who to succeed the irreplaceable Mr. Griezmann?

Without his playmaker, a newly retired international player, Didier Deschamps will have to deal with players with different qualities from the Madrilenian.

There are easier tasks than taking over from Antoine Griezmann in the France team. Replace it? “It’s not possible”decided Didier Deschamps. But the coach will have to check the name of a player to replace him at least numerically, during the first “post-Grizou” match, in the Nations League against Israel, Thursday October 10 in Budapest (Hungary). Michael Olise and Christopher Nkunku hold the rope.

137 matches in Blue in ten years, an uninterrupted presence between August 2017 and March 2024, Antoine Griezmann left the France team facing “a new era”in the words of Ibrahima Konaté at a press conference on Tuesday. But without its playing master, successfully repositioned as an attacking midfielder since the 2022 World Cup, how will the France team adapt? “Without him, we play differently, answers Didier Deschamps. It is not possible to replace it position for position. He had such a great influence through his technical quality and his ability, in the volume of play, to repeat efforts“. By maintaining his 4-3-3 system, the coach must find in his group a midfielder in an advanced playmaker position.

If the Madrilenian was called up as a midfielder during the last gatherings, none of those called up by Didier Deschamps (Camavinga, Fofana, Guendouzi, Koné, Tchouaméni, Zaire-Emery) evolves in the same offensive register. In attack, two profiles could move back a notch in turn, as Antoine Griezmann did, to take his place as an attacking midfielder: Christopher Nkunku and Michael Olise.

“Everyone was surprised. Nobody expected his departure. We simply have to thank him. It’s a monument. We will miss the technical leader that he was, but I have the deep conviction that “We have the quality to replace him.”

Aurélien Tchouameni, captain of the Blues against Israel

at a press conference on Wednesday

The first has been playing more up front since the start of the season at Chelsea (seven goals in 11 games), but has already had a more backward position at Leipzig or PSG. “Antoine left an immense legacy, I am not trying to replace him, I just want to make my contribution, clarified the Blues player at a press conference. We have different characteristics, I just want to give my best and stay myself.” Qualified as “very offensive player and very generous with defensive efforts” by Ibrahima Konaté, Christopher Nkunku did not hide the fact that his preferential position was “fairly close to the goal”.

His “competitor”, Michael Olise, plays mainly as a right winger at Bayern Munich, but has great versatility and great technical ease. Already the author of six goals (and three assists) in nine matches with the Bavarian club since the start of the season, he does not have the defensive qualities of Antoine Griezmann, but no longer hesitates to defend. He also played successfully as an attacking midfielder during the Olympic Games, during which he caught the eye of Didier Deschamps. He was also one of the rare players whose performances were good during the September rally and should be a long-term member of the Blues if he is spared from injuries.