Food for thought: France going forward:-

Taking advantage of every set-piece and dead-ball offered to them will be a big part of how France expose oppositions’ off-moments. Both of their main strikers possess enough strength and power to position themselves in dangerous areas to score goals once they receive the ball.

However, it is rather quite clear that Deschamps has been unable to accommodate Benzema and Giroud playing together at the same time. It would be a surprise to see them both in attack simultaneously and rather counter-productive to France’s offensive strategy.

Whether or not France succeed in this WC will largely depend on how Benzema and/or Giroud compose themselves in front of goal and also how Deschamps sets them up in a way to maximize their attacking potential; because each striker has a different approach when going forward and, while they have a good number of similarities, there exists a stark difference between them in their positional play and the way they handle the ball at their feet.

Benzema is more of an out-and-out striker, a real “fox in the box” who always has one thing on his mind, namely to put the ball in the back of the net. Giroud, on the other hand, is a very technical striker, a “modern” type of forward player, who is used to playing all over the field and enjoys having possession, holding up play and even assisting his team-mates with scoring goals. Both, on the other hand, are extremely well in the air and have a great physicality about their play; something which might tempt Deschamps to deploy them against more physical opposition.

For a Benzema-Giroud partnership to bear fruit at the WC, they must complement each other’s attributes and attacking qualities. A task seemingly easier said than done and, in such a short period of time that a pre-WC camp offers, it will be quite difficult to meld those strikers together.

An important talking point is whether or not Franck Ribéry will be 100% fit (given his recent back injury) and in-form come the 12th of June 2014. He will play a fundamental role in France’s chances of going far in the competition and there is no better way for him to bounce-back from his, personal, Ballon D’Or “defeat” than to arrive at THE biggest footballing stage and produce some scintillating performances to carry his entire tean into the latter stages of the WC.

France:-

Oui, the French (two of three…)! “Les Bleus” have got all the ELEMENTS to go a long way into this WC; how they’ll do it is the question everyone is asking back in France.

Coach Didier Deschamps’ first task is to pick a formation with which he will stick through-out the entirety of the WC campaign. He has been constantly switching between different lay-outs many times; but he seems to be heading towards a 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation (the only difference is that the 2 wide players get pushed up-front).

At the back, a bold decision has to be made as to who France’s 2 main CBs will be. All 4 candidates are extremely talented at the back but they lack genuine experience at major international competitions and are also error-prone in high intensity games (think Koscielny at Arsenal and Sakho at Liverpool). Deschamps must make sure that, whoever ends up at the center of defense, they form a quick understanding and that they are covered from the front backwards in cases of high pressure.

France’s playing strategy emphasizes playing with the ball in mind more often than not. Their midfield diamond will be running the show and looking to push opposition players back into their own halves. They are very versatile and own an immense amount of strength and power going forward; which makes that area of the field their most dangerous one.

A big factor in their attacking lay-out will also be wing play; as their wide players are extremely fast and own a very good understanding of running the channels and delivering all sorts of crosses. In the case of Ribéry and Valbuena, they both possess world-class technique and vision when attacking, and tend to penetrate opposition defenses from either sides of the goal, constantly looking to catch defenders napping with a low cross or a shot; so it will be a huge task for most teams’ SBs to deal with them.

France’s aggressive style under Deschamps also emphasizes a reliance on shots from distance. Most of their attacking players have an amazing shot accuracy, speed and power. Consequently, opposition defenders will be trying to close them down every time they are on the ball close to the goal.

It is evident that France possess a wide range of choices going forward; but it’s still early-doors to confidently say how effective they’ll be.

Main men: Franck Ribéry and Yohan Cabaye: Ribéry’s usual dominance on the flanks, coupled with his dazzling speed and technique, will surely be France’s biggest asset going forward; Cabaye’s vision, tactical awareness and never-say-die spirit will offer France higher dimensions in their all-round play (sorry Samir Nasri)!

Odds (average from top 24 betting firms): 23.125