Good win for Les Bleus - sit atop group I with the full 6 points

So Les Bleus sit atop of Group I after day 2 of qualification...mind you Spain only played one game! More on that later. After getting a deserved 1-0 victory away to Finland, France returned to Paris to secure the full 6 points from 2 matches with a 3-1 victory. As always there were some moments of nerviness from Les Bleus, but they secured a much deserved victory over Belarus.

The Good:

Jallet gave France some much needed width on the right

• I realize I might sound like a broken record, but the victory and full 3 points is good. France clearly was the better of the two nations, but you still need to finish and get one more goal than the other side! Les Bleus were able to put 3 past the Belarus keeper. Had Sakho been more clinical on two clean headers from the 5 yard box the score line could have been more flattering. But in the end, maximum points secured.
• The play of the Kaiser Ribery dictated the flow of the match. He scored the final goal to boot, but was very active on his left flank as well as drifting to center of the pitch. His pace and passing put the Belarus defense on its heels much of the game. The French game tends to lean heavily on the left side and no surprise why. Of course for Les Bleus to take the next step there must be a balance...
• Which brings me to another good mark from today the play of Benzema on the right and Jallet. I was skeptical of having the Real Madrid striker align himself to the right of the formation. However what I saw was positive. He actually did keep himself fairly tight to the right wing, allowing space for Giroud and attacking off that flank. More encouraging was the fact that when he cut into the middle, Jallet was making his runs down the right side to support the attack and provide additional width to the attack. He also scored what was a fantastic strike, but really appeared to be a cross gone wrong. But who cares! The result was a goal. While I think Debuchy remains the #1 choice right back, the play from Jallet and the return to health from Sagna as well as the steadiness of Reveillere allow Deschamps some choices for that role.
• Another solid game from the central defense of Mbiwa and Sakho. I realize that the Montpellier captain gave up a penalty, but overall both players demonstrated why Deschamps is entrusting them with securing those spots. Both players seemed to always be perfectly placed on the pitch, anticipate well and are strong in the air and in challenges. Now if only Sakho could learn to finish better! Add to this the play of Lloris, who made a brilliant save at the start of the second half and was unlucky after stopping the PK not to keep the ball out of his net. This trio is a solid back foundation from which Deschamps should be able to build upon.

The Bad:

• I realize it might be a head scratcher, but the poor French finishing remains bad. You might say, but Frog they scored 3 goals! They should have had more. Sakho missed two wide open headers from inside the 6 yard box. Not only that, but too often I felt the French looked to make a pass rather than take a shot on net when they got into the 18 yard box. They have to, especially against a team such as Belarus, test the keeper, look for rebounds or a keeper mistake to score more goals. Against a higher quality side you will not be afforded as many chances, so when you are presented with a clear shooting chance, take it.

The Ugly:

• France's drop in concentration was a tad concerning. After going up 2-0 on a wonder goal by Jallet....okay it was really a cross gone bad...but still was a great goal, Les Bleus seemed to just ease off the accelerator and drop in concentration. This led to the PK and subsequent Belarus goal. Unacceptable! Against any team, once you go up 2-0 you need to look for the 3-0. Or if you are going to play defense, then lock things down. You cannot let a player just make a run within the 18 yard box causing a foul which leads to a PK. Again, against better opponents this will not be allow to go unpunished!

So France end the first round of qualifiers with a full complement of 6 points. Next stop...Spain on the 16th of October. A big match for France to say the least. Could have had even greater implications had Spain not found a last moment winner away to Georgia. Spain could have even lost that match, Georgia hit a post late in the first half! France will have to look to come out of Spain with any type of result - a draw would do them just fine. While many, including myself, think that France will still have to get through a play off to go to World Cup 2014, there is a chance...albeit a small one. Spain cannot feel great after struggling against lowly Georgia, might France be able to take advantage of this? To be determined in 5 weeks.

Allez les Bleus!

Les Bleus: 4-3-3 but who will make the link?

So Deschamps rolls back out with a 4-3-3, but without Diaby in the middle. And he will put together two natural strikers - Giroud and Benzema in the top 3 of the formation.

Le onze français :
Lloris - Jallet, Yanga Mbiwa, Sakho, Evra -  Cabaye, Capoue, Mavuba - Ribéry, Giroud, Benzema

A couple of questions:

• Who will provide the offensive linkage? Without Diaby, more of this will fall on the shoulders of Cabaye. Mavuba and Capoue to me are much more traditional holding players. The Newcastle midfielder will be looked to replicate his game that he demonstrated against the Ukraine. Playing a more offensive role.
• Up front, what will it look like between the offensive three? We all know of Benzema's tendency to drop deep and roam, this might be okay in this formation with Giroud up front. But if Benzema is expected to hold the right wing as well that might make the offense lean even more to Ribery's side. I just do not see Benzema playing a traditional right wing role. I could also imagine Ribery slotting more centrally at times and really playing a 4-3-1-2 style formation. Of course that would require that Benzema and Giroud stay high on the pitch.
• Will Jallet bring some offense to the right side? The PSG fullback will be asked to hold that channel and bring some offense to that side of the formation. With Benzema, most likely, not being able to play a traditional right wing role. Look for the right back to be asked to do a lot of running tonight.

France should win this game. I realize that Belarus sprung the surprise last trip to Paris, and hopefully that is fresh in this team's mind. But just Ribery - Benzema - Giroud should create and finish enough chances to get the full three points. Anything less will be a bad failure.

Prediction - France 3 : Belarus 0. Ribery (2) and Benzema

Allez Les Bleus!

One step forward...half step back - Les Bleus without Diaby for next match

Surprise surprise...well maybe not that surprising, but after a wonderful game both against Liverpool for Arsenal and most recently for Les Bleus against Finland, Diaby looks like he is out against Belarus due to a knock he picked up. Here we go again. So Deschamps heads into Tuesday's qualifier with a dilemma on his hands - without Diaby what formation and where will the creativity come from?

I think it is safe to say we know who will be lined up at the back -

Lloris in goal

Ready to take a big step with the senior side?

Back four of - Evra on the left, either Jallet or Reveillere on the right and what appears to be the future central pairing of Mbiwa and Sakho in the middle. After that it is anyone's guess. Will Deschamps stick with a 4-3-3 or go with a 4-4-2 and have two strikers? If DD goes with the former, it would appear that Capoue has every chance to start in place of Diaby. A good role, but not sure the TFC midfielder has the same volume in his game to animate the offense for Les Bleus. If DD goes with the later, look for Giroud and Benzema up front, with the likes of Ribery and Menez/Valbuena to animate the wings.

Without the presence of Nasri, Ben Arfa or even Gourcuff, France a bit light in the central midfield creative availability. What Diaby brought to the game last week was an ability to sit in that central midfield role and carry the play, distribute, drop deep and attack the goal. Not sure Capoue is ready to do all those tasks. If Deschamps looks to this formation, I would expect much more pressure to fall on the shoulders of Cabaye to animate the game as well as Ribery to drop deeper to assist...even though the Kaiser has been asked by Deschamps to on the contrary stay higher on the pitch.

Je préfère donc le voir dans les 30-40 derniers mètres car il a cette faculté d’accélérer, de percuter et d’obtenir des fautes aussi. Après, il faut trouver le juste milieu. - Basic translation is Deschamps wants Ribery to save energy and stay in the final third of the field...

Of course if Deschamps opts for the 4-4-2 this lack of a natural playmaker may be even more exposed - since one would believe he would look to pair Mavuba and Cabaye as the central 2 of the 4 midfielders, and his wingers would be wide, so who would sit in the hole behind the strikers? Or could a Benzema drop deeper, as he tends to do?

Regardless of the formation, Les Bleus should...I realize this is a big should...find a way to defeat the lowly Belarussians. Of course we all remember what happened in this same fixture for the last qualifiers.



Hopefully that memory will keep this version on its collective toes. Belarus did lose to Georgia, so they should be ripe for the taking. I will be interested to see what formation Deschamps leans on...Allez les Bleus

Blanc announces his list for upcoming internationals - Martin the new face to the mix

This morning, Laurent Blanc announced his list of players that he will leverage in France's upcoming matches. France will face Belarus in Euro qualifiers and then play 2 friendly matches against Euro 2012 hosts: Poland and Ukraine. It will give Les Bleus an Eastern European test to go into the summer break!

First of all the list:

Gardiens : Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Cédric Carrasso (Bordeaux)
Défenseurs : Eric Abidal (Barcelone/ESP), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal/ANG), Adil Rami (Lille), Mamadou Sakho (Paris-SG), Patrice Evra (Manchester United/ANG), Anthony Réveillère (Lyon), Younes Kaboul (Tottenham/ANG)
Milieux: Alou Diarra (Bordeaux), Blaise Matuidi (Saint-Etienne), Yohan Cabaye (Lille), Yann Mvila (Rennes), Florent Malouda (Chelsea/ANG), Abou Diaby (Arsenal/ANG), Jérémy Menez (AS Rome/ITA), Samir Nasri (Arsenal/ANG), Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich/ALL), Marvin Martin (Sochaux), Charles N'Zogbia (Wigan/ANG), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)
Attaquants : Kevin Gameiro (Lorient), Guillaume Hoarau (Paris-SG), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/ESP), Loïc Rémy (Marseille)

France's next play maker?

The biggest surprises - the play maker from Sochaux Marvin Martin gets his first call up to the senior squad. The leading assist man from Ligue 1 gets a well deserved inclusion. There is no Gourcuff, who is injured, so this might open the door a bit for a player such as Martin to create a bit of a presence as France's #10. Interesting to also see N'Zogbia included in a squad that seems to have a number of options on the left flank: Ribery and Malouda.

As usual Blanc has a deep set of players to lean on for his holding responsibilities: Diarra, Matuidi, MVila, Diaby and Cabaye. He has options on the left, see above, and some decent depth for the right - Menez and Valbuena, even Nasri in certain formations.

What makes me nervous are his options up front. France seem thin when it comes to true world class strikers. Benzema will most likely be the starting option, but I am not convinced that the secondary options can be relied upon. I am not saying there is not some quality there, but just not the level that inspires confidence.

I will be interested to see what formation Blanc looks to lean on, the game in Belarus may look very similar to the one in Stade de France: Belarus defending 10 men behind the ball and looking for a goal on the counter and set pieces. Knowing that, Blanc might opt for a more offensive formation. Maybe a 4-4-2 diamond, play one holding midfielder, two wide flank players and an offensive midfield player sitting right behind the two strikers. It will also be interesting to see who Blanc turns to in central defense, Mexes is out due to knee surgery.

LLoris
Abidal-Rami-Sakho-Sagna
MVila (or Diarra)
Ribery Menez
Nasri
Hourau - Benzema

I can see Blanc leveraging Hourau, looking to get control of the Belarus' 18 yard box and allow him to get crosses from the wide players. Nasri would tuck in behind the strikers, Ribery and Menez will provide the width. Much will be expected of Diarra/M'Vila to do the work cleaning up any loose balls in the middle of the park. Sakho will be expected to find his bearings quickly with the other defenders.

It should be interesting!

Allez les Bleus.