“He feels like he’s seeing things in 3D,” said Didier Deschamps when asked if Kylian Mbappé had adapted to wearing a mask. That’s two more dimensions than hisFranceside.
Despite their various experiments atEuro 2024,they are yet to hit their usual form. Deschamps is not fine tuning on the fly. In light of poor performances, injuries and imbalances in his team, he is being forced to make relatively major structural changes. The results, however, have not varied greatly.
Bar William Saliba starting in place of Ibrahima Konaté at centre-back, Deschamps did not spring any surprises in France’s opening game. The first change of the tournament was enforced. AfterMbappé’s nose was broken against Austria,the manager switched to a lopsided 4-2-3-1 against the Netherlands, with Adrien Rabiot playing a Blaise Matuidi-esque role on the left.France were uninspiring in a goalless draw,so Deschamps went back to the drawing board against Poland.
The previously undroppable Antoine Griezmann, who had played 84 consecutive international fixtures since 2016, was left out, much to his disappointment and frustration. “He has had a busy season. In high-intensity matches, in the heart of the midfield, it isn’t easy,” said Deschamps, seemingly reducing Griezmann’s absence to fatigue.
Given he also dropped Marcus Thuram, it was clear Deschamps was still in search of balance in his team. He didn’t find it against Poland. Bradley Barcola, introduced down the left with the returning Mbappé featuring centrally, had some bright moments but sparkled too infrequently. Midfield balance was the problem; it still is.
France approached their last-16 tie againstBelgiumwith an unfamiliar feeling: uncertainty. Deschamps, usually so consistent in his team selection, had become a tinkerman. Unconvincing performances necessitated such an approach – nothing too radical that would compromise the defensive integrity of the side, but something significant enough to elicit some kind of response.
A third formation of the tournament almost saw the light of day against Belgium. “We had spoken about a diamond,” said Rabiot. “We worked on it a bit the day before the match but the manager wanted to do things differently.”
That was scrapped on the day of the game, replaced by another new idea. Francereturned to a 4-3-3 against Belgium, but with a twist.
Griezmann, who has played as a No 10, as well as in his more familiar No 8 position at international level, would discover a new position: right-wing. “The last time I played in this position was when I was at Real Sociedad,” said Griezmann, who left the club a decade ago. The result? He had another quiet night – a reflection of his tournament.
Collectively, France were guilty of the same old crimes: a lack of incision, a lack of creativity, a lack of balance and an all-too-firmly applied handbrake.
Gareth Southgate, an unapologetic disciple to the Deschamps ethos, is guilty of the same crimes. At least France have recent success to justify their uninspiring approach. The ends do justify the means, to the extent that France’s success has become almost boring. “Even if we are expected to be in the quarter-finals, you can’t banalise it,” said Deschamps, who has led France to the final in three of his past four major tournaments.
Deschamps has pushed back against the criticism and was quick to remind everyone that Jules Koundé, whose place in the starting XI is a source of permanent contestation, was successful against Belgium. “You’ve been beating me up for two years and he is the man of the match,” Deschamps said, before making a similar point about Randal Kolo Muani, whose deflected shot gave France the win. There were question about his inclusion in the squad given his difficult debut season at PSG but there was never any doubt he would be on the plane to Germany.
A few bright individual performances – notably from Koundé, Saliba and Mike Maignan – do not excuse the dysfunction of this team. Deschamps’s tinkering has done little to remedy the imbalances. France returned to Düsseldorf to face Belgium as unbalanced as they were when they left the city after beating Austria.
France had 19 shots against Belgium, two of them on target. Those speculative potshots are almost a metaphor of Deschamps’s changes at this tournament. The manager is blindfolded, throwing darts at a board and seeing what sticks. He has failed to get France ticking.
The central problem remains the midfield, which was solid and functional out of possession against Belgium but lacked the tools to trouble them when they had the ball. Aurélien Tchouméni and N’Golo Kanté are brilliant players; perhaps just not together.
There are also problems up front Deschamps needs to resolve. Mbappé, who says he is struggling to adapt to his mask, calling the experience an “absolute horror”, is yet to click into gear. Alongside him, Thuram is providing few assurances. After another profligate display, and with two goals in 23 games for France, does the Inter forward remain the heir-apparent to Olivier Giroud? These are questions Deschamps would rather not have to answer at the moment.
France have become the first team in Euros history to reach a quarter-final without scoring from open play – they have benefited from two own goals and one Mbappé penalty. “We did what we had to do,” said Deschamps.
Doing the bare minimum has taken them this far and could yet take them to the final.