France’s attack has not clicked at all at Euro 2024. Will it matter? | Euro 2024
France went into Euro 2024 as pre-tournament favourites. Their squad is both deep and decorated, with many Champions League winners and a raft of players who won the World Cup in 2018. Their manager has been here before too, winning the Euros as a player in 2000 and leading his team to the final of Euro 2016.
Their defence has looked the part in Germany. Despite having no major tournament experience, Mike Maignan has been perhaps the standout goalkeeper. In the back four, William Saliba has been imperious since taking over a starting role, and the full-backs — Theo Hernández on the left and Jules Koundé on the right – have also exceeded expectations. Koundé, who plays more often as a centre-back with Barcelona, has been a more-than-convincing attacking threat, and Hernández, often seen as defensively slipshod, has been impressively disciplined.
The midfield, too, has been a thing of structure and balance, if not beauty. Aurélien Tchouameni, who finished the club season injured, had the odd wobble early in the tournament, but has grown more comfortable as the matches tick by. N’Golo Kanté looks to have found the fountain of youth in the Middle East if his performances are anything to go by. The third midfield spot, the province of Adrien Rabiot (and Eduardo Camavinga in the quarter-final against Portugal) has been functional if not outstanding.
In short, France have stymied their opponents at every turn, conceding just one goal in five matches – and even that, against Poland, was a penalty. The issue has been in the final third. With Rabiot or Camavinga in midfield – as opposed to Antoine Griezmann, as was the case at the World Cup in 2022 – France are much more solid but are also lacking in attack, which could prove fatal against Spain.
There are mitigating circumstances — Kylian Mbappé’s broken nose is chief among them, but more worrying is a lack of end product from Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani. Ousmane Dembélé has hardly been better, even if he did provide a bravura display off the bench in the quarter-final against Portugal on Friday. France continue to look starved of answers in attack but, at this stage of the tournament, the question should perhaps be not “what’s the problem” but rather “does it matter?”
Deschamps reacted to criticism with defiance this week, no doubt remembering his team’s elimination at the hands of Switzerland at the Euros three years ago following a 3-3 draw – a scoreline and outcome that was repeated when they faced Argentina in the World Cup final in Qatar a year later. “If you’re bored, watch something else,” said Deschamps, who also pointed out the lack of goals in the tournament as a whole, adding: “It’s a different sort of Euros for everyone.”
He is not wrong. This has been, and likely will continue to be, a tournament that is more about being both watertight and opportunistic than anything else, but does he not need more from his attack? He acknowledged that Mbappé was taken off the pitch in extra time out of an overabundance of caution, having been impressive against Belgium without scoring. But what about Griezmann?
Only three players have scored more goals for France than Griezmann – Giroud, Thierry Henry and Mbappé – but he has not found the net in his last 12 competitive games, a run that dates back to March 2023. It’s a far cry from the player who scored six goals at Euro 2016 and four at the World Cup in 2018. There have been suggestions that his relationship with Deschamps soured after Mbappé was selected as captain at his expense. Perhaps dropping him for the semi-final might be the best option given his form and the personnel in the Spain defence.
With Robin Le Normand missing due to an accumulation of bookings and Dani Carvajal suspended after being sent off late against Germany, Spain will not be playing with their first-choice defence. Nacho and Jesús Navas are likely to deputise for the suspended pair. With a combined age of 72 (not to mention a lack of regular game time), they look ripe for the picking, should Deschamps get the balance right.
Dembélé probably did enough in the 50 minutes he played against Portugal to warrant a start on the right or behind a front two, which leaves the manager with a couple of questions to answer. If he drops Griezmann, like he did against Poland in the group stage, how should he set up the team?
Kolo Muani and Thuram are both likely options, perhaps in a 4-3-1-2 with Dembélé supporting one of them and Mbappé. But Dembélé lacks end product, which would leave France with two of their three attackers unlikely to find the net. If Deschamps opts for a 4-3-3, Bradley Barcola could be an option on the left. His pace and dribbling ability would give Navas and Nacho a difficult test, but that would leave Mbappé playing on his own through the middle, something the manager has been loath to do.
Olivier Giroud came off the bench in all three group matches, playing just over 45 minutes in total, but he hasn’t featured in the knockout rounds, and Deschamps talked down his chances in the build-up to the game.
With Mbappé and Griezmann both below par, and against a makeshift Spanish defence, this could be the ideal moment for Deschamps to roll the dice, bringing in one of Barcola or Giroud (at least to start the match) and hoping for attacking inspiration from elsewhere in the team. But, given his comments this week, those odds seem long indeed, especially given the danger that Yamine Lemal and Nico Williams will pose if France are too open.
Conservatism has been the watchword of the tournament and, having epitomised it, France are still in with a shout. Deschamps’ “boring” football may not be pleasing to the eye but, given his main attacking threats have not yet delivered, his caution is wise and may just lead him to another final.
