and they are not short of quality, this could be an upset.

Ecuador (June 25^th) – Ecuador vs. France should be a very entertaining match, as the French will likely underestimate the underrated South Americans. But Ecuador has many of the strengths that France does, and could easily spring a surprise here.

Pre Tournament Friendlies:

France beat Holland 2-0 on March 5^th in Paris (Benzema, Matuidi)

Norway on May 27^th in Paris.

Paraguay on June 1^st in Nice.

Jamaica on June 8^th in the boonies (Villeneuve d’Ascq)

France are set for three bruisers, injuries not unlikely

Prognosis: France will surprise me and many others if they end up first in this group, I predict them to advance though but not easily. Then who knows how far they can go? France is a hard team to call.