News: France-Belgique et Albanie-France FRIENDLY

Ok our defense sucked. We should never have have conceded 4 goals. But on the plus side we had tons of possession but we were toothless until Fekir, Lacazette and Ntep came on. Payet helped too. I think DD will learn from this. Belgium are super solid defensively.

 

One thing I will say is, today we did miss Evra; we really had no one with that kind of experience and leadership on the pitch today. Nothing against Lloris, but goalkeepers being captains is kind of a joke (unless it's someone like Casillas in their prime).

It's so sad that Deschamps can't figure out how to properly use Griezmann, the French player who has had the best season. Lacazette was not particularly impressive today (still managed to do better than Giroud), but it wasn't really his fault. He should have started ahead of Giroud. I don't understand how he's rewarded for having a terrific season by starting on the bench. Fékir and Ntep were quite good.

I don't even have words for that pathetic defense.

Still cannot stand Valbuena.

 

Honestly, I'm amazed Lacazette hasn't been starting every game the past few friendlies. You'd think he's competing against the likes of Aguero and Suarez for a spot.

 

"Un milieu Matuidi Sissoko Cabaye c'est pas présentable, c'est comme aller en survêtement à un mariage. C'est pas possible. Et quand t'y vas avec Sagna, t'emmènes 3 potes qui ne sont pas invités. "



(I agree with it except for the inclusion of Matuidi)

 

Nobody wants to say it but Jallet would be a better option at right back at this point over Sagna. Anyone who's watched Lyon this season knows that he was OL's most consistent player. And he's deceptively good going forward.

Let's see what DD does for the Albania. Personally I would like to see Giroud dumped for Lacazette at the start and Fekir in there with him since they know each other so well. Payet instead of Valbuena also. Cabaye sits out for Pogba obviously. Not sure what the formation was at the end of the match vs Belgium but I imagine something like:

Griezmann-----Lacazette----------Payet

Sissoko---------Fekir-------------Pogba

Evra---Mangala------Varane----Jallet

 

Haha, I think everybody wants to say it other than DD! I think he's the only one who rates Sagna. Jallet deserves to start over him for sure.

Your team looks good except for Sissoko and Mangala (but it is hard to find someone to pair Varane with). Great attack though. I think Griez + the Lyon duo can do wonders together. And Payet has been impressive for France, it can't be denied. Deschamps also needs to play Griezmann in his new role.

I actually like Giroud, but if he keeps starting ahead of all these better players, I'm going to be really irritated.

 

I think Sissoko has been good for France overall. Not great yesterday but the whole starting lineup was off, including Griezmann and Varane. But Schneiderlin is also a good option in midfield.

 

Schneiderlin, Lacazette and Jallet started against Denmark in March but I feel that that was kind of a B squad that DD wanted to try after the 1-3 loss to Brazil. Against Brazil Benz, Sissoko and Schneiderlin started, with Sagna at right back.

 

We played without Benzema Pogba Evra but Belgium was missing Kompany and De Bruyne as well. The problem imo is the lack of technique in the midfield (Cabaye is diminished, Payet or Kondogbia should have started) and the inaccurate defense.

 

I'm glad that Benzema is injured so that DD can test out other options.

 

I don't see it making much of a difference. Deschamps has proved he has a list of indisputable starters and Benzema is one of them. It would take more for players like Benzema to lose their starting spot.

And to be honest, we could win 10-0 against Albania and I'd still feel disappointed because we have failed against the two big/semi-big teams we've met (Brazil and then Belgium). I'm disappointed because I think we could be doing much better. If this was one of those years where I felt like we didn't have that much talent available, I wouldn't be disappointed, but that's not the case.

 

Cheer up. They're friendlies. Even Germany and Holland lost to the US.

 

Haha, I'm not sad. I was disappointed because conceding four goals is embarrassing and I'm not happy with Deschamps' team selections. Only times I'd be truly sad during national team football is during a major tournament where we have a legitimate chance, like 2006. That was devastating. These friendlies are nothing. It's more frustration due to knowing we could do better, but it disappeared as soon as the game was done.

Germany was missing way more key players than us though. Holland is going through a bad phase in general.

 

It also has to be said that Klinnsman is really creating something with the US national team. They were quite good at the WC as well. But there's no way they should be beating Germany.

 

Come on, that was not Germany's A team. People look at this stuff and overreact. They were missing Neuer, Muller, Boateng, Hummels, Reus, Kroos.. etc. There were 2, maybe 3, regular starters max. Good for the USA, but let's not get carried away.

I don't care at all about German's NT, but if I were German, I'd be annoyed to see all the comments about how the USA beat the WC winners. They didn't, they beat a team mostly made up of subs.

And I'm not trying to discredit the US either, you can only beat the opponent that is in front of you.

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Anyway, onto more important matters. Here is the lineup for today's game:

Lloris - Jallet, Varane, Sakho, Evra - Kondogbia, Gonalons - Payet - Lacazette, Giroud, Griezmann

Looks a little bit better than against Belgium, but still a little underwhelming. I read reports a few days ago of Pogba and Fékir not participating in training or something of that nature, so I'm hoping that is why they're not in the starting XI. If they're fit to play and Deschamps just kept them out, then that is a problem. It's kind of annoying that we haven't been able to see Pogba play for France in so long.

Allez les bleus!

 

The better team won.