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Anthony Martial the Man as France Look United in Attack

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While teams such as Northern Ireland, Wales and Albania were experiencing euphoric highs of Euro 2016 qualification, France had to make do with two more low-octane friendlies. But two more positive victories – making it four in a row for the first time under Didier Deschamps’ reign – ensure that the dynamic remains positive at Clairefontaine.

VaraneArmenia

Defence

Frankly, nothing worth saying on the goalkeeping side. Hugo Lloris didn’t have a save to make in the 4-0 win over Armenia. Mandanda made one save (from a chance created by his poor clearance), one excellent rush-out-and-smother, and could do nothing about Erik Sviatchenko’s consolation in France’s 2-1 win over Denmark.

At full-back, against Armenia, Bacary Sagna and Patrice Evra taught us nothing new – both are solid in defence and still neither can cross. Against Denmark, Christophe Jallet and a rejuvenated Lucas Digne impressed – the AS Roma man in particular as he combined well with Blaise Matuidi and Anthony Martial, and also set up Olivier Giroud for France’s second. Mathieu Debuchy and Benoît Tremoulinas may now be worried for their squad positions.

VaraneAt centre-back Raphaël Varane is untouchable – the only man to start every match since the World Cup and now France’s vice-captain. The left sided position is still up for grabs and neither Mamadou Sakho nor Eliaquim Mangala particularly convinced (the former with a couple of howlers, the latter with his generally agricultural style), despite the relatively poor opposition. Possibly still advantage Laurent Koscielny in this position, although it would still be nice to see Aymeric Laporte, Loic Perrin or Samuel Umtiti be given a go. Kurt Zouma, who replaced Varane for the second half against Denmark looked comfortable and well set to be the long-term back-up to CSI:Miami’s Delko lookalike.

Midfield

One of the biggest winners of the week is Lassana Diarra. One dodgy loss of possession aside, the OM midfielder – amazingly back in Bleu for the first time since Laurent Blanc’s first match as coach – excelled against Armenia in the holding role. However, arguably the most positive aspect of his inclusion is that it allowed Yohan Cabaye to play with more freedom. Released from his defensive responsibilities, the Palace man looked back to his best, topping off his performance with a well taken goal.

DiarraArmenia

Paris Saint-Germain’s Matuidi, one of only three to start both matches, was…well, Blaise Matuidi, running tirelessly in support of defence and attack, though looking a little tired at the end of it all. Not sure PSG will have appreciated him playing 150 minutes in total.

Replacing the Parisian against Armenia and then starting against Denmark as sentinel was Morgan Schneiderlin, who was assured and comfortable – though, like Cabaye, there is a feeling that his forward-looking attributes are a little wasted when forced to sit and protect the defence.


France – Arménie : 4-0 les buts des Bleus à Nice by ffftv

The well-functioning midfield certainly gives Deschamps some positive food for thought going forward, particularly with the Paul Pogba question. There was a moment shortly after the World Cup where France looked dangerously Pogbadependent. But France have now shown that they can function very well – and, in the case of Cabaye, better – without him. Deschamps has some thinking to do to work out how to fit everyone in to their full potential. But it’s a good problem to have.

Attack

This was definitely the most positive aspect of the weekend. Let’s get the centre forwards out of the way first. Both Karim Benzema and Giroud have come in for a lot of stick recently. And to be fair, neither the former against Armenia, nor the latter against Denmark, had particularly good games in general. But their job is to score goals, their recent lack of goals is what they have been criticised for, so props to both for scoring a brace each.


Danemark – France : le doublé de Giroud à… by ffftv

Behind them, everything seems particularly rosy. Mathieu Valbuena showed his customary willing and then vision to set up Cabaye’s goal. But the two big stars of the four-day jolly were Antoine Griezmann and Anthony Martial.

The Atletico man has, after two brilliant performances, arguably made a case for being the true star and string-puller of the team. Against Denmark, though starting on the right, he often popped up as a No. 10 and controlled swathes of the match. France’s second goal came from a classy break, masterminded by him.

Against Armenia he scored one and set up another and tormented his opponents, mainly from the right. Not only that, but he seemed to be developing a very good understanding with Benzema – and backed that up by publicly praising his Madrid neighbour to the hilt to ensure that he doesn’t fall into one of his jealous sulks. Someone who can get the best out of Benzema and still be allowed by Karim to share the limelight must truly be special.

MartialGroud

Speaking of special … Anthony Martial! Toto (after Zizou and Titi, we might as well get used to it) – continues to excel, unaffected by the hype surrounding him. On as a substitute against Armenia, he set up Benzema with a superb one-touch pass which took out the whole defence.

In his first start against Denmark, he set up Giroud with another superb pass, exchanged a 1-2 with Griezmann in the middle of the break for the second, and generally tormented the Danish defence all night. Another positive quandary for Deschamps – Martial is surely due to be a super-sub come next summer – but if he carries on at this rate, can DD afford to leave him out of a starting XI? It would be harsh in the extreme on Valbuena but a front three of Griezmann on the right, Martial on the left and (an on-form) Benzema in the middle really does make the mouth water.

Before we get too carried away, Armenia and a Denmark who had found out an hour earlier that they could not qualify automatically for the Euro are not the toughest of opponents – November’s matches against Germany and England will provide a better indication of France’s state of health, but so far so good for 2015/16.


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