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Australia play France in their opening World Cup match, a baptism of fire that the Socceroos need to survive. The French team is bristling with talent, and made it to the final of Euro 2016.
In their friendly win over Ireland, the French played extremely high full backs Benjamin Mendy and Djibril Sidibe. Kylian Mbappe and Nabil Fekir drifted across the front line, often into the central corridor or over to the other flank, playing off pivot-striker Olivier Giroud.
The full backs became vital wide outlets, and required constant monitoring on the weak side. On occasion, Ireland striker Shane Long was even required to track Mendy.
Ireland are a limited and compact team – not unlike Australia. They played a lone striker, often isolated, and a deep defence. There was plenty of industry across the team – Jon Walters, James McClean, Shane Long, and Seamus Coleman – but not much quality.
The France midfield of Steven N’Zonzi, Blaise Matuidi and Corentin Tollisso, is not the first choice. N’Zonzi was at the base of a midfield three, with the other two given much more license to roam out to the wings. With Ireland unwilling to press the French the defence, sitting back and packing the midfield, these three midfielders needed to be creative in their movement and positioning, to offer passing options to centre backs – again, not the first choice pairing – Samuel Umtiti and Adil Rami.
France commanded an astonishing 76 per cent of possession. In hugely difficult conditions – France’s final counter-attack was scuppered by a particularly deep puddle on the edge of the Irish box – they were comfortable with the ball, patient and careful.
Olivier Giroud. (Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
In Giroud they have a valuable asset, specifically in international football. He has the height, bulk and vigour to bully aerially weak defences, and as a result France are not afraid to send in crosses.
But his pivot play, with his back to goal, is also world class, and gels perfectly with his talented attacking colleagues, many of whom are sort of winger-striker combos; Antoine Greizmann, Mbappe, Florian Thauvin, and Ousmane Dembele. It’s this versatility that makes him so valued by Didier Deschamps, and it is buffed in the context of an international tournament, where different teams with different strengths come thick and fast, with little time to prepare.
At Arsenal, Giroud was often the fulcrum for some sweeping, intricate attacking sequence, catalysing the move with a deft flick or swivel. He was sold by the club when Alexandre Lacazette arrived; Lacazette was not picked for France and there’s a whiff of irony there.
N’Zonzi is a dark horse to start at the World Cup; Paul Pogba works best when paired with at least one defensive-minded colleague in midfield. At Juve, he had Arturo Vidal and Claudio Marchisio, – as well as the deep-lying majesty of Andrea Pirlo – and so marauded forward safe in the knowledge there would be someone to cover. N’Zonzi, since leaving Stoke, has become one of La Liga’s premier holding midfielders at Sevilla, and he and Pogba would make an ideal pairing.
Obviously, N’Golo Kante is the other defensive midfield option; although not quite as statuesque as N’Zonzi, Kante is the best tackler on the planet.
Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante.(AP Photo/ Rui Vieira)
Deschamps has played a midfield trio in just three of his last ten fixtures, with Matuidi present in the starting XI for seven. He seems nailed-on to start.
There are some choices to be made here – a pairing of Matuidi and either Kante or N’Zonzi is a little too limited, and although Matuidi is a phenomenal worker, he seems more attack-minded and flighty than might be necessary to play alongside Pogba.
A 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 both seem a good general fit for the tournament, with the latter used more often than the former by Deschamps over the last six months. Deschamps has tended for Giroud alone up top, or occasionally as one half of a big-little partnership with Greizmann.
Mbappe was electric against Ireland, and it would be a shame not to utilise him from the start at the big tourney. Mbappe-Giroud-Greizmann is a likely front three.
In the case of a 4-2-3-1, Greizmann would be in the middle, with Mbappe, and perhaps Fekir, Thomas Lemar or Thauvin on the other wing, behind Giroud.
Deschamps has left Anthony Martial, Dimitri Payet, Kingsley Coman, Lacazatte, and Kevin Gamiero at home, a wealth of attacking talent most nations would lunge desperately at for immediate use in their first teams.
Take this sequence from the friendly win over Ireland:
N’Zonzi spears the ball out wide to Mendy, who is stationed high up the pitch. It’s then worked inside, and Fekir – whose drifting into the interior allowed for the wide space that Mendy’s run filled – receives the ball, exchanges deftly flicked one-twos with both Giroud and Mbappe, before setting up his striker with an excellent shooting opportunity.
It takes a sharp save to prevent Giroud from scoring, but the fluidity of the build-up is exactly the brand of football Australia will have to reckon with on June 16.
Watch the clip again, see how Matuidi has romped into the final third, ahead of Fekir. See how Giroud flashes for a pass, dropping deep before the ball is played out to Mendy. See how free and clear Sidibe is on the far side, ready to be played into the box. Now imagine Fekir is Antoine Greizmann, and N’Zonzi is Paul Pogba, and the full extent of France’s arsenal marches into view, flexing and gleaming in gun-metal and chrome.
Australia will have to be at their defensive best – a standard that we have only occasionally enjoyed over the last year and a half – to survive the World Cup opener. A lot will depend on our full backs; Aziz Behich is sound enough, but whoever starts at right back – it seems as though Josh Risdon will be first choice – will need plenty of support from the winger ahead of them. Luckily enough, that winger is Matt Leckie, a player whose gas tank is absolutely unquestionable, even if his defensive instincts are less so.
Mile Jedinak’s relative immobility may be a problem, with the scurrying Kante and leggy Pogba both more than capable of running rings around him. His ability to organise, however, as well as establish a physical tone in midfield, will be important.
Clearly, we’ll need Mat Ryan at his shot-stopping best too.
There will be moments where France will cut clean through, and it will hurt; these moments will need to be met with gritted teeth and disciplined defending.