The severe imbalance of the French team at EURO 2024

After 2 matches at EURO 2024, the French team may not be able to meet the expectations of the fans. Up front, with names like Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Marcus Thuram, Kingsley Coman and Olivier Giroud, scoring goals is not a problem for Les Bleus. However, the defense has become a concern for Didier Deschamps.

Germany and Chile both scored twice against France in friendlies in March. Deschamps knows that Les Bleus must fix their defensive problems to win the Euros. But ironically, by focusing on defence, their attacking effectiveness has been compromised.

After more than 180 minutes in Germany, the 2018 World Cup champions have kept two clean sheets but have yet to score a goal themselves. This is an astonishing statistic given their attacking stardom. An own goal by Maximilian Wober for Austria was the only time France have enjoyed joy so far. In that match, Mbappe and his teammates had 14 shots with a total expected goals of 2.13 (xG), but did not find the net once.

The French defense is having a solid tournament. Photo: UEFA

Against the Netherlands, Les Bleus had 15 shots with an xG of 1.42 but their strikers once again missed a series of incredible chances. France have reached three of their last four major finals thanks to balance at both ends of the pitch. But at the moment, Les Bleus are woefully unbalanced.

Deschamps shared before the tournament that, to win EURO, the French team must play solidly in defense. That was his experience when he won the 1998 World Cup and EURO 2000 as a player. When leading the French team to the 2018 World Cup, Deschamps still focused on defense.

At EURO 2024, Deschamps will change the 4-4-2 formation that brought success to France at the 2018 World Cup. N'Golo Kante will still play in front of the back four, while Adrien Rabiot will replace Blaise Matuidi on the left wing of midfield. Griezmann will also take on the attacking midfielder position as in 2018, and Aurelien Tchouameni will be the new "Paul Pogba".

William Saliba's solidity alongside Dayot Upamecano has kept France's defence safe. Against the Netherlands, they only allowed 0.33 xG, while against Austria it was 0.74 xG.

"Like the first game, we defended solidly, even better at pressing. We defended very tightly. The defenders and midfielders are doing very well," said Griezmann.

Griezmann's unbelievable missed opportunity. Photo: UEFA

Besides, the striker of Atletico Madrid also did not deny the problem of the attack: "I had 2 chances when the ball touched me, this is really embarrassing. We defended tightly and did very well in terms of tactics. We just lacked a goal. But there is nothing to panic here, the goal will come soon".

Striker Olivier Giroud also admitted the imbalance between attack and defence as France prepare to host Poland in their final group game.

"We need to be more clinical in the box, that's where you can make the difference. We were a little unlucky but also a little bit ineffective and the Dutch goalkeeper did well. Otherwise, I'm happy with the team's performance. The most important thing is to create chances," said Giroud.

Source: https://laodong.vn/bong-da-quoc-te/su-thieu-can-bang-tram-trong-cua-tuyen-phap-tai-euro-2024-1356199.ldo