Les Bleus boast a stellar squad, but they're seriously struggling to shine ahead of Sunday's last-16 showdown with Belgium
After France's 1-1 draw with Poland on Tuesday, coach Didier Deschamps declared, "A new tournament is about to start. You cannot always read a competition just from the group stage."
It's a fair point, of course. Portugal failed to win a single game during the group stage of Euro 2016 and still went on to lift the trophy. Netherlands, meanwhile, reached the quarter-finals in 2008 with a 100 percent record after scintillating victories over Italy, France and Romania, only to suffer a shock loss to Russia.
However, the group stage is undeniably a good indicator as to how a team is shaping up ahead of the knockouts – and there's simply no getting away from the fact that France have failed dismally to live up to their favourites' tag in Germany.
Les Bleus have been bad. Like, England bad. Indeed, were it not forthe Three Lions and their sleep-inducing football, France would be coming under a lot more scrutiny right now – because unlike Gareth Southgate's side, they have been punished for their poor play by ending up on the difficult side of the draw.
There remains a somewhat understandable presumption that things will eventually come right for a team that always seems to find a way to win, particularly when it matters most. However, there is absolutely no guarantee that France will avoid a second successive last-16 exit at the Euros. As the group stage has hammered home, Deschamps has several problems to solve…
Getty Accident waiting to happen
It's odd that Deschamps was so reluctant for so long to make William Saliba the cornerstone of his defence – and yet so willing to persist with Dayot Upamecano. Unsurprisingly,such blind faith in the error-prone Bayern Munich defender was punished against Poland,with Upamecano giving away the penalty that cost France top spot in Group D.
Granted, Deschamps' options were restricted by an injury to Lucas Hernandez, while Ibrahima Konate had effectively lost his starting spot at Liverpool by the end of last season to Jarell Quansah, but Upamecano has long been the quintessential 'accident waiting to happen'.
Indeed, it's just so telling that Kim Min-jae and Eric Dier were Thomas Tuchel's preferred centre-back pairing at Bayern, with Upamecano not trusted to play more than a minute of the Champions League knockout ties against Arsenal and Real Madrid.
Deschamps, thus, has a massive decision to take on whether to stick with Upamecano against Belgium. Chances are, he will, but it's even more likely that it will prove a mistake.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesRabiot & Tchouameni toiling
Is Adrien Rabiot suffering from a crisis of confidence?There was a bizarre moment in the draw with the Netherlands when the midfielder elected to try to tee up Antoine Griezmann for a goal when he should have taken the shot on himself.
It was an incident that has rather typified Rabiot's poor decision-making to date. He's been by no means terrible – he's won the ball back regularly, kept it moving and created more openings than most of his team-mates – and yet he still looks nothing like the brilliant box-to-box midfielder that played such a pivotal role in France's run to the 2022 World Cup final.
Rabiot's struggles could not have come at a worse time either, with Aurelien Tchouameni clearly still affected by the injury that saw him miss the end of Real Madrid's campaign. The midfielder has looked quite strong defensively, but his perhaps understandable caution in possession has led to calls for Deschamps to replace Tchouameni with a more progressive passer, such as the prodigiously gifted Warren Zaire-Emery or Youssouf Fofana, and move the revitalised N'Golo Kante back in front of the back four, where the veteran does most of his best work anyway.
Something has to be done, at least, because while Kante has been France's player of the tournament so far, the make-up of the midfield is just not right.
GettyThe great Griezmann off his game
Griezmann has obviously played a part in the midfield malfunctioning.France's hybrid hero from the 2022 World Cupis usually the perfect link-man, a creative No.10 that works as hard as No.6, but he's been well below his best in Germany.
He's been wasteful in front of goal,most notably against the Netherlands, and sloppy in possession. In that sense, he could have little complaint about his demotion to the bench for the Poland game. However, his absence only underlined his importance to Deschamps' team. France may have continued to carry a threat out wide, but they sorely missed Griezmann's guile and energy in central areas.
Maybe he's suffering from tiredness. Fatigue could well be a factor for a 33-year-old at the end of a long season. It's certainly a demanding role he plays. However, France need Griezmann back in the starting line-up – and back at something close to his brilliant best – if they're to get the better of Belgium.
GettyNever-ending Dembele dilemma
How do you solve a problem like Ousmane Dembele? You don't, probably. You can't.At 27 years of age, he's unlikely to ever change.
Against Poland, we saw just how dangerous Dembele can be. He repeatedly blazed past Jakub Kiwior before eventually drawing a desperate challenge out of the Arsenal man that allowed Kylian Mbappe to give France the lead from the penalty spot.
Time and time again, though, Dembele failed to pick out a team-mate after beating his man, while he also wasted France's best chance in the first half after being put in on goal by Kante, meaning he's still waiting for a first-ever goal at a major tournament.
Surely, Deschamps is now wondering if Dembele is more of a hindrance than a help? He's already given the ball away 47 times in three games – more than any other French player. It's high time the coach considered another option on the right wing.