Les Bleus take out Oranje - time for optimism or fool's gold?

Les Bleus returned to Stade de France last night for their first match since the miracle 3-0 victory against the Ukraine which propelled them to the World Cup in Brazil. I am the first to admit I expected a lackluster 0-0 draw between two national sides full of players with many many club matches in their boots. Instead I watched a lackluster 2-0 victory from Les Bleus. So should we allow ourselves to get excited about what DD is doing with this side? Or was this win fool's gold? I am going to lean a little bit towards the former...but just a little bit.

The Good:

• Benzema after going what felt like a life time without scoring, the Real Madrid striker cannot stop scoring for Les Bleus now. He almost opened the scoring early in the

  

  Continues his scoring streak...hope it keeps going

  game when he took a pretty cross in the 19th minute from newbie Griezmann and appeared to slot home a header, only to see the Dutch defender Vlaar save the ball on the Dutch goal line. He was rewarded in the 32nd minute taking a pass over the top from Matuidi to hit a powerful half volley into the far corner. He also had another goal disallowed for being off side. It is very good news for France if Karim keeps up this form into the World Cup. Fingers crossed.
• The 4-3-3 is taking root...and hopefully is allowed to flourish. DD aligned once again a formation that allows France to play their strongest players and more importantly what some are calling the trident - Pogba, Matuidi and Cabaye. When France plays in the 4-2-3-1 or the 4-4-2 one of these players has to come off the pitch. Having this trident on the pitch brings a level of energy and control in the midfield otherwise not enjoyed. It also allows the likes of Pogba and Matuidi to be much more offensive and not shackled to sitting deep in front of the the back 4. The likes of Cabaye is also perfect in the role to cover for the other two when they go up and press, but also bringing his own offensive talents to bear. His ability to strike from long distance is perfect as he can fill the space opened up when Pogba and Matuidi pushes up to support the front 3. The formation, and the fact a Pogba can push higher on the pitch is it allows Benzema to do what he does best - get the ball within the last 1/3 of the pitch. Benzema, when he is in the 4-2-3-1, tends to drift deeper and deeper just to touched the ball. When he does that...he tends to not put the ball in the back of the net.
• Speaking of Matuidi, he had a phenomenal game for Les Bleus. He had an assist and a fantastic goal. In addition he was very active in all phases of the game. In addition to his goal he had at least two more decent chances at the goal. A good sign coming from the midfielder. As I mentioned above, he benefits from DD having a 4-3-3 formation. His ability to click with Pogba and Cabaye will be key to how far Les Bleus can go in Brazil.  
• Mangala scored some points for Les Bleus. The FC Porto central defender looked right at home next to Varane. Mangala, plays the role of "destroyer" well next to the smooth Varane who does more of the linkage to the offensive/midfield from the back. Mangala was calm the few times Holland threatened, made some big tackles in the box and was strong in the air. He even came close to offering himself a goal at the end of the first half. He made a strong case to be included in the final list...I would take him over Abidal. 

The Bad:

• The French left and right backs. I can imagine the Gooner will be smirking...but Debuchy and Evra were not at their best. Neither defended particularly well. Debuchy demonstrated that against a pacey winger with a decent bag of tricks he gets caught out of position a little too much for my comfort. Boetius' pace gave Debuchy fits early on in the game. On the other wing Promes gave Evra equal amount of fits. Now Holland could not take advantage of this pace, but something that Les Bleus need to address if they hope to do anything in Brazil. France will have to face a winger like Valencia in the first round, not sure if right now they are ready to check such a player. Digne did come in the second half for Evra and looked decent...but not sure that was because of the PSG player or because the game had died down by that point.  
• Griezmann who received his first cap appeared a little timid. He did have a nice volley that could have led to and assist had Benzema been able to put it away in the 19th minute. Otherwise the 4th best scorer in La Liga was a little too timid for my liking. He did seem to position himself well in the different channels, not just sticking to his left side, but switching off with Valbuena. But when the ball fell in to his area he wasn't aggressive enough. Might have been first game jitters and by no means do I think he played his way off a trip to Brazil. But I would like to see more from a player of his talent.

The Ugly:

• Did Holland realize there was a game? Were the likes of Sneijder or RVP on the pitch?  Granted in the second half neither side really looked motivated to do much more than pass the ball around and not get too tired. But after a first 15 minutes where Holland looked like Clockwork Orange...and that was really due to the play of their wingers, they just seemed to now care to much. More importantly the likes of RVP seemed completely invisible. Was it because of France's back line? Maybe. But more the usual malaise for Holland, they sometimes just don't care. I realize this was a friendly and one where the likes of RVP and Sneijder know they are going to Brazil. But still have some pride! Maybe I am making much about nothing.

Overall it was a decent win for France. Nothing too much to take from this match. I do think the likes of Mangala and maybe Digne showed enough to get some serious consideration for a ticket to Brazil. Mangala because of his strong play and Digne almost by default - just no left back that is head and shoulders above. Griezmann did not hurt his chances to go to Brazil but might not have put any distance between himself and the likes of Nasri or Payet.

See you on the 19th of May when Les Bleus start their preparation for the World Cup - we will also have the list of who is most likely to go. Look for DD to take 26-28 players and then trim the roster to the 23 that will go to Brazil.

Allez les Bleus!

Deschamps' list - in with the new and the old

Deschamps announced the list of players he will be taking with him to South America for two friendlies - Uruguay and Brazil. This might be one time I agree with all the naysayers when it comes to international friendlies - two games, far far away from home after long domestic seasons for the players - seems like a little too much. However, I will say that having one of the games against Brazil might be a good tool to motivate some of these players - the World Cup next year will be in Brazil.

The list -

Landreau, Lloris, Mandanda
Clichy, Debuchy, Koscielny, Mangala, Mathieu, Rami, Sagna, Sakho
Cabaye, Capoue, Gourcuff, Guilavogui, Matuidi, Nasri
Benzema, Giroud, Gomis, Ménez, Payet, Valbuena

Some interesting newbies: Guilavogui and Mangala. Both have been promising youngsters, the former playing for St Eteinne seen as the next Matuidi and the latter plying his trade in Portugal for Porto. Mangala has played at the youth level for France with Sakho, so could we see this pairing at

First call up for Porto central defender

the senior level? Guilavogui is another player in the long list of strong defensive minded midfielders France have at their disposal. It will be interesting to see if either of these players sees the pitch or if Deschamps is using this call up as a motivator for both.

Of course there are some old names back in the fold - Mathieu, Gourcuff and Nasri. Calling up the Valancia left back, Mathieu, coupled with no Evra (more on that later) would give the impression that Clichy and Mathieu are the ones competing for the starting role once qualifiers start up again in September. The interesting angle that Mathieu brings is his ability to also slot as a left midfielder. The return of the golden boy - Gourcuff - is not entirely unexpected. As the OL man has finally started to regain his form at the club level. The question remains - where does he fit with France? Deschamps seems to have given the keys to creativity to Valbuena, so where would Gourcuff slot in? On the right side? As a second playmaker? It will be interesting to see how he is leveraged. Finally, speaking of creative midfielder, the return of Nasri was not entirely unexpected. The Manchester City man has been playing well for club and warranted the call back. Could this be his last chance with France? Maybe. Question for Sami is the same as with Gourcuff, where will he feature? Could he be looked to fill the void on the left with Ribery left at home? How about on the right? It will be interesting to see how the Citizen is used during these matches.

The players that were left off a list are usually spoken of as much as those on the list! The likes of Varane and Pogba are being left off so that they may play in the U20 World Cup in Turkey.   That is a wise move. They will get much better experience in that tournament than they would playing Uruguay and Brazil. Ribery is also off the list due to Bayern Munich playing the Champions League final and then the German Cup Final over the next few weeks. The reasons are not as rosy for the likes of Evra, Gonalons, Mavuba, Jallet and Gignac. Evra in particular. As the Mancheter United captain is getting up there in age as well as having some competition at his position. Could he not be

Never to be seen in Blue again?

on Deschamps' mind for going to Brazil (if France qualify). Gonalons and Mavuba both seem to have fallen victim to the depth France has at his position. Pogba appears to have made himself a serious contendor to hold down one of the defensive midfield roles moving forward. As has Matuidi..which does not leave much room when the likes of Capoue, Cabaye, Sissoko (not called up due to injury) are already entrenched. As well as the possibility of M'Vila one day reappearing in Blue. Jallet sees the return of Sagna, not a good sign for the PSG right back. Debuchy should be expected to see himself as the starting right back, question becomes who is second in line. Could Jallet's mistake against Spain create a little doubt in Deschamps' mind? Finally, Gignac, who appears to be back on form in France was thought to have an outside shot at the team. But once again left off.

Of course this list will most likely change, we all know that at least one player will have to drop out. It will be interesting to see who Deschamps calls up when this happens.

Allez les Bleus!