Very good and thorough analysis! How do you see Diacre's skills: selection, formation, general tactical plans, adjustments in the run, etc.?
Is really hard the current state of France right now, at the SBC we went from a total disaster (as I said the most embarassing performance I ever witnesed) to a largely opposite triumph against her longest nemesis Germany (never saw France embarass Germany like that too). As usual when you have two so complete opposite result the real truth is in the middle. So for me France should be judged from its game against the USA. Tactically: France is a possession team, we like to dictate the tempo of the game, keeping short passes, quick movement, offensive, football, indeed it is what the les Bleues tried to do against England which backfired completely. Since the second game Diacre opted for a close, deep defensive block, aggressive football and quick counter attacking, it almost worked against the Americans but we didn't deserved to win that game same tactics completely destroyed Germany though...So France will adopt this tactical approach from now on? Very hard to say only the next games against Nigeria and Canada will tell also because France had to play like that to not get humilated by USA or even Germany , so we let them the ball, but playing at home against nations who will let us possession, will force us to comeback at our old football. Players: from this tournament we could all say now Bouhaddi is France best GK (and by far), Mbock is best CB waiting for Renard to comeback, Majri is precious, Henry can control a midfield all alone, Geyoro is very talented, Le Sommer is our best offensive player....so basicallly NOTHING NEW.....Diacre too scared to get humiliated again ate her own words (to rotate the team) and not only put the same players two FRIENDLY games in a row, (giving 270 minutes to Mbock, Le Sommer, Henry, shocking!) But she completely ignored Durand, E. Cascarino, Clemaron, Leger...players she choose....LOL....Basically we are back at square one in terms of finding a Group not only 11 good players. And please stop it with Thiney she's 33 years old could barely run anymore, just like Georges. In conclusion, yes it always good to win against a team like Germany but let's not get carry away, nothing has really changed since Diacre took the NT and nothing will until Katoto finally get a call.
Debzy, I respect your wide knowledge about the French game. But I think you have a blind spot about Thiney. I watched almost the entire SBC, and she was one of France's most effective players.
Why was Thiney rated lowest by inStat?60% total action success69% passes complete0-for-1 in crosses14-of-17 challenges lostLost all 4 aerial challengesFailed with both dribble attempts2-of-3 tackles lostLost 11 balls (most on France)Sacre bleu!— Chris Henderson (@chris_awk) March 5, 2018 That's from the game against the US, where she was the lowest rated player overall. Germany game was better, though.
inStat Ranking Averages for France at SBC (for those w/ 3 scored games)1. Le Sommer2. MBock Bathy3. Henry4. Gauvin5. Thiney6. Asseyi— Chris Henderson (@chris_awk) March 8, 2018 If I understand this correctly, Thiney was in the top 5 stat-wise for France, in terms of the entire tournament. Besides, when I watch a game, rather than minutiae of statistics, I am looking at who makes intelligent plays, who shows up in the big moments. Against Germany, Thiney assisted ELS' goal, and had "secondary assists" on Henry and Gauvin's goals. I'm not saying she is the best player on the field. But she was definitely part of turning France's tournament around.
Her catastrophic stats against USA says it all......Her overall bad contribution has been exposed once again, don't be confused by a good pass here and there against the worst Germany ever, Thiney CAN'T be France N10, we (I'm pretty sure Diacre too) are all waiting for Lavogez and Toletti to finally come back. Politics behind the scene have helped Thiney popularity and gain many undeserved caps...too many....now it should be over. Diacre doesn't like her, prior to the SBC Eve was called only once by the France NT coach and to replace an injured player (I don't remember who) at the beginning of the season then no call till this tournament where she basically replaced Houara and Romanelli both injured. Unfortunately she didn't let a good impression (like all France team I have to say) against England, knowing Diacre that's enough......plus Torrent did better against USA and Germany...so I really will be surprised to see Perisset return against Nigeria, I like Eve but defensively Marion is better and Diacre clearly doesn't like her.
Agree Thiney should not be first choice No. 10 for France, but I think showed well enough at SBC to be a viable back-up option.
What I have heard last week is Diacre is really strong on every subject around the team and does not bother explaining many things. The opposite of the laid-back Bini at the time.
Question. What the hell Is total action success, how is I measured ( the maths, please), and is there any proven correlation to total team successs?
This is a great question for each of the stats. What do the data say about how high/low scores on a stat contribute to wins/losses?
haha, bye bye Eve, the amour I first discovered playing at the park in youtube vids years ago is now firmly stationed at starting right FB
good video on Le Sommer's game vs Germany in the SBC btw.......there's was some talk that the German players flubbed this game to get rid of Jones/ I guess in same vein that the French conspired to loose badly last Nov so that the Germans got stuck keeping Stefi as coach, lol
Seriously ? Some French players actually have lost their place in the A squad after that game and have a mountain to climb to get selected again. If they have sabotaged a game to keep Jones in her job, they are just ....
That's just the players who played all 3 games for France. Thiney was rated as the 2nd worst of those players.
I don't think (I really but really hope) Thiney will stay for long in the NT, things will get serious after the U20 WC when Diacre could not ignore Katoto and co. anymore and players like Lavogez, Toletti will be back fully fit. Specially Claire Lavogez who plays in the same position and doesn't hold back when she has something to say, she is expecting to be France N10 so if this doesn't happen drama will come.... Only Gerard, Delie, Nadjim, Le Garrec were excluded from the NT after that game, is interesting to note Georges, Henry, Mbock, Le Sommer played in both humiliation (Germany and England) but Diacre will certainly not exclude them.....justice is not equal to everyone.... Torrent did well against USA and Germany but she offers nothing offensively, after getting humiliated by England France changed its usual tactical approach (possession based offensive football) to a more cautious defensive block counter-attack . Marion did well mostly because she didn't had to go forward but only control her area, however, France is not a counter-attacking team so we need more offensive fullback so imho Houara still our best RB because she offers but side of the game (offense, defense) better than Torrent and Perisset.
Latest squad : Corinne Diacre, sélectionneure de l'Equipe de France féminine, a dévoilé la liste des 23 joueuses convoquées pour France - Nigeria et France - Canada #FRANIG #FRACAN pic.twitter.com/A8IRCU2aTI— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) March 28, 2018
Well I’ve always thought that Diacre made France look awful on purpose in order to make Steffi stay so Germany wouldn’t be a threat during the WC on home soil
Not really, the problem is she is still in the trial and error period. When the core of the team is not there in performance or on the pitch it ends up being shit ( 4-0 for Germany, 4-1 for England) There is no real depth in the team with many players having retired.
a bit weak at midfield. Though critically harsh on her players, give Diacre credit for still choosing Benameur(the GK vs England) & Sakia(her horrible flub vs Chelsea). Diacre scouting style is peculiar, perhaps a throwback to 50 years or so in that she's keeps looking for prospects at the 8 bottom feeders/or so called amateur French League teams) but you would figure that all the top talents would all ready been picked off by pro clubs by now The game with Canada should be a paradox since CA firmlu believes in bringing up their youth very quickly into their senior squad(Fleming & Huitema got their senior caps at 15 years old) where as the French seem opposite(the newbie, Clameron is listed at 25 years old)