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France Benefitting from Under-the-Radar Presence and Mobile, Fast-Paced Attack
Published: June 28, 2014
A couple of weeks back, few gave them much of a thought as a World Cup challenger, with France having squeezed through to the finals after a comeback win in a UEFA zone qualifying play-off.
The injury to Franck Ribery, the decision to leave Samir Nasri out of the squad and, perhaps, less truly global stars in the squad than in previous tournaments all contributed to the feeling of France not being one of the heavyweights for Brazil 2014.
Three matches into their tournament, though, the French have quickly made viewers sit up and take notice of just how far they might go this time.
Ribery's Absence
France lost key winger Franck Ribery to injury in early June, but to an extent this has perhaps liberated the rest of the attack.
Losing a player of Ribery's standing can never be classified as a "good thing," but it has certainly enabled Deschamps to switch around his attack a little, try different combinations and allow an extra, new player into the side—Antoine Griezmann being the most spectacular success in that regard.
Most pertinently of all, perhaps, it means France's previous natural attacking option of shifting the ball wide to Ribery at every opportunity has gone, forcing them to link play through other players and therefore giving them more unpredictability, more movement and more exchanges in the final third.
The change of bringing Giroud in won't effect Benzema's role. Still allowed to take up the same positions. More freedom #fra #clubmetro
— Andrew Gibney (@Gibney_A) June 20, 2014 Can't help thinking not having Ribery is good for France.
— Aleksandar Holiga (@AlexHoliga) June 20, 2014 &...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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