A staff hugging, clenched fists showing the pride of having achieved a historic result, players communing with their supporters, a lap of honor to end the evening. At the whistle of this sad France-Israel (0-0), the demonstrations of joy of the Israeli team said everything about the particular scenario which took place this Thursday at the Stade de France and which allowed them to end the evening with the feeling of duty accomplished.
There was no winner in this meeting, but the 81st nation in the FIFA rankings celebrated the draw as a victory. An attitude which contrasted with that of the disappointed Blues, displaying the look of bad days when returning to the locker room and who had difficulty rejoicing in this result propelling them to the quarter-finals of the League of Nations on March 20 and 23 .
A meager consolation prize which Didier Deschamps' players could not be satisfied with given the poor production delivered in front of 16,611 spectators (the lowest attendance for the Blues at the Stade de France) who must have long wondered what they had come for do in the cold of Saint-Denis. “There is frustration, anger… We did not have a good match at all,” admitted Jules Koundé at the microphone of TF1. We had the chances but we didn't put in everything we needed to this evening. I don't know if we can be happy about it (the qualification) after the match we had. This is the only positive point of this evening. »
“A huge disappointment and frustration”
The temptation would be great to take the icy atmosphere of the Stade de France and the heavy context surrounding this evening as excuses, to hide behind this singular environment. But the string is too thick and it would be dishonest to use it as an alibi. “The context was what it was. We don't want to relive it. This is not an excuse and we have to deal with it, explained Didier Deschamps. The Stade de France is used to being full. There, the context was heavy and heavy. I'm not going to be satisfied with what we did. We should have won anyway. We could have done better. »
The Blues have not needed that in the past to remain so empty and uninspired. And this Thursday's meeting only confirmed the shortcomings already displayed last summer at the Euro where Mike Maignan's partners lacked ideas and juice to delight a French public, despite a semi-finalist place. .
“It’s clear, there is enormous disappointment and frustration,” agrees Ibrahima Konaté. We dominated, we had a lot of opportunities to win this match. We were a little sluggish, especially in the first half. Despite the qualification, you shouldn't be proud of that. On the pitch, we could see that we had a lot of chances to win this match. We lacked efficiency. We will have to do better. We have to learn from our mistakes and what we did wrong today. »
The absence of a true natural leader, capable of taking matters in hand or raising the tone, was particularly felt. We know that these Blues are rebuilding and have a rejuvenated squad. But without its captains Kylian Mbappé, Aurélien Tchouaméni and after the retirements of Olivier Giroud at the end of the Euro, then of Antoine Griezmann at the end of September, this selection cruelly lacked personality and response despite the emergence of Mike Maignan or Jules Koundé in the French locker room.
With only 20 cumulative selections, Warren Zaire-Emery, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola symbolize this talented youth who surely lack guides capable of showing them the way when the scenario does not go as planned. “We said things to each other at half-time,” defends Randal Kolo Muani. Despite that, we were unable to score the goal that would have given us the advantage. I had a few chances, I could have put them in the back, that's how it is… You can't score every day. We have to keep working. You have to raise your head quickly. »
An environment that lacks creativity
Among the other questions of the evening, we can also look at this midfielder who is generally amorphous and too neutral in creativity. In this little game, the replacement of Antoine Griezmann, although ghostly at the Euro, remains a real work in progress, while the trio Kanté-Zaire-Emery-Camavinga lacked inspiration in the use of the ball.
“I’ll let you do your analyses. We went 0-0 (Editor's note: already 4 in 2024, a first in 20 years when we had 5). I'm not going to settle for not conceding goals. Midfielders have different profiles, notes Didier Deschamps. Cama (Eduardo Camavinga) is not Warren (Zaire-Emery) and Warren is not N'Golo (Kanté). Warren has the volume and intelligence. He has this quality of being able to be impactful in the opponent's last thirty meters. He has shooting and passing qualities too. I don't see any problem in that regard. They don't have the same profile. »
The mere absence of Aurélien Tchouaméni, who alternates between the good and the less good, is not enough to explain this ambient gloom. We will have to watch for the rise of Adrien Rabiot, not yet in full possession of his means, to witness a possible evolution. Starting this Sunday against Italy for a group final? The Blues, who failed to score for the fifth time in 2024 – something unseen since 2013 – owe us a revenge by offering one last production which leaves an impression to end the calendar year.
