Equipe de France, or the French National Team as in English, is one of the most exciting teams to view in Russia 2018 due to the luxury of exceptional talents in their ranks.

Russia 2018 seems to be different than the other world cups. There isn’t one sure shot predicted winner like the previous world cups due to the fact every team seems well prepared for the World Cup, even England! Germany are well drilled and ranked Number 1, Spain under Lopetgui breathes a fresh air, Brazil won’t have another embarrassment of a loss like in 2014 for sure; England and Belgium have a good 3 man defense playing possession based football. France really need to be well prepped to tackle the other contenders.

Didier Deschamps is the manager of the French NT since 2012 and has done reasonably well by reaching Quarters in World Cup’14 and finals in Euros16. Deschamps hasn’t had one specific identity when his teams have played, one can say a very pragmatic approach. Though he has resolved the major France traditional issues which included indiscipline, disparity issues etc and has excelled at keeping the team harmony intact with his players coming from all kinds of diversity.

Let’s see how will and how should France be lining up in the summer:

GoalKeeper:

No Question here. France captain, Hugo Lloris is unarguably the starter for Les Bleus in Russia. Lloris may not have had his best season after making some high-profile errors for Spurs and even France, notably aiding Sweden to cause France’s only loss in the qualifying but he is still expected to perform in the World Cup. Deschamps has defended him publicly and supports him well. Areola and Mandada are still very capable backups, watch out for the former to make a mark in the future.

Center Backs:

France tend to use a traditional 4 man defense. Despite the latest trend of 3 man defense all over the world; it has never been tried by Deschamps who is much more of a simple thinking man. In the centre defense, it will be powered by Barcelona’s Samuel Umtiti and Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane. The Spanish supergiant clubs have invested heavily in these two youngsters and are currently the pillars in their respective clubs’ defenses as well. They have worked really well together, building play very smoothly from the back. Adding fire to their bellies, both have revenges to take. Varane was blamed for the Hummels winner vs Germany in World Cup 2014 quarters while Umtiti resisted pressing Eder for the goal in Euros 2016 final. Adel Rami, who replaces an injured Koscielny is an experienced player as a cover while Presnel Kimpembe may not start in this world cup but will be the one look at in the future.

Full Backs:

Here is where it gets tough for Deschamps. This is also the major weak spot for Deschamps. Djibril Sidibe has been starting for France over the last year and hasn’t impressed much, especially defensively. Benjamin Pavard, one of the best defenders in the Bundesliga last season may not make it in his favoured centre back role but has been impressive in the two friendlies before the opening match, directly contributing to two goals. Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin Mendy are the two left backs in the squad. Mendy was the favourite but after an injury ridden season, the Atletico Madrid may just nudge over him and take that spot. Both have impressed equally in the practice matches; Hernandez giving better defensive cover though.

Midfield:

N’golo Kante has had no dip in form whatsoever, neither in national performances nor during his club performances; ending as Chelsea’s best player of the year. Expect him to play all the minutes in France’s summer; irritating all of those players who like to get between the lines.

Things get interesting here. Pogba is also pretty much a confirmed starter; though a few fans have wanted him out after his poor performances in 2018. Pogba should start though, as in the last friendly has kept a lot of the things simple with flashes of brilliance. Criticism has come from every other pundit for The Joker but Deschamps has been an excellent support, defending him publicly.

Depending on the opposition, Deschamps will play a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-3. The former for easier oppositions where one can afford to have less players in the middle while attacking through the speed in the wings. 4-3-3 will be used in the tough games where midfield balance is required(such as the 2-2 draw vs Germany in November 2017); such as the game against Denmark in order to nullify the threat of Eriksen. The third midfielder would be either the unsung midfield hero Matuidi or Bayern Munich’s Corentin Tolisso; both having their pros and cons. Tolisso provides more of a technical option and will help in keeping possession while Matuidi is more box to box and can provide solidity in midfield. I expect Tolisso to start to give support to Pogba and he could have a stellar world cup if given the opportunity.

Nzonzi and Lemar are two other viable options. Lemar has impressed earlier for Les Bleus but a poor run of form for Monaco may not grant him a starting place; though could be brought on as an attacking option to get creativity from mdifield Nzonzi has had a stellar season from Sevilla and provides a new dimension as deep lying playmaker if required.

Forwards:

The best player in Euros 2016, will again be the keyman for 1998 world cup winner this world cup too. Antoine Griezmann is the linchpin in whatever formation France is playing. In a 4-4-2, he will be playing just behind Olivier Giroud, who he has had a telepathic connection with and also will be creating chances for the wingers. Griezmann’s strength is his agility and his one twos which works perfectly with Giroud, Mbappe and Dembele. A 4-3-3 will allow Griezmann to be the sole striker, freeing up space for the wingers to come in.

Coming to Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, France are overpowered with speed on wings with these two young talents. With Mbappe and Dembele on the wings, they will look to move the ball quickly on the break and counter attack effectively. Mbappe is just a teenager but the whole of France have lots of hopes in him. He has done well handling the fame very maturely at such a young age.

Florent Thauvin and Nabil Fekir were gifted world cup squad spots after a fantastic season at Marseille and Lyon respectively over Premier League stars Anthony Martial and Alexandre Lacazette. They are highly capable backups completing a star-studded France squad.

Deschamps has a lot of decisions to make and has been struggling a lot with it as he is still not decided on his best first 11. France is tactically flexible due to this wealth of quality and DD needs to decide it correctly in order to get hands on the coveted trophy.