Les Bleus have made the Euro 2024 quarter-finals but not one player has yet scored from open play, making changes essential against Portugal
After France had fluked their way into the quarter-finals of the Euro 2024 with a dreadfully dull 1-0 win over Belgium, William Saliba argued that Les Bleus “deserve some credit” for the way they play. They’re not going to get any, though – not if they continue sending supporters to sleep with their boring brand of football.
There may be plenty to admire about the way in which Saliba & Co. contain opponents – they’ve kept more clean sheets than any other team in the tournament thus far – but the media’s attention remains firmly fixed on France’s malfunctioning forward line. And rightly so.
Didier Deschamps has a wonderful array of attacking talent and yet his team have scored only three goals in Germany – two own goals and a penalty. It’s a shocking statistic, utterly embarrassing in fact. Deschamps doesn’t care, though. He never has.
Water-carrying winning machine
As a player, Deschamps was derided by Eric Cantona for his lack of creativity and flair but the “water-carrier” won it all, with Marseille, Juventus and France. This was a character who fully embraced and eventually came to epitomise the (in)famous Bianconeri ethos that “winning isn’t important, it’s the only thing that counts.” It’s not in the least bit surprising, then, that he’s proven the most conservative of coaches.
“At the highest level, if you don’t have a solid defensive base, you can’t get by,” he once said. “In one match, yes. But over a whole competition? No.”
It was a comment that evoked memories of the old Sir Alex Ferguson line that “Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles” – but the stubborn Scot was never as negative as Deschamps.