Five things learned when Martial loses his moment

11/15/2020 World



[ad_1]

On an intense night of football, France beat Portugal 1-0 in Lisbon to reach the finals of the 2021 UEFA Nations League.

The victory gives France a head-to-head tiebreaker advantage and a three-point lead over Portugal with just three points to play. What did we learn?

Black Lives Matter in football

Black lives matter: Read more about why footballers are taking the knee

1. Martial loses its moment

It is rare that Didier Deschamps feels comfortable experimenting with his team. Once you find a lineup that you like, you usually stick with it. For years this meant Olivier Giroud at the XI, even if he was only useful in about 20% of the games France played.

Now, with Giroud’s decline and Kylian Mbappé’s injury, he has been forced to change his attack. Realistically, Mbappé returns to the team when he’s fit, but Giroud might not, meaning Anthony Martial and Kingsley Coman were vying for a place in Deschamps’ first XI, the team that will contest the Euro and the Nations final. League in 2021.

And while Coman was fine, bringing threat in wide areas and plenty of pace, Martial lost his moment on the head of the side.

With Mbappé’s number. On October 10, Martial had the opportunity to establish himself as the go-to partner for the PSG prodigy, instead displaying the kind of frustrating inconsistency that has haunted him for most of his career. His movement was sublime, but France has movement for days, what he needs is to finish and in that field, Martial failed to deliver (he has not scored a goal for France since 2016).

He had three golden opportunities to score and each time he made a mess, whether it was taking a direct shot at Rui Patricio or heading the ball against the crossbar from a few meters. France was victorious in the end, so Martial’s extravagance didn’t cost the French, but it could have. And given the number of options available to him, you wonder how many more opportunities Anthony Martial will have.

2. Qualifications of Portugal’s players

3. Cristiano’s problem

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest scorers of all time, undoubtedly the greatest in the history of Portugal. He has been scoring goals with the jersey since he was a teenager, providing the goal outlet that allowed a stoic and defensive side to continue competing.

Now 35, approaching 36, he is the captain of this youngest and most dynamic Portugal team. But tonight’s performance shows that the absurd question must be asked: would Portugal be better off without Cristiano?

Not out of the call, of course, you could never leave your scoring power at home. But should I start? When you look at the dynamism and movement in the Portuguese XI with players like Bruno Fernandes, Joao Félix and Bernardo Silva, you wonder if the team would be better served by building around those three young threats like Francisco Trincao.

Portugal were so stoic in Lisbon tonight, wasting the creativity and movement of their brightest attackers. Things improved after France scored, but that was in part because the French just sat down, but even more so when Diogo Jota came in for William Carvalho and Portugal did their best. The question is, why don’t the games start at that breakneck pace? Playing fluently, attacking soccer with everyone throwing defensively?

With a fixed point like Cristiano at the top of the team, the dynamic qualities of his younger players are very often neutralized. This has been the case for a while, but Cristiano’s goals always got him out of trouble. Now even that death touch is starting to leave him – tonight he missed two very good chances that he would have buried two years ago – it would make sense to quit.

But you definitely still get it out of the bank. The way Portugal attacked France’s goal at the end of the match, when the world champions sat down and absorbed the pressure, was perfect for Cristiano. Having an elite scorer like that is a double threat for Portugal as he can score and also draw attention to create space for others, and if he had been completely fresh instead of wearing 60 minutes of fruitless running on his legs he probably would. I would have done. it has been more deadly.

Portugal is out of the Nations League, but when the Euro comes next year, it would be such a bold step if Fernando Santos solved Cristiano’s problem by using the striker as a late-game substitute to terrorize and damage weakened opponents, instead of continuing. to get him going and disrupt the flow of his younger, more dynamic attacking talents.

4. France player rankings

5. France’s spine stands tall

In 2018, France won the World Cup. They did so despite playing a less adventurous, let’s say, style of play. They were able to do this due to the strength of their spine. From Hugo Lloris to Raphael Varane and Samuel Umtiti to N’Golo Kanté and Paul Pogba to Antoine Griezmann to Olivier Giroud.

Tonight against Portugal we finally saw France unwind and reveal that after two years of mostly medium results and performances, France’s spine is just as straight and stiff as it was back then.

Lloris remains in goal and played superbly today, making an unreal save from Joao Moutinho. Varane remains on defense but is joined by Presnel Kimpembe, who has the authority and athleticism that Clement Lenglet lacks and is an excellent partner for Varane. Kimpembe’s header clearance in the second half, which denied Cristiano Ronaldo a certain goal and received a header in the process, was an absolutely miraculous defense that sums up what he brings.

In midfield, Kanté and Pogba appear to be preparing their big tournament modes again. Kanté, in particular, had returned to his best level in Lisbon and Portugal could not live with him.

We even saw an interesting Didier Deschamps wrinkle where instead of allowing Paul Pogba to get ahead he sat down the deepest playmaker and instead allowed Adrien Rabiot and N’Golo Kanté to attack and it is telling that the winning goal came. from a shot from Rabiot. being placed in the path of Kanté, who threw himself home as the most advanced Frenchman. This wrinkle is risky (Pogba was dribbled more than all of his teammates) but it will unsettle opponents and give France a sharp advantage.

In attack we have Griezmann looking absolutely in his element as a no. 10 with two moving forwards in front of him. Griezmann can be terrible at Barcelona, ​​caught playing like a no. 9 or not. 11, but in blue from France it is simply sublime. His pass to Martial in the first half (which Martial missed) was the absolute highlight of the match and rest assured that if he passes it to Kylian Mbappé (who will complete the spine when he returns from injury), the ball is running out. . on the back of the net.

France’s backbone is straight, and for anyone who has hoped to prevent the world champions from winning the Euro in 2021, that is not a scary prospect.



[ad_2]

Designed by Tricksfast Solutions
© Copyright 2024, All Rights Reserved