All of a sudden, a huge weight has lifted from France. “Libérés” – freed – was the simple headline on the cover of Monday’s L’Equipe with, tellingly, the photo below of Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud celebrating the former’s equaliser. That was indeed the moment that France appeared to become themselves again, which they haven’t really been all tournament, signalled by the deepest, relieved, vindicated noise from the stands in Parc OL to greet the goal.
The question is if France can bottle that magic formula and return to it over the next two weeks, for it looks like the only way of completing a hat-trick of victories in hosted tournaments, after Euro 84 and the World Cup of 1998. After 45 minutes in Lyon, Les Bleus were staring down the barrel of a humiliating end to Euro 2016, after a half in which Republic of Ireland stifled their fluency and fully impeded their ability to get a firm foothold in the match.
The first half had, in fact, been all too familiar to France fans. They have been notoriously slow starters in the tournament so far, and this was the worst case, as they went behind to Robbie Brady’s 2nd-minute penalty. The raw numbers make it look like a rare penetration of France’s backline. In the 206 minutes between Bogdan Stancu’s penalty for Romania in the tournament’s opening game and Brady’s here, France hadn’t conceded so much as a shot on target. The only other effort that’s forced a save from Hugo Lloris in the Euros was also by Romania, again by Stancu, four minutes into that opener.
Yet that doesn’t quite convey the defensive difficulties that France have sporadically been in against, if we’re honest, generally modest opposition. The concession of the penalty to the Irish was a case in point, with a catalogue of errors leading to Nicola Rizzoli’s award - a slip by Adil Rami leading to Paul Pogba’s clumsy foul on Shane Long.
.jpg "Half Time Switch Fixes France But For How Long?")
Rami, in particular, was all at sea in the first half, not managing a single tackle, just one interception and two clearances. He was often helped out by a steadier presence next him, Laurent Koscielny, who managed two tackles, an interception and five clearances. To Rami’s credit, he simplified his game in the second period, making a total of seven clearances, but few fans will mourn his suspension for the quarter-final against England or Iceland. His replacement could well be Samuel Umtiti, who has rated an excellent 7.27 on average for Lyon last season, and the 22-year-old’s adroitness (2.4 interceptions per match, and just 0.9 fouls) and adaptability could be a real asset.
This change would require Koscielny moving across to the right-sided centre-back role and it was another switch of a partnership in the middle of the park that helped to make the difference against Ireland, with Pogba and Matuidi swapping to their more natural posts in the second half; Pogba going right and, crucially, Matuidi moving to the left, reprising his club role for Paris Saint-Germain.
Matuidi weighed in heavily, recuperating the ball to set the move for Griezmann’s equaliser in motion, and offering Patrice Evra extra cover on France’s left – a weakness that had been apparent during a first half in which the industrious Long stood out. A later cross from that attacking full-back position (one of three key passes), as Evra hung back, almost created a third goal for substitute André-Pierre Gignac. Pogba got through plenty of work too in the second period, even if he didn’t shine quite as might have been expected pre-tournament, making four tackles – a significant figure, given that his defensive efforts are generally thought of as being the part of his game that could do with the most improvement.
Yet Deschamps’ biggest move was the overall change of shape in the second half, from 4-3-3 to more of a 4-4-2, with Griezmann enjoying more of a reprise of his club role with Atlético Madrid alongside Olivier Giroud. The winning goal, Griezmann’s second, 225 seconds after his first, was the ultimate manifestation of this. Rami’s long pass could easily have been one of Gabi’s, intelligently knocked down by Giroud for Griezmann to advance and fire past the excellent Darren Randolph (7.14).
If it meant a lot to Griezmann, a boyhood Lyon supporter born just up the road in Mâcon, he had always looked the most likely, having four efforts at goal in the first half (two on target), even if they weren’t quite of the same voracity. He had chances to complete a hat-trick, denied by Randolph and then Shane Duffy’s late last-man challenge that earned him a red card, and all but finished the game for the gallant but tiring Irish.
The overall numbers tell an interesting story, though. Griezmann’s eight shots in the game as a whole here (five on target) represent more than half of his tournament total of 15 shots, with seven on target. Any team’s plan should be about getting the best out of your best players and just as France has come to learn that Dimitri Payet is certainly one of those – rating 8.03 here, with six shots and five key passes – then so is Griezmann. International management should be about providing as close as possible to the conditions that allow those players to thrive at club level. That was the case for Griezmann in the second half, and as such should be persevered with.
Giroud played his part in that (as recognised by the crowd’s ovation for him as he was substituted) but so did Kingsley Coman, with his impact from the bench, stretching the game, reminiscent of his similar turn in Bayern Munich’s Champions League last-16 second leg comeback against Juventus. The 20-year-old’s four key passes and three successful dribbles did plenty to change the match’s momentum.
So we need to ask – has Decshamps learned his lesson? He must be praised for his reaction to times of difficulty, but he must also set his team to start well in the quarter-final. When they face Iceland’s obduracy on Sunday, one senses that if France are slow out of the blocks again, they could be fully punished.
Can Deschamps settle on a system to help France to Euro 2016 glory? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below
