French Football

[Oncy]

I'm surprised as the bashing of this French team. As Twisty says, apart from Girpoo up top, the team was full of quality.

There is no bashing. One poster thinks they arent very good.
That poster is wrong.

 

[Fabio]

Don't get the giroud bashing either myself like

He's a great striker

 

[manwithnoname]

Don't get the giroud bashing either myself like

He's a great striker

Mmmm, I think he's a decent striker, and effective, but I'd be hesitant to call him great. Although it's fairly subjective, I'm sure his stats for Arsenal are pretty impressive.

better than Gui'varch anyway....

 

[peekay]

Deschamps has been criticised for a rather dour approach, and favouring systems and formations over skill, as well as leaving behind some more eye-catching talent.

But while all the above has some merit, it's hard to shout about, for example, Matuidi playing in that advanced LM role, ahead of more obvious attacking talent like Dembele or Fekir, or whoever, when he's won the World Cup. It's not like there wasn't top creative talent at all: Pogba, Griezman, Mbappe is an impressive trio.

And as you say, they have great talent all over the pitch, apart from in the striker position, but Giroud was there to do a certain job.

And - repeating myself - THEY WON THE WORLD CUP.

Credit to Deschamps for finding the right combinations all over the pitch.

Pavard as RB when he normally operated as central defender for the club.

Pogba Kante Matuidi was a very effective midfield, albeit a bit on the defensive side.

Upfront, Mbappe did not do that well when he played upfront with Griezman as the pivot. Playing Giroud as the pivot and giving Griezman a deeper role with Mbappe platying off Giroud was another very good tactical decision.

He also took some bold decisions in keeping talented players who have created troubles in the past off the squad to ensure harmony in the squad.

Given their talent level, they could have been more adventurous and played more attacking and put down a marker like Spain did in 2010. However, as you said, you cannot argue with the results overall.

 

[Fallon]

Mbappe, Umtiti, Varane, Kante, Giroud all deserve some credit (some, mainly towards the triangle at the back) and Pavard isn't bad, but the midfield is a joke and Griezmann is one of the most overrated strikers out there at the moment.

That Croatian team will forever kick themselves, you don't get a better chance than that.

 

[King Emlyn]

I think France were easily the best side in the tournament

 

[jan]

Giroud must be one of the most underrated players of this time. He's very good

 

[Fabio]

The French midfield was a joke? In...a bad way?

Fuck me

 

[Aidan O' Neill]

Credit to Deschamps for finding the right combinations all over the pitch.

Pavard as RB when he normally operated as central defender for the club.

Pogba Kante Matuidi was a very effective midfield, albeit a bit on the defensive side.

Upfront, Mbappe did not do that well when he played upfront with Griezman as the pivot. Playing Giroud as the pivot and giving Griezman a deeper role with Mbappe platying off Giroud was another very good tactical decision.

He also took some bold decisions in keeping talented players who have created troubles in the past off the squad to ensure harmony in the squad.

Given their talent level, they could have been more adventurous and played more attacking and put down a marker like Spain did in 2010. However, as you said, you cannot argue with the results overall.

I'm pretty sure Spain won all of their knockout games 1-0 that year.

 

[Fallon]

The French midfield was a joke? In...a bad way?

Fuck me

Given how often it was bypassed and how little it created, yeah. It's like arguing against a mourinho team winning a league 1-0 at a time, nobody agrees because bottom line is they won but it was a shite mid. In fact its very much like a UTD mid, wouldn't argue against the results but can't say it was that good.

Would that French team beat any of the winners since they last won? Had the ref not gifted them a pen I'm not sure they'd have won this one.

 

[manwithnoname]

Given how often it was bypassed and how little it created, yeah. It's like arguing against a mourinho team winning a league 1-0 at a time, nobody agrees because bottom line is they won but it was a shite mid. In fact its very much like a UTD mid, wouldn't argue against the results but can't say it was that good.

Would that French team beat any of the winners since they last won? Had the ref not gifted them a pen I'm not sure they'd have won this one.

This is...not right.

 

[Fallon]

This is...not right.

This is.... pointless.