After 2 matches at EURO 2024, the French team may not be able to meet the expectations of the fans. Up front, with names like Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Marcus Thuram, Kingsley Coman and Olivier Giroud, scoring goals is not a problem for Les Bleus. However, the defense has become a concern for Didier Deschamps.
Both Germany and Chile scored twice against France in friendlies in March. Deschamps knows that Les Bleus must fix their defensive problems to win the Euros. But ironically, by focusing on defence, their attacking effectiveness has been lost.
After more than 180 minutes in Germany, the 2018 World Cup champions have kept two clean sheets but have yet to score a goal themselves. This is a surprising statistic given their attacking stardom. An own goal by Maximilian Wober for Austria was the only time France have had any joy so far. In that match, Mbappe and his teammates had 14 shots with a total expected goals of 2.13 (xG), but not a single one was converted into a goal.
Against the Netherlands, Les Bleus had 15 shots with an xG of 1.42 but their strikers once again missed a series of incredible chances. France have reached three of their last four major tournament finals thanks to balance at both ends of the pitch. But Les Bleus are seriously unbalanced at the moment.
Deschamps shared before the tournament that, to win the EURO, the French team must play solidly in defense. That was his experience when he won the 1998 World Cup and EURO 2000 as a player. And when leading the French team to the 2018 World Cup, Deschamps still focused on defense.
At EURO 2024, Deschamps will use a variation of the 4-4-2 formation that brought success to France at the 2018 World Cup. N'Golo Kante will still play in front of the back four, while Adrien Rabiot will replace Blaise Matuidi on the left wing of midfield. Griezmann will also take on the attacking midfielder role as in 2018, and Aurelien Tchouameni will be the new "Paul Pogba".
William Saliba's solidity alongside Dayot Upamecano has kept France's defence safe. Against the Netherlands, they only allowed 0.33 xG, and against Austria it was 0.74 xG.
"Like the first game, we defended solidly, even better at pressing. We defended very tightly. The defenders and midfielders are doing very well," Griezmann said.
Besides, the striker of Atletico Madrid also did not deny the problem of the attack: "I had 2 chances when the ball touched me, this is really embarrassing. We defended tightly and did very well in terms of tactics. We just lacked a goal. But there is nothing to panic here, the goal will come soon".
Striker Olivier Giroud also admitted the imbalance between attack and defense as France prepare to host Poland in their final group match.
"We need to be more clinical in the box, that's where you can make the difference. We were a little unlucky but also a little ineffective and the Dutch goalkeeper did well. Otherwise, I'm happy with the team's performance. The most important thing is to create chances," Giroud said.
Source: https://laodong.vn/bong-da-quoc-te/su-thieu-can-bang-tram-trong-cua-tuyen-phap-tai-euro-2024-1356199.ldo
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