France is an uber talented team. With countless options at each position, they fail to play cohesively. Their talent is undeniable, but how far can that take them this summer at the World Cup in Russia.
France finished this last round of international friendlies with a loss against Colombia and a victory over Russia. Trotting out the expected starting XI against Colombia, France went up 2-0 after twenty-five minutes but allowed three unanswered goals to lose the match 2-3.
Against Russia, France cruised to a casual 1-3 victory in St. Petersburg. There was a French arrogance that underscored both games. France up by two against Colombia, felt their job was done and allowed Colombia’s persistence to prevail. However, against a poor Russia side, they comfortably sauntered to a victory.
France will prevail over most teams, like they did against Russia, because of the amount of talent in their squad. But even against Russia, they allowed their opponents opportunities from careless play.
Didier Deschamps came down on his team after their loss to Colombia.
"“I said what I had to say. I spoke about what I really didn’t like. My squad listens to me but sometimes they can slip like it happened against Colombia.” – Didier Deschamps (via Firstpost)"
There are questions whether Deschamps is the man to lead the French national team to glory, as he failed to do so already on home soil at the Euros two years ago. They lost to Portugal in the finals, but Portugal was unanimously believed to be one of the least talented teams at the tournament, despite having Cristiano Ronaldo.
They are only stronger going into the World Cup this summer: Kylian Mbappé has emerged as one the world’s top talents, Samuel Umtiti is now one the best defenders in the world playing for Barcelona and N’Golo Kante arguably won the titles for his two different teams in consecutive seasons.
Les Bleus will surely cruise through a mediocre group but will need to stitch together a team ethos if they want to make it far in the tournament.
With a number of options in each position, Deschamps is left with a lot of questions leading up to the World Cup. Does he play Raphael Varane and Umtiti in the back? Who plays in midfield alongside Kante? Does he insist on starting Olivier Giroud? And, who can he trust to come off the bench to make a difference in close games?
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France, one of the most talented teams in the tournament this year, will have to wait for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to seriously challenge for the title with a little more experience, a solidified team identity and possibly a new manager.