French team: "You get what you pay for"
(Baonghean.vn) - The list of players for the 2018 World Cup announced by coach Didier Deschamps was summarized by the media as: young, expensive and controversial. This coach also said that his viewpoint in choosing the squad is "Lack of experience but rich in ambition".
The French coach decided to choose talented young players instead of experienced and mature players. After the 23 names were announced, it caused controversy in the French media.
"Cramped" talent
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| France team lineup for World Cup 2018. Photo: Internet |
All 23 players have been called up to play in Europe's top five leagues and have an average age of 26. This is the youngest squad of the French national team in the past 20 years. The average number of appearances for the national team of this generation of players also stops at 24 - the lowest number in all tournaments that the French team has participated in before.
But surprisingly, according to Transfermarkt, the total value of the 23 players is up to nearly 1 billion pounds (916.65 million pounds), the highest of the teams that have announced their list. On average, each French player who went to Russia to attend the 2018 World Cup is worth 40 million pounds.
French football is in a period of “surplus” talent. Therefore, choosing the factors to participate in the 2018 World Cup is really difficult for coach Deschamps. Yesterday, he officially announced the list of 23 players participating in this tournament. Among them, many good players have to stay at home to watch their teammates compete on TV because… too “crowded” with talent.
Ambitious
Deschamps said that everything could change between now and June 4, the day he must submit his final 23-man list to FIFA. There are still 11 players on the waiting list, so the chance of Lacazette and Coman being called up is still there, although it is quite slim.
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| Coach Didier Deschamps' favorite formation. Photo: Internet |
In the two formations that coach Deschamps often uses, 4-3-3 and 4-4-2, the defense will have 5 familiar names: goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, right-back Djibril Sidibe, central defenders Raphael Varane, Samuel Umtiti, and left-back Mendy.
In midfield, only Pogba and N'Golo Kante are sure to start, with N'Golo Kante playing as a central midfielder responsible for recovering the ball. If playing a 3-midfield formation, Pogba will play on the left and Matuidi (Juve) will play on the right wing, while Giroud (Chelsea) will play as a central striker, Griezmann (Atletico) will play as a right winger and Mbappe (PSG) will play as a left striker..
When playing with 2 strikers, the French team uses a player who plays as a deep-lying striker and a striker. Antoine Griezmann will take on the role of a deep-lying striker, acting as a bridge between the striker and the midfielder. And the striker is most likely to be Kylian Mbappe.,with lightning speed and great trickery. The ideal attacking play would be Griezmann holding the ball and passing it to Mbappe or a midfielder running forward to finish.
Another option is Oliver Giroud to pair with Griezmann or Mbappe to form a classic “big one, small one” striker pair like Heskey - Owen, Koller - Baros. If France intends to play long balls, high balls will be very suitable.
Coach Didier Deschamps has almost completely eliminated familiar names such as Adrien Rabiot, Alexandre Lacazette, Kingsley Coman and Anthony Martial from the reserve list, while Laurent Koscielny and Dimitri Payet are injured. Karim Benzema's name is also not seen on the reserve list.
Meanwhile, defender Benjamin Pavard, the most surprising player on the list, cried at home when he saw his name appear on the screen. Benjamin Mendy felt "overwhelmed with emotion"when he had been injured for 7 months but was still selected.
The players on the list are, according to coach Didier Deschamps, full of desire and ambition. Deschamps is betting his coaching career on a young squad, but daring to challenge the rest of the world.
List of French team for World Cup 2018
Goalkeepers: Areola (PSG), Lloris (Tottenham), Mandanda (Marseille)
Defenders: Hernandez (Atletico), Kimpembe (PSG), Mendy (Man City), Pavard (Stuttgart), Rami (Marseille), Sidibe (Monaco), Umtiti (Barcelona), Varane (Real Madrid)
Midfielders: Kante (Chelsea), Matuidi (Juventus), N'Zonzi (Sevilla), Pogba (MU), Tolisso (Bayern Munich), Fekir (Lyon)
Forwards: O. Dembele (Barcelona), Giroud (Chelsea), Griezmann (Atletico), Lemar (Monaco), Mbappe (PSG), Thauvin (Marseille).
