Are the times when France based its success on imperial defensive solidity over? The Blues were pierced twice against Denmark (1-2), Friday June 3, at the Stade de France. Andreas Cornelius has twice succeeded in doing the right thing. But the ex-Girondin also benefited from the generosity of the tricolor rearguard, orphan of Raphaël Varane, who came out injured in the 60th.
Before that, everything was going well for the French. Karim Benzema had just opened the scoring (51st), and the timid Danish offensives were contained by the Manchester United defender. After a trying season, between injuries and adaptation to English football, Varane was there. Until his thigh let go. “It’s a muscle problemconfirmed deputy Guy Stéphan, at a press conference. There will be further examinations tomorrow (Saturday).”
Raphaël Varane, injured, gives way to William Saliba who honors his 3rd selection!
1-0 | #FRADAN | #ProudToBeBlues pic.twitter.com/mklfb8PQje
– French team (@equipedefrance) June 3, 2022
It is impossible to say with certainty that the entry of William Saliba, in place of the ex-Madrilenian, was the trigger for the fall of the Blues. It would even be downright dishonest to attribute full responsibility for the defeat to the kid, for his third cape.
Because, even if Saliba was too easily beaten by Cornelius on the second pawn, the bankruptcy is collective. Used since the last Euro, a year ago, the three-defender system has virtues, but requires extreme vigilance. Varane and Koundé are not confronted with it in the club, any more than the piston Théo Hernandez. His brother Lucas and Kingsley Coman are sparingly at Bayern. Only Saliba is really used to it, but he mainly plays on the right of the three-man defense at OM. Friday evening, he came into play in the axis.
Both goals have a common denominator: marking and alignment errors. In each case, Théo Hernandez was not on the same line as his teammates, leaving Andreas Cornelius in play. On the first pawn, Lucas Hernandez did not follow the Danish striker and abandoned Hugo Lloris. The left piston of AC Milan did not, either, mark Christian Eriksen on a big Danish opportunity at the end of the match.
These depth management issues have been lacking for the Blues. “The important thing in our system is to properly frame the ball carrierrecognized Guy Stephan. If he is off target, it leaves the initiative to the opponent to find the player in depth. You have to find that balance.” Aurélien Tchouaméni has, it is true, lacked impact in front of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, passer on the first goal.
“At half-time, we said to ourselves that we were not deep enoughanalyzed the Danish coach, Kasper Hjulmand, at a press conference. Coman is a great attacking player but we knew there was something to do behind his back.” On the second goal, the training winger was very high, in the opposing half, like most of his teammates. He left a few spaces behind his back, with no direct consequence to the score. “That’s not where we lost the game.”, tempered Guy Stéphan speaking of depth management. The faithful assistant especially hammered home his regrets about the lack of pressure on the Danish smugglers.
In a very dense international window, the Blues will be on the bridge from Monday, in Croatia. Even with the probable absence of Varane, this three-defender scheme could be repeated. Faced with a team corrected by Austria (0-3), the attitudes of the French defenders will be particularly scrutinized.