unable to score in the game in 2024, the Blues no longer find inspiration

A month and a half before the Olympic Games, the defeat against England showed certain limits in the Bleues’ game plan on Tuesday.

A flaw revealed in broad daylight. After three successes in a row, the France team fell foul of the return match against England counting for Euro 2025 qualifying (2-1), Tuesday June 4 in Saint-Etienne . Logically beaten, the Blue showed that they could find themselves in great difficulty when they were unable to obtain enough ammunition during set phases.

The observation is simple: in 2024, the selection simply did not score from a constructed action (seven goals in total), while eleven of its last fourteen goals were scored following a set piece . This time again, the gap was reduced by a penalty, converted by Kadidiatou Diani.

On the lack of inspiration of his players in the game, Hervé Renard brushed aside the subject, putting the defeat down to a first period “unworthy of the French team”. “In the second half, they found each other. The result of a penalty is when you push people to make mistakes in a penalty area,” he replied pragmatically. And to add: “We have chances, we have to make them happen and be efficient. The goalkeeper was more effective in the second half.”

Apart from the penalty obtained by Grace Geyoro, the Blues only scored one shot out of nine. The differential with the English circuits, when Lauren Hemp and Beth Mead showered the French surface with crosses in the first period, was glaring. “We find each other a little less, but we must continue to work together”, said striker Kadidiatou Diani when commenting on her relationship on the pitch with Marie-Antoinette Katoto. A less prominent association this season with the Bleues, while it was decisive when the two still played together at Paris Saint-Germain, until 2023.

“We saw the difficulties and we will work for the next matches. It was complicated, we had difficulty keeping the ball. I found that we were swinging a little too often, especially in the first half”added Kadidiatou Diani, “not worried” for the rest. The fact remains that the French staff has so far not found a solution to put an end to this recurring problem. The associations in the middle change regularly, without managing to control the midfield when the opponent presses.

And by seeing the Blues only being dangerous in set phases, their opponents could end up finding a solution. Starting with Sweden, in Dijon on July 12, then Ireland at home, on July 16, in the Euro qualifiers. In other words, offensive animation will be the major sector to work on from June 24, the date of the start of preparation for the Games.