Without the services of his 3 "natural" play-makers - Gourcuff, Ribery and Nasri - it would appear that Blanc is moving towards leveraging a normal 4-4-2 with a flat middle 4. Opposed to the 4-4-2 diamond that was leveraged during the Norway game where M'Vila sat at the base of the diamond as the solo holding midfielder and Nasri at the top of the diamond as the play-maker.
Blanc will apparently lean on his wide players to carry the play making role, with Malouda on the left and Menez potentially on the right. The other option for the right would be Valbuena. Remains to be seen how Blanc goes with the
right side of the midfield. ADiarra and Diaby will hold the middle 2 slots in the midfield providing cover for the back 4, wonder if M'Vila will slot in rather than Diarra? Up front, it appears that Hourau and Remy will once again get the nod to start, partially due to Benzema picking up a knock and I am sure Blanc wants to see the tandem on the pitch again.
Finally the back will have the same center back partnership (Mexes - Rami) with the return of World Cup players on the wings and in goal: Sagna, Clichy and Lloris.
It will be interesting to see if the two wide midfielders can carry on the play making for France. The formation might make Clichy and Sagna less free to push high up the pitch. With a striker like Hourau the crosses from the wings will be crucial to unlocking the opposition allowing Remy to play off his position. If Malouda and Menez can carry the game and allow the wide channels to be opened at appropriate times permitting the fullbacks to push higher and send in crosses, this might create the necessary offensive push to bag a few goals.
Probably line up:
Lloris - Sagna, Rami, Mexès, Clichy - A. Diarra, Diaby - Ménez, Malouda - Rémy, Hoarau.
Welcome to the "Frog," my little piece of cyberspace to talk about my passion - le foot (or soccer for my North American friends) especially anything around French football. Of course I will have some guest contributors that might want to discuss other aspects of footy! I support Les Bleus, Arsenal and PSG but really just love watching, analyzing and following the beautiful game. "You have to trust your teammates, always. If not we are lost."
4 comments:
No Benzema?
allez les bleus I stop caring who plays and just hope the team plays good
Sounds as if Benzema has picked up a slight knock so will most likely start on the bench.
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Is this possible?
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