"HE TRAINING IT" - Deschamps angrily ANNOUNCED Kylian Mbappé and Dembele would give a surprise gift to Spain

Unlike previous tournaments, “reading” Didier Deschamps’ tactics in EURO 2024 is one of the big challenges for the French team’s opponents. And the number 1 candidate Spain will have to face that in the first semi-final.

Faced with Spain and their technical superiority, Deschamps will likely surprise La Roja with his preference for a breakthrough, quick counter-attacking style of play, based on a solid defense foundation. Accordingly, he will likely let his favorite student Antoine Griezmann sit on the bench and give Ousmane Dembele a chance. Deschamps believes that against opponents with superior technique, France needs spearheads with high mutation.

Griezmann, with his declining physical strength, does not meet this criterion. Deschamps will design a fast, strong and agile attack in a deep defensive position, against an opponent who will certainly have superior possession of the ball. Two of those “drills” are Kylian Mbappe and Dembele. It should be emphasized that, even when tormented by a nose injury and not yet at his best, Mbappe still knows how to torment the opponent’s defense with his dizzying accelerations.

Meanwhile, Dembele only entered the field in the 67th minute of the second half in the quarter-final match against Portugal, but he was still voted the Best Player of the match thanks to his ability to cause high breakthroughs with tricky dribbles and “I don’t know which way to turn”, making it impossible for the opponent’s defense to react in time. The French team is in dire need of such factors against the team from the land of bullfighting.

At this year’s tournament, we were surprised many times by Deschamps’ tactical and human choices. The match against Belgium is a typical example. Before the match, experts predicted that Les Bleus would start with a 4-4-2 diamond formation, in which N’Golo Kante would play the lowest position in midfield, and Griezmann would play in defense.

However, everyone was offside when the French coach changed the match strategy close to kick-off time: still playing his usual 4-3-3 formation with the trio Griezmann-Marcus Thuram-Mbappe. And the Gaulois Rooster has many dangerous shots, rich in mutations, along with a single adjustment in terms of personnel but with maximum effectiveness: the only goal came from a shot by Randal Kolo Muani (on the field as a substitute). Thuram) caused Jan Verthonghen to score an own goal.

In the match against Portugal, Deschamps designed a different playing style, with a 4-3-1-2 diagram, a variation of 4-3-3 but with Griezmann playing as his main attacker. Although France attacked quite coherently, creating many good opportunities, their finishing was very poor and ineffective. Furthermore, in many phases with Griezmann as a transition station, he lacked physical strength and speed, so France could not launch a quick counter-attack as desired. At this year’s tournament, we were surprised many times by Deschamps’ tactical and human choices. The match against Belgium is a typical example. Before the match, experts predicted that Les Bleus would start with a 4-4-2 diamond formation, in which N’Golo Kante would play the lowest position in midfield, and Griezmann would play in defense.

Overall, the performance of the two attacking stars Mbappe (injured) and Griezmann (aged) are below average. Fortunately, Deschamps made landmark decisions, such as using William Saliba as a central defender (Lucas Hernandez was injured, Ibrahima Konate was out of form) and suddenly recalled Kante, helping him lay a foundation for building. Build a rare strong defense. France has not scored any goals from live ball situations, but no team has been able to score against them from direct combinations.

A loss after 5 matches is something that far exceeds the expectations of the coaching staff as well as those who love the blue team.