Sweden, Colombia, USA. Add Luxembourg, and you have an unlikely bunch of national teams that France have failed to beat. Despite completing a victory against Australia and Peru, critics of Les Bleus still very much remain unanswered. While the occasional win against the likes of Italy and the Netherlands may paper over the cracks, France have still struggled more recently to find the right formula for success.

On a bright Saturday afternoon at the Kazan Arena, France will face Argentina, a side who struggled to get out of their group. France should win this encounter, as they don’t heavily rely on one singular player, but should they underperform, the performance will define the player’s careers, including the likes of Paul Pogba, whose recently has been receiving heavy criticism from the French media.

The manager

France manager Didier Deschamps

Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé, Paul Pogba, Samuel Umtiti, Raphael Varane, Antoine Griezmann. When speaking about balance in a World Cup team, France are undoubtedly one of the most balanced sides at this year’s World Cup. Unlike teams like Argentina and Portugal, there isn’t an over-reliance on a single player to score the goals, and they are very adaptable as a side. With the power and pace that they possess, they can either can a high-pressing system and hit teams on the counter, or play in a way that revolves around Olivier Giroud. Well, it’s the latter.

Didier Deschamps is not a bad manager. He’s won Ligue 1 with Olympique Marseille back in 2011, and has a World Cup’s winner medal back from 1998, so he knows how to win a World Cup. The issue here is not his credibility as a manager, but whether he can get the best out of this France squad. In Euro 2016, they made the finals, but the results usually papered over the cracks. France’s opening match against Romania was a tight 2–1 victory, with many questioning the style of play Deschamps has in mind. The same questions were raised again when France came from behind to beat the Republic of Ireland 2–1, with many such as Gary Lineker citing Paul Pogba as “one of the most overrated talents in the world”. This is a side that should inspire and should score goals at ease, but something is missing.

He made the wrong choices in a World Cup qualifier in Sweden in June 2017. He decided to start Blaise Matuidi, Moussa Sissoko and Payet instead of N’Golo Kante, Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe, who were all in better form and shape. Les Bleus lost the game and the manager lost a lot of credibility. Last September in Toulouse, France could not beat Luxembourg in another World Cup qualifier after Deschamps again got his selection wrong. His inability to respond when Les Bleus threw away a 2–0 lead at home against Colombia to lose 3–2 in a friendly in March was also concerning.

France need a manager that’s capable of getting the best out of his players, holds no grudges (Karim Benzema & Mathieu Valbuena) with the players, and not afraid to drop players when they underperform. Should France underachieve at this year’s World Cup finals, they should consider hiring the legendary French player Zinedine Zidane. Not only has Zidane has shown what he can do on the field, but he’s also shown his competence as a manager. At Real Madrid, arguably the toughest managerial job in the world, he won the UEFA Champions League 3 years in a row, and gained respect from every player in the squad.

Tactics

Euro 2016 finalists, finished top of their group for qualifying, and are on an unbeaten run. On paper, it seems like everything is going well for France, however, their performances still remain unconvincing. Didier Deschamps as the past few years as France manager is still not 100% about his starting lineup. While Olivier Giroud is a critical player to holding up the ball and creating space for others, this decision would mean leaving a star-studded player such as Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappé, or Ousmane Dembélé. During France’s match against Australia, France struggled to hold onto the ball in the final third and create any strong concrete chances. While Giroud will drag defenders towards him and create space, France struggled to break through a very well drilled Australia, lacking that “target man”. France didn’t start with Giroud, and as Deschamps said after the match, “Giroud’s absence just proved how much we need him”.

But, some may not say the issue is the striker’s role, but choosing how many players in play in midfield. While France did play 3 in midfield, their choices in the to play 2 has costed them. While playing 2 in midfield would allow someone like Griezmann to play just behind Giroud, this leaves the 2 central midfielders spending the game trying to cover space. During France’s friendly against Colombia in March, their inability to try to keep the ball in a 2 man midfield strongly suggests the struggles that France will have if they continue to play 2 in midfield.