1. “Deschamp’s luxury”
“The culture of the Blues makes them difficult to read. It bears Deschamp’s signature: identifying a pattern is very complicated. Diamond? 4-3-3? 4-4-2 asymmetrical? This uncertainty is an advantage: France can develop in several systems. It is a luxury also built by his trainer. He wants a defensive structure which then allows individual talents to express themselves offensively, and French players have such qualities. This team doesn’t have tactical benchmarks simply because they don’t need to have recovery structures or anything like that. Deschamps doesn’t care about control: he wants to win. It’s not pretty to look at, but it’s effective. This empowerment means that the players are at the service of a system and not the other way around.”
2. “Read the situations”
“This tactical unpredictability necessarily complicates the pre-match for Tedesco: what can we base ourselves on to prepare for this match? Belgium is not Spain, it cannot be said that it will play its game no matter what. It happens .with a diamond or a triangle, the pressure varies completely Mbappé – Thuram? With a true three-way defense or by asking Onana to come down to nullify this numerical tie? How to stop Griezmann from moving between the lines? Why not also go for a diamond, even if it means keeping Doku in the role of super joker? There is no shortage of hot spots.“
3. “Let France play the game”
“There is a key element in the approach to this match: the French have to qualify; we can qualify. We are in the position of underdog and speeches by certain degrading French consultants are not very smart. Returning to the pitch, Tedesco was candid after the game against Ukraine by admitting his surprise at being faced with a 5-man defence. But he weakened: he cannot have expected it. We now need to get rid of the management of this game and given the context, why not let France play the game without giving them any leeway? The pressure in the first two games was interesting, but it requires complicated accuracy to maintain over time, it would be too dangerous to open up such spaces that you cannot afford against France.”
