Day 8 | Slovakia vs Ukraine | Poland vs Austria | Netherlands vs France

Wednesday at Stoke said:
I don’t understand the Tchouameni hype. He looks a distant third best in a midfield with Rabiot and an older Kante. Rabiot did have a solid game though.
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He still has to give his first outstanding performance but to be fair tonight he was both playing his first minutes since early may and put into a very conservative setup where his role was quite contained.

Definitely the odd man out in midfield tonight though. Was surprised he closed out the game - he can thank the overall low intensity for that.
 
kouroux said:
Tchouameni is there because he is a strong body. Otherwise he is useless in terms of ball progression
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He had some decent forward passes, he is not useless at progressing the ball.
 
kouroux said:
Deschamps plays the players in their correct position mostly. Our players are just in terrible form overall.
Southgate is something else
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I have doubt over France winning this tournament, they're solid but not that convincing. Spain and Germany have showed much more quality as of now, but it's a long way to the final.

We'll see.
 
Wonder how they arrived at 5mins added on given the long’s goal check delay and a load of subs as minimum. Probably as bored as the rest of us.
 
whitbyviking said:
Wonder how they arrived at 5mins added on given the long’s goal check delay and a load of subs as minimum. Probably as bored as the rest of us.
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I think the stupid added time was a Premier League initiative.

I don't recall Champions League games having particularly long periods of stoppage time either.
 
Wednesday at Stoke said:
I saw Pogba lose his mind trying to play in a two man midfield with him a while ago and I don’t think he’s progressed since.
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Did I watch the same game? I thought Rabiot was poor whilst Tchouameni kept on breaking up Dutch attempts at getting forward. Kanté was the choice midfielder though.

Must say though, It's hard to judge the players when you have a criminally conservative manager like Deschamps in charge.
 
Quality game, France playing well. Had Netherlands defending deep for long periods.
They most probably need a Mbappe to get that cutting edge in attack though.
Poor Rabiot looks like a deer in headlights when he enters the penaltbox.
 
kouroux said:
Deschamps plays the players in their correct position mostly. Our players are just in terrible form overall.
Southgate is something else
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Half of our players have come to the tournament of the back of winning a title or playing for decent teams in decent form. Southgate is the one making them play poor. His tactics are shambolic
 
I wouldn’t take definitive conclusions regarding France based on 2 group stage games, only on the knockout stages we will see the best of them.

One thing that puzzles me is the substitute for the Griezmann role/function, is it because Deschamps doesn’t trust other French players for that role or the type of players France is creating over the years aren’t on the same level?

I doubt France doesn’t produce quality regarding more creative players, so it might be a Deschamps conviction more than nothing.
 
SCP said:
I wouldn’t take definitive conclusions regarding France based on 2 group stage games, only on the knockout stages we will see the best of them.

One thing that puzzles me is the substitute for the Griezmann role/function, is it because Deschamps doesn’t trust other French players for that role or the type of players France is creating over the years aren’t on the same level?

I doubt France doesn’t produce quality regarding more creative players, so it might be a Deschamps conviction more than nothing.
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We genuinely don't have any creative player playing centrally so we'll keep building around that for a while once Griezmann fades out. We miss a guy like Fekir badly (not to mention Pogba).
 
Would be a struggle to rank those MOTD pundits tonight as players.

1. Rooney
2. Fabregas
3. Shearer
4. Linekar
 
Offside said:
Would be a struggle to rank those MOTD pundits tonight as players.

1. Rooney
2. Fabregas
3. Shearer
4. Linekar
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You don’t know how blessed you are with the BBC punditry compared to the Dutch punditry. Van Basten the most awful pundit possible. Imagine the absolute worst pundit, multiply it by the goals Van Basten scored.

@Cheimoon @KirkDuyt @Terranova can confirm
 
antk said:
We genuinely don't have any creative player playing centrally so we'll keep building around that for a while once Griezmann fades out. We miss a guy like Fekir badly (not to mention Pogba).
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Still remember Griezmann playing against Portugal at the under 20 WC in Colombia (2011) and in 2014 he already was an important player for Deschamps.

Forgot about Fekir, certainly there are other type of players coming in Ligue 1 but it’s required a special type of player to fill that role, not taking anything from Mbappe eh, but I always had a special admiration for Griezmann, certainly deserved to win Euro 2016 but shit happens.
 
LA BOMBA said:
The players simply suck. The fact that a retired player Ngolo Kante is playing in such matches in winning man of the match rewards shows you that the talent simply isn't there in football anymore.
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Or maybe, even if Kanté is a different type of midfielder, he's twice the player Rice is or ever will be...
 
Eendracht maakt macht said:
You don’t know how blessed you are with the BBC punditry compared to the Dutch punditry. Van Basten the most awful pundit possible. Imagine the absolute worst pundit, multiply it by the goals Van Basten scored.
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He doesn't even have bad takes just for the sake of controversy or to take the other side in discussion, he's genuinely delusional.
 
SCP said:
Still remember Griezmann playing against Portugal at the under 20 WC in Colombia (2011) and in 2014 he already was an important player for Deschamps.

Forgot about Fekir, certainly there are other type of players coming in Ligue 1 but it’s required a special type of player to fill that role, not taking anything from Mbappe eh, but I always had a special admiration for Griezmann, certainly deserved to win Euro 2016 but shit happens.
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Griezman is still quality though. I just see a massive Pogba hole in that midfield which Rabiot can not contain.

Either Deschamp finds a Pogba replacement real quick or he changes that setup to accommodate the players at his disposal. But I guess what they say about not changing a thing if it is not broken.
 
Ddannidom said:
Griezman is still quality though. I just see a massive Pogba hole in that midfield which Rabiot can not contain.

Either Deschamp finds a Pogba replacement real quick or he changes that setup to accommodate the players at his disposal. But I guess what they say about not changing a thing if it is not broken.
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Rabiot was often their most advanced player and kept popping up in wide positions. Seemed a very odd usage of him to be honest, if it was planned.
 
SCP said:
I wouldn’t take definitive conclusions regarding France based on 2 group stage games, only on the knockout stages we will see the best of them.

One thing that puzzles me is the substitute for the Griezmann role/function, is it because Deschamps doesn’t trust other French players for that role or the type of players France is creating over the years aren’t on the same level?

I doubt France doesn’t produce quality regarding more creative players, so it might be a Deschamps conviction more than nothing.
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As i said in the other thread, I think he should have taken Teji Savanier as a sub/alternate starter instead of someone with superflous strengths like Fofana. The guy has been among the best attacking mid in ligue un the last 3 years (definitely the best french one), with a lot of refined playmaking and creative supporting characteristics that the midfielders in the squad don't possess or haven't yet fully developed. Sure, he's too old to be part of the team for long, but as a one-tournament option that had an excellent season he's ideal for some of what France are lacking.

He's a late bloomer though, so will tend to be dismissed/overlooked. I watched more of ligue 1 than any other top five league last season (mainly for Monaco) and his technical/creative level is more decisive right now than someone like Vitinha or Tchouameni, but with his age and not playing for a big team, he's not going to get any hype.

tbf i don't speak much french or follow their football media so maybe he's already voluntary retired from possible national team selection.
 
Demyanenko_square_jaw said:
As i said in the other thread, I think he should have taken Teji Savanier as a sub/alternate starter instead of someone with superflous strengths like Fofana. The guy has been among the best attacking mid in ligue un the last 3 years (definitely the best french one), with a lot of refined playmaking and creative supporting characteristics that the midfielders in the squad don't possess or haven't yet fully developed. Sure, he's too old to be part of the team for long, but as a one-tournament option that had an excellent season he's ideal for some of what France are lacking.

He's a late bloomer though, so will tend to be dismissed/overlooked. I watched more of ligue 1 than any other top five league last season (mainly for Monaco) and his technical/creative level is more decisive right now than someone like Vitinha or Tchouameni, but with his age and not playing for a big team, he's not going to get any hype.

tbf i don't speak much french or follow their football media so maybe he's already voluntary retired from possible national team selection.
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I heard a lot about the creativity of that player when he was at Montpellier, haven’t followed him that much, is he still playing for them or at a better club?

Now you mentioned late bloomers wasn’t Payet one of those cases? But yes I do think they are missing a different piece or profile.

When they start playing in the last 16 they will need the best Mbappe and Griezmann, or at least the best possible they can be at this moment.

But I never write them off on knockout stages, a lot of football fans expect them to destroy their opponents in every match but that’s not how they are suited to play.

But on their day they can beat anyone, but so far my favourite teams are Spain and Germany, it’s just that the knockout stages are completely different, a bad day at the office, one red card or individual mistakes and you’re gone.
 
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