By Andrew Warshaw in Paris
June 21 – When he was at Chelsea, Leicester City’s Premier League-winning manager Claudio Ranieri was known as the ‘tinkerman’ for always chopping and changing his line-up. Now he has a rival in Didier Deschamps.
France may have progressed to the knockout stages of Euro 2016 and won their group in the process, but two unconvincing last-gasp victories and a somewhat fortunate goalless draw has left the host nation’s fans wondering just how far Les Blues will go in the competition.
France ended the group stage in the position they wanted but with their coach still looking for the right formula to bring the best out of a team with high expectations. Deschamps has been tinkering since the start of the tournament and made no fewer than five changes on Sunday against Switzerland.
History shows, of course, that tactical group-stage fixtures mean little in the scheme of things. The end of this week is when the real business starts.
France can also point to yet another poor pitch in Lille – an alarming and disappointing factor of the entire tournament – on which they were unable to stroke the ball around as the might have liked.
But the way in which Deschamps fiddled with his personnel on the way to completing what should have been a comfortable campaign asked justifiable questions about the best strategy to use if the host nation, still haunted by last November’s terrorist attacks and keen to bring back the feel-good factor, are to go all the way.
Once again France squandered chances – none more so than the recalled Paul Pogba — while Swiss keeper Yann Sommer again excelled – he probably equals Austria’s Robert Almer as the best in the competition so far – and four of his teammates ended up with ripped shirts.
Deschamps acknowledges France are not yet the finished article.
“We had four good chances and had we been a bit more clinical we could have scored. Switzerland were better on the ball at times but without threatening too much. But for a great goalkeeper and a few centimetres we could have scored goals. It was very important to finish first in the group and clearly there are still things that need to be improved upon. But then, I’ve seen almost every match and, apart from two or three games, all sides have had tricky games.”
Deschamps understandably omitted Ngolo Kante to save last season’s Leicester midfield hero from a yellow card and suspension. But otherwise, one wondered why he felt compelled to make so many alterations rather than stick to trusted lieutenants.
It seems to be a trend. Roy Hodgson did the same thing on Monday when England – France’s possible quarter final opponents – couldn’t score either against Slovakia and as a result failed to win their group.
No side wins a major competition of this stature without an element of luck and France can point to the Swiss game as the moment they had their first dose of good fortune. Bacary Sagna appeared to impede Blerim Dzemaili in added time but referee Damir Skomina, conveniently perhaps, did not spot the offence.
Deschamps knows Les Blues need to show more intensity and produce a complete performance to justify their ‘favourites’ tag. The French coach, who captained his country to victory at the 1998 World Cup and at the European Championship two years later, has a reputation for everything he touches turning to gold.
If he continues to tinker without settling on his best team, however, he could well end up with silver or bronze this time. Or, whisper it quietly, an even less precious metal.
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