For a little over 24 hours, there was only him. Him: a quadrilateral, with four sides of the same length, yesterday called a rhombus, today called a diamond, not seen among the Blues for several years. Then, at around 6 p.m. on Monday, while the French team and Belgium were attacking a round of 16 of the Euro which very quickly took a rather strange turn, the omnipresent of the pre-match discussions suddenly became absent. No, the expected 4-4-2 diamond was not laid on the Düsseldorf turf by a bluffing Didier Deschamps and no, more annoyingly, we have not yet found the best version of an Antoine Griezmann who has been struggling since the start of the tournament.
But what did we see then? On one side, a Belgium that had a clear, assumed plan, while it had struggled to endure until then: install a low midfield block without the ball in 4-4-2, with De Bruyne installed alongside Onana, so as to be able, upon recovery, to explode in transitions thanks to a bundle of lungs (Doku, Openda, Lukaku, Carrasco). On the other, the Blues in a rather unexpected configuration and who, for the most part, had control of the exchanges: a 4-5-1 without the ball which became a 3-4-3 with, where Aurélien Tchouaméni came to drop off on one side or the other of a central, where Koundé and Hernandez climbed to occupy the corridors and where Griezmann and Mbappé came to surround Thuram. In reality, we have seen very little football that gets you off your seat, but since a European Championship match is won before it is played, Didier Deschamps will be satisfied with it and will certainly remember that his team dominated (it’s true), that it was the team that tried its luck the most (it’s also true, 19 times, for two small shots on target, as many as the Belgians in five attempts) and that it conceded almost nothing (it’s also true, the blue train stopping the majority of Belgian transition attempts). Move along, nothing to see here?
The animation with the ball of the French team, where the positioning of Tchouaméni once again helped the Blues to cut the opposing offensive transitions, but where Griezmann did not manage to find his smile again.
The Bondy Shield
It would, of course, be far too simple and there will be a lot to say about this fourth French match in this Euro 2024, as it was once again difficult to follow in many sequences. Yes, the French team is not the only one responsible, but it still will not have put all the necessary ingredients to take this match where it deserved. The Blues struggled for a long time to set the pace, without a guiding principle, without running in depth, without links between attackers (Griezmann and Mbappé, too far apart to shine hand in hand, thus only exchanged seven balls), without madness, without a creative head between the lines, and had to settle for a missed pass from Griezmann (10e), then a long-range strike from Tchouaméni (49e) to warm Casteels’ gloves.
And the goal scored thanks to a deflection by Vertonghen in all this? It will be worth remembering, because it is a symbol, a real one. Firstly, because the gap was created thanks to a spark from Theo Hernandez, still valuable in all areas. Then, because it arrived in the wake of a recovery in the French camp by William Saliba on Romelu Lukaku. This element is not insignificant: still aligned with Upamecano, the Arsenal defender was, with Koundé, Hernandez, Maignan and Tchouaméni, the best Frenchman, cutting off several transitions at the source and quickly eating Lukaku in the match in the match. The Bondy native will have given up only three balls in total, one of which almost cost him dearly (61e) before Theo Hernandez pulled off a heroic tackle on Carrasco, but above all he let a mind and a bluffing calm burst forth from his match, even coming close to opening the score (74e).
His intervention on Lukaku, the starting point for the opening goal.
« William is having an incredible competition, noted Aurélien Tchouaméni after the meeting. I’m super happy for him because he deserves it. » A few months ago, however, Deschamps seemed far from convinced by the profile, but one of the little stories of this Euro is that the French coach has put together a pair for the tournament that is holding up well for the moment, helped by two impeccable full-backs. In fact, Upamecano and Saliba are not the most complementary, each often going in the direction of the other’s action (the two spring or cover at the same time), which we saw in particular on the action that led to Poland’s penalty or again today on De Bruyne’s strike at the end of the match. So far, however, the two are helping to maintain a defensive balance that is not always so thanks to their strong qualities more than thanks to a millimeter organization. Quite symbolic, there too. But how long will all this hold? Good question. Quick, the quarter, for – perhaps – the answers.
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