Didier Deschamps seemed very relaxed after the 1-1 draw conceded by the France team.
AFP
We would dare to say that the French team failed in its mission to finish first in its Euro 2024 group that we would be taken for crazy. In the eyes of one man, at least: Didier Deschamps. Disconcerting.
Tuesday, after the 1-1 draw conceded by the Blues against Poland, the French coach appeared relaxed as rarely. The little allusion to the numerous competitions already experienced by an experienced journalist, a joke about his level of English, a total downplaying of the moment. As if there was nothing really relevant to say about what France has shown so far. “We are where we wanted to be,” he said.
In the round of 16 of Euro 2024, therefore, and no matter how. France only scored two goals in three matches (an autogoal and a penalty), it finished behind Austria and was sent to the worst half of the final table, the one where there was already Portugal, the Spain and Germany. And so everything is fine. Either.
As it stands, there are two theories that seem to hold water: either the French team is on an ideal course, or the imperturbable machine, the one that always ends up leading it to the final, has bugged.
The ideal path theory
Didier Deschamps seemed so relaxed and persuasive that one would be tempted to believe the first. Excerpts from a somewhat lunar press conference, given the moment: “I’m not at all disappointed, sincerely. We did the right thing. Certainly, there were times when we lacked precision, but there was a great goalkeeper opposite”; or: “I would be worried if we didn’t create chances. But we create them for ourselves.”
You have to give him that credit. That’s not what’s missing. Kylian Mbappé, for example, shot six times on goal on Tuesday. The positions weren’t always ideal, but the opportunities existed. This was already the case against Austria and, above all, against the Netherlands.
And then, above all, France is qualified and has always been a formidable team in the final phase. With Didier Deschamps at its head, it only fell twice before the final: against Germany who would be world champions in the quarter-finals in 2014 and against Switzerland in the round of 16 of the last Euro.
“A new competition begins”
“It’s a new competition that’s starting,” Deschamps repeated, and he knows what he’s talking about. And added: “There will only be big teams, with decisive matches, but that is the case in every tournament.” We can estimate that it was better to fall on the side of Switzerland and Italy, and probably Belgium and England, but it is also true that France never really made itself of the mountains of the opponents she could face.
Kylian Mbappé tried hard against Poland on Tuesday, but only scored one penalty.
Imago
The path to the final always involves major duels. No doubt France is prepared for this better than anyone and it suits it to eliminate dangerous adversaries from its path more quickly. We have the right to imagine that she will regain her coldness at the right time. Maybe in the quarter against Portugal, then against Germany or Spain in the semi-final.
This is the positive vision. It is legitimate, because France is entirely capable of winning in this way. And then, in recent history, Portugal’s journey in 2016 also began with difficulty, with the result that we know. Even if Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates had benefited from a more favorable picture. Either.
What if the machine was broken?
But all the same, it’s difficult not to consider the other hypothesis. What if the France team was “broken”? What if the problem was deeper? That offensive ineffectiveness is above all the symptom of a somewhat rusty approach and that France can no longer just be content with being solid and thwarting the adversary, because it is realistic?
Understand: France creates chances, it’s true, but this is based more on the individual qualities of some of its players than on well-established offensive animation. And perhaps in this Euro, the best teams are the ones who have very established ideas of what they do with the ball. In other words, it is better to be Spain, Germany or Portugal than France or England. In terms of goals scored, it shows.
In other words: it is not because Didier Deschamps always swears by the result that it necessarily ends up turning out in his favor. This is perhaps also the meaning of the story. Even if, with the Blues, we must always be careful not to prejudge the future.
