Deschamps back to the 4-2-3-1 with some surprises

DD will head into tomorrow's match against Germany with an "old fashion" 4-2-3-1. According to reports look for the Arsenal right back Sagna back on the starting sheet as well as Newcastle midfielder Sissoko lining up for a start. Interesting.

Lloris
Sagna, Koscielny, Sakho, Evra
Cabaye, Matuidi
Sissoko, Valbuena, Ribery
Benzema

Can he run the midfield?

I am a little surprised that we are not seeing a more "muscular" midfield, as I had suggested in my blog post.  Much will be expected of Cabaye and Matuidi to check Ozil in particular. Much like what France did in Spain, look for the PSG midfielder to be asked to do the yeoman's work in the midfield and try to shut down any creativity from the Mannschaft. Cabaye will be the link, but will need to ensure he keeps his defensive responsibilities top of mind. Three things to look for:

• Can Valbuena handle the #10 role? I am not sure he is disciplined enough to hold that spot and with Ribery on the left will he fight his urge to roam a bit on the pitch? Valbuena's showing against Italy was top shelf and he deserves getting the start, but not sure if in the middle of the midfield is best.
• How will the right side function? With Sagna back in the starting line up and Sissoko getting a start...on the right...not really where I envision him long term. Deschamps will be looking at a brand new right side of his formation. How will this work? With Menez and Debuchy sitting on the bench, it will be interesting to see if DD goes to those two if things are stale on the right.
• Is Dechamps settling on Kos-Sakho as his central defense pairing? At the beginning of his tenure, DD leaned on Yanga-Mbiwa/Sakho defensive pairing, which showed much promise. Due to circumstances, DD inserted the Arsenal defender in the back. Without Yanga-Mbiwa on the initial list from Deschamps, is the Kos-Sakho pairing becoming cemented as the #1 choice pairing? Let us see how this works out tomorrow.

It will be interesting to see how France answers these three questions. Of course a fourth question is - can Benzema find his scoring touch for France??

We will know tomorrow!

Allez les Bleus!!