Just wanted to put in a perhaps unwelcome for some shout-out to France and Deschamps ...
Admittedly, they rode their luck at times, and play what is arguably an overly conservative style given the talent at their disposal, but nevertheless, I think it's necessary to but a bit of perspective on this:
To go into a tournament with major injury blows to your core side, losing the Ballon d'Or just days (hours?) before kick-off ... to then have the squad hit by a debilitating virus just before the final ... and even then, still make it all the way to a penalty shoot-out in the final, coming back from 2-0 and 3-2 down (more on Mbappé below). May they never again be referred to as surrender monkeys!
Deschamps' double sub in the first half was also a big call, removing your all-time top scorer when what you needed were goals ... It may have looked ineffective, but everything seemed to fall into place with the next double sub with 20 to go. Camavinga made a remarkable difference playing out of position (if, admittedly, Théo H. should've been off long before) ... but again, it was also a big call for Deschamps to haul off the the French player who best reads a game and who'd been his player of the tournament up until the final.
They say desperate times call for desperate measures, and yet, every one of those four subs - Kolo Muani, Thuram, Koman and Camavinga - proved instrumental in turning the game on its head... each one playing a crucial role, and also allowing a tactical shift that allowed Mbappé to take up a more central role whilst turning France's left side from it's main weakness into a major outlet.
And what to say of Mbappé. He's certainly had no qualms about making himself look like a grade A cant, but my word, what an astonishing way of bursting into life. The way he drove at the Argentine defence after that goal and struck terror into them ... if he'd somehow pulled off that that last-gasp attempt at going past 3 or 4 players only to have the ball nicked away before he could pull the trigger ... a moment that would have completely changed the narrative and turned the history of football on its head.
Anyhow, I guess that what I wanted to say is, hats off to France, to Deschamps, to Mbappé, because they too played an instrumental part in what may well have been one of the greatest matches in World Cup history.
Commiserations lads, but also, chapeau and vive la France!
Now that the dust has settled... France!
posted on 19/12/22
comment by Lisandro The King Martinez (U10026)
posted 58 seconds ago
I think Hernandez was a big reason why they were so weak at the back. Pogba and Kimpembe were pretty big misses of the injured players.
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Nkunku as well. He started to develop a good relationship with Mbappe and as Muani few appearances shown, having a more mobile outlet was beneficial.
He would have also provided a breather for Griezmann and he can play as AM.
posted on 19/12/22
I think the width he provided with his overlaps offset that though - especially considering how passive they were.
Would be interesting to see how different they would have looked with Pogba. I don't think he would've been able to do the Rabiot role of covering the left side where Mbappe wasn't. I don't think he would have been as good as Tchouameni at dominating the midfield. So it would have been him or Griezmann and Griezmann was probably their best player.
I guess they'd have had to change their formation completely to fit him in.
posted on 19/12/22
Didn’t offset it in the knock out stages. Hard to know with Pogba because of his fitness, but I’ve not doubt he’d have been their best midfielder again like he usually is. It wasn’t a surprise that France weren’t as good on the counter without his ability to play the ball from deep.
posted on 19/12/22
comment by Edinspur (U1109)
posted 4 minutes ago
I think the width he provided with his overlaps offset that though - especially considering how passive they were.
Would be interesting to see how different they would have looked with Pogba. I don't think he would've been able to do the Rabiot role of covering the left side where Mbappe wasn't. I don't think he would have been as good as Tchouameni at dominating the midfield. So it would have been him or Griezmann and Griezmann was probably their best player.
I guess they'd have had to change their formation completely to fit him in.
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, I think he'd have benched Rabiot tbh. With Tchouameni sitting deeper, Pogba would have had more freedom to go forward, just like he does with Kante
posted on 19/12/22
comment by Corrupted fecking FIFA (U10012)
posted 7 minutes ago
comment by Lisandro The King Martinez (U10026)
posted 58 seconds ago
I think Hernandez was a big reason why they were so weak at the back. Pogba and Kimpembe were pretty big misses of the injured players.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nkunku as well. He started to develop a good relationship with Mbappe and as Muani few appearances shown, having a more mobile outlet was beneficial.
He would have also provided a breather for Griezmann and he can play as AM.
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Good point about the mobility and Greizmann.
posted on 19/12/22
comment by Corrupted fecking FIFA (U10012)
posted 2 minutes ago
comment by Edinspur (U1109)
posted 4 minutes ago
I think the width he provided with his overlaps offset that though - especially considering how passive they were.
Would be interesting to see how different they would have looked with Pogba. I don't think he would've been able to do the Rabiot role of covering the left side where Mbappe wasn't. I don't think he would have been as good as Tchouameni at dominating the midfield. So it would have been him or Griezmann and Griezmann was probably their best player.
I guess they'd have had to change their formation completely to fit him in.
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, I think he'd have benched Rabiot tbh. With Tchouameni sitting deeper, Pogba would have had more freedom to go forward, just like he does with Kante
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France's left side would have been considerably weaker than it already was with Pogba in for Rabiot.
posted on 19/12/22
(defensively that is)
posted on 19/12/22
I guess they'd have had to change their formation completely to fit him in.
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They were playing a back three with Pogba before this world cup, so you’re probably right about this.
posted on 20/12/22
France didn't miss Kante, given Tchouameni's performances, but they missed:
Lucas Hernandez - a far better defender than Theo. This was a massive miss
Kimpembe - better than Upamecano. Not sure why Konate wasn't used more often
Pogba - their biggest miss by far. They simply have no replacement for what he offers. Rabiot is a massive downgrade.
Benzema - some claim Giroud is better for France cos of his scoring record. The problem is when he doesn't score, Giroud, with his sluggishness and maddening sloppiness in possession, is a far bigger liability than Benzema who offers a lot more other than scoring.
Nkunku - could have either been a starter or France's best impact sub. Was really disappointed he missed the tournament.
posted on 20/12/22
Seeing as France seemedto have a bit of a creativity problem in midfield and that Deschamps deployed Griezmann as a 10, I wonder if Fekir wouldn't have been worth a place in the squad.