France NT News, Formations & Results

Game was even from the start but the last 20 minutes at least have been all and only Belgium... Lloris looks shaky. Belgium look very good.

Yeah i mean two near post goals from poor positions is not a good day for the goalkeeper either. He did make an amazing save early though.

It's should be 1-0 at worse. But it is what it is.

sportsczy wrote:Deschamps really has no idea how to manage an offensive team.  He has cut the team in half.  We are neither offensive nor defensive because he can't commit to the fact that we need to attack... and he'd be fired on the spot if he didn't attack with this talent.  So we half defend, half attack... with no commitment to either.

As a result, we're nothing.  

He may not make it to the world cup as the manager if we keep looking so completely without a style.

I said it many times, this generation of French players deserves, urgently needs, cries out for a better manager, a more creative, playful, daring and positive one.
This is surely among the greatest pool of players any NT ever had at the same time, the world of football needs them to play, what Deschamps is doing hurts deeply

Looked like a hugely entertaining game from the highlights... Belgium just lack something as usual, so its no surprise they gave up the HT 2 goal lead. One thing France have is their mentality, especially after flopping the Euros Im sure they wanna prove themselves again.

Benz out of the squad with an injury

Serious hit again for France though, basically their midfield was gone already, n imho all it is about will be the front 2 plus the d.... but now its just Mbappe and the d... lol, pretty much weakens them a lot, maybe leaving their side of the bracket open to get to the semi/final? Ie. England, Germany, Spain, Portugal?

Really good world cup and kudos to Deschamps.

You lose Benzema, Nkunku, Kimpembe, Pogba, Kante, Lucas Hernandez, Maignan.

Literally the entire team had the flu the last 10 days at one point or another (they kept it quiet)... didn't matter against Marocco.  But the older players just didn't have it against Argentina in terms of energy.  Coman and Rabiot got the most sick out of everyone.

Despite these challenges, made it to the final.

Bad news:  Lost the final.  A lot of bad luck as mentioned above; but did the best we could.  Came down to a lottery.  

Good news:  A lot of kids got to play who otherwise wouldn't have.  So for the next Euro and World Cup, Mbappe, Dembele, Kolo Mouani, Tchou, Camavinga, Rabiot, Upamecano, Konate, Youssouf Fofana, Theo, Kounde, Saliba etc will all be there.  Going to lose Lloris, Griezmann and Giroud... but Nkunku, Camavinga and Maignan should be fine replacements.  

Keep an eye out for Saliba, Ekitike, Lafont, Wesley Fofana and Zaïre-Emery.  These kids will make a big jump soon.  Saliba, you already know.  Watch our for the other 4.

Also have Lacroix, Boubacar Kamara, etc.  

A lot of talent.  But key is that a core group of talented players have elite experience.

props to deschamps; you look at what france was before he took over (in the immediate years after zizou) and look at them now, they always had talent, but he knows how to manage a squad. And sticks to his guts in the face of criticism for his selections. One of the big things national team coaches must be able to do is stick with their guts. i seen some people trying to throw blame at him. if you get to a world cup finals and lose on penalties, that has almost nothing to do with coaching.

i hope he stays on for the likes of tchou and camavinga. I think playing in a stable national system can also help their development.

Spot on Tito.

Also, for those who think he should have brought Benz for the final... you don't know DD's philosophy.  It's all about the group.  His philosophy is that you need to be able to play 1 of the pool games.... if you can't, you're not going to be part of the group.  Why?  He uses pool play to build the team.  He will not bring a new and external factor in elimination-round games.

Varane missed Euro 2020 for the same reason... he would have been ready for the elimination round.  But he wasn't fit for any of the pool games so he was left off.

So for those saying that it's a DD issue with Benz... that's ridiculous.  DD treats everyone the same.  That's why his players trust him so much.  It doesn't matter that your name is "Varane" or "Benzema"... the requirements are for everyone.

Now you may say he should have made an exception for the BdO winner.  That's not his style.  Not to mention that Kolo Mouani was very good today.  You can't project a Benzema that hasn't played a competitive game in nearly 2 months would have done better... not to mention you create a bad precedent going forward.

As a FYI... DD wants to win the Euro.  He stays for that imo.

Yea definitely been a revelation this WC, always remembered everyone cristicising him for being so negative with a talented squad. The stars with just aligned for Messi to win this one, no matter what

Agree with everything... although having Mbappe alone pretty much makes France fav in everything actually lol....

Not winning the Euro would be a failure at this point. No European team comes close.

farfan wrote:Not winning the Euro would be a failure at this point. No European team comes close.

True. But it's football and nothing is guaranteed. All teams need to do is get France to PKs and we'll likely lose frankly... it's not a focus for players or goalkeepers. In fact, at no level in Ligue 1, do keepers and players have a set penalty kick training regimen. It comes down to the individual players asking to do it.

It's a weird thing. DD even said this world cup "we don't practice penalty kicks because it's a waste of time.".... well here we are.

Benzema puts an end to his international career... which was never there to begin with frankly.  It is what it is.  Respect him for what he's done at Real Madrid.  But with France (like many others strangely), his personality changed...

A bit weird because Euro was just 1.5 years away.  He could have made that.

The rumors are that he wanted to stick around and try to get over his injury in the world cup while DD did not want the other forwards to feel like a "savior" would come.  DD wanted the healthy players to accept their responsibilities and push themselves to the max as opposed to having Benzema's shadow loom over them.  

As i mentioned, DD's vision is clear.  Varane missed Euro 2020 under the same circumstances.  Pogba also wanted to see if he could get himself ready for this WC in elimination rounds but DD told him flat no (and he was right; Pogba still can't run properly although training lightly).

You can't say no to Pogba and Varane especially... and then say yes to Benzema.

From what I hear it’s a bit more complicated than that.
- some veterans did not want him back and the injury was a perfect reason. Imo guys like Giroud , Griezmann and Lloris

- Benzema could have been managed like Di Maria and come back in time for the semi or final but DD probably thought that this was not going to go well . Too many tensions between some players

Mbappé new captain and i read debates about it in medias ??

Griezmann expected the armband and now is pissed off, pondering on his future with the NT Mbappé is young but he's been pro since 8 years and already achieved a lot in career. Within 2 years he'll surpass Griezmann's statistics, as for general legacy in football it's already sealed i think. Mbappé is responsible for France going on penalties in WC final after an awful performance in first 75 minutes including Griezmann no where to be seen (Mbappé was not very good either tbh) all in all logical decision by Deschamps.

Griezmann always had a far bigger estimation of his value than he actually provides

Griezmann's international cap amount kind of surprised me. He's only been part of the national team for 8 years and already has 117 caps lol.

Griezmann has been fantastic for France.  Was a top player until he went to Barca and had no position.  He lost pace (like everyone as they get older) and has transitioned to a CM... yes a CM... and doing it very well.

He plays the attacking CM role for NT.

Actually excited about the game against Netherlands.  Likely lineup.

Maignan
Kounde - Konate - Umpamecano - Theo
Tchouameni-Rabiot-Griezmann
Coman - Kolo Muani - Mbappe

Age of each

27
24 - 23 - 24 - 25
23 - 27 - 32
26 - 24 - 24

Super young team for NT like France

Bench is super young too other than Giroud.

How tf is France so packed with talent and still got Rabiot starting for them?? I can't wrap my head around that

imo, rabiot has been one of the best midfielders in the world this year. I'm not joking. If you watch juve at all, he's been ridiculous.

He's been good this season, less cerebral (which in his case leads to mistakes) and more implicated. I admit i was wrong when i said i'd rather have a gritty beer leaguer in my team instead of him

Rumors that he will leave if we don't qualify for CL, well i hope we don't extend his contract no matter our results. I don't trust him to maintain this level beyond 22-23, typically that guy who'll go back to mediocrity as soon a new contract is secured. Let's not forget this guy sucked for years, Max even tried him in some sort of LM/LB position at some point.

agreed. in any sport, someone who only plays well in contract years is sucker's gold.

Myesyats wrote:How tf is France so packed with talent and still got Rabiot starting for them?? I can't wrap my head around that

Incredible year for him. He is finally playing like his mom always thought he did

Absolute world class season from him.