To avoid a third defeat in a row and ward off the risk of a deeper crisis, the French team and Didier Deschamps need a victory and a good match against Belgium in the Nations League, Monday in Décines near Lyon.
The slap against Italy (3-1) on Friday “hurt”, admits goalkeeper Mike Maignan. The Blues have chipped away at the two certainties they had left from their mixed Euro-2024: defensive solidity and a sense of results.
In this single match, Didier Deschamps’ men conceded as many goals as in six matches at the Euro and got off to a bad start in the fourth edition of the Nations League, a competition won in 2021. Enough to put a lot of pressure on the coach, who is under fire from critics and who would inevitably be subject to very strong turbulence in the event of another failure against the Red Devils.
The Blues recently took the measure of this team, which for its part beat Israel (3-1) on Friday. In Germany, they won at the end of the match (1-0), in the 8th final, on an own goal by Jan Vertonghen.
With only one goal scored in open play at the Euro, by Randal Kolo-Muani against Spain in the semi-final (2-1 defeat), two own goals and a penalty, France already had the same efficiency problems seen against Italy.
– Destitute in the middle –
The coach, who has only lost three matches in a row once since the start of his mandate in 2012, between March and June 2013 (Spain 1-0, Uruguay 1-0, Brazil 3-0), had planned to rotate his squad for the two September matches.
And “it’s not Friday’s defeat that makes me want to be more secure,” he confirmed on Sunday in Téléfoot.
“I started with the idea of distributing the playing time, I will stick to this objective so as not to take any risks with all the injuries we have had,” continued the coach, recalling that his players were not at 100% of their physical condition at the start of the season.
To answer the criticisms about the sadness of his game, Deschamps is particularly helpless in midfield, with the injury of Eduardo Camavinga and the absence of Adrien Rabiot, still without a club. In this sector, before and during the gathering, were added the forfeits of Aurélien Tchouameni then Warren Zaïre-Emery.
– See the maximum number of players –
However, N’Golo Kanté did not have the same brilliance as he did at the start of the Euro against Italy, and Youssouf Fofana played his worst match for the Blues against the “Nazionale”, having made a strong impression during the 2023-2024 season before playing less than an hour in total at the Euro.
To see the maximum number of players, Deschamps will also modify his attack, ineffective against Italy after the first 20 minutes, with the goal scored after 13 seconds by Bradley Barcola.
Kylian Mbappé, far from his standards with one goal in eight matches, could start on the bench.
The third top scorer for Les Bleus (48 goals in 85 appearances) was not in his element against Italy, but Antoine Griezmann was a general failure.
“We weren’t in it, in the intensity, we played our game more individually, we didn’t think collectively,” regretted the vice-captain in Téléfoot.
For this 77th match against Belgium, the oldest and most frequent opponent of the Blues, “we will have to respond, show that it was a mistake, this last match, and give our all as usual”, insisted “Grizou”.
“We can sometimes be beaten tactically, but in terms of intensity and desire, (normally) no one can touch us since I’ve been here. We didn’t give up, that’s what we have to recover,” insisted the Madrid player.
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