Ivory Coast:-

“Les Éléphants” are hoping they can finally break their curse at this WC and at least qualify from the group stage!

First things first, the main issue for the Ivorians is their ageing team. Their most-likely squad average an eye-catching age of 30 years, representing their biggest hurdle in a tournament of extreme intensity and high tempo. How their senior players handle the pressure, and most of them should! (thanks to their top-level football experience), will be one of the main factors in deciding how far they can go in this competition.

The apparent lack of chemistry at the back has not helped Coach Sabri Lamouchi build a stable system from which they can launch attacks. Toure’s lack of pace and ever-recurring lapses of being caught out of position cause a good amount of damage to their defense. In Serge Aurier, Ivory Coast have one of the most talented RBs plying his trade in Europe at the moment; but his inexperience does not bode well given the fact that he is surrounded by even less reliable defenders.

Their defensive outlay is without question coach Lamouchi’s biggest worry; because a team with an average of 1.20 goals per game (over the last 25 games) can NEVER glide through a huge tournament like the WC. Time and again the Ivorians have fallen at the last hurdle at many tournaments due to their tendency to implode at the back and commit grave errors.

Further forward, a more serene picture can be formed about the rest of their set-up. Their midfield AND attack boasts some great players who ALL have what it takes to deliver on the biggest of stages. In fact, among all the 32 teams that qualified, only Bosnia (3.0), England (3.1), Ghana (3.125), the Netherlands (3.4) and Germany (3.6) have a better goals-scored-per-game ratio during qualifiers than the Ivorians’ 2.375.

Coach Lamouchi emphasizes a rigid counter-attacking style of football which best complements most of his players’ attacking attributes and he allows a good degree of free play in midfield; so as to offer his midfielders wider dimensions when they have possession and push forward.

Much of Ivory Coast’s play will be situated in the wider areas of the pitch and their midfielders’ dynamic positional play allows their wingers to roam freely on the flanks and embark on dazzling runs in between the opposition’s tactical lines. Their target man will be waiting for all sorts of crosses and aerial play; while their wide men have the panache to dribble their way into the box and fire a shot or two on target.

A lot of focus will be placed on set-pieces of course; for Ivory Coast have a wide array of extremely powerful players who excel in dead-ball situations and can easily put the ball in the back of the net every time a cross is delivered to them.


Main men: Yaya Touré and Gervais Yao Kouassi (Gervinho): Touré is an exceptionally talented player whose strength, dynamism and incredible box-to-box runs will have a huge impact on the way Ivory Coast play. Gervinho’s excellent performances this last season (take a bow Mr. Rudi Garcia!) has everyone back home hoping that he will be THE star of the team who can guide their side to glory with his amazing dribbling skills, sheer pace and wonderful technique on the ball.

Odds (average from top 24 betting firms): 141.875

Food for thought: Italy's approach:-

In defense, coach Prandelli’s biggest concern is picking a solid formation for their defensive set-up; mainly because, after the physical tests which involved 42 players, only one true LB, namely Pasqual, made it to the preliminary 30-man squad list.

Now, Pasqual HAS indeed proven his worth over the course of the last 2 seasons (especially this previous one); but he is over 32 years old and not quite the pacey, quick-on-his-feet kind of SB coach Prandelli would opt to feature given his approach to attacking football.

Alternatively, De Sciglio could be switched from his usual RB position to an LB role, which is not a catastrophe per say; but it will be a liability and a constant worry for Italy as a whole. De Sciglio must, during the pre-WC camps and training sessions, prove to coach Prandelli that he has what it takes to perform at a 100% level at the coveted LB position during the entire WC campaign.

Otherwise, it would be wise enough for Italy to set up a 3-man-defense system with the exact same lay-out and defender selections that Juventus field almost every game (namely the trio of Bonucci, Chiellini and Barzagli). The only issue for Italy, if they pick such a formation, would be the fact that they need to mold their wide players into proper wing-backs in time for the start of their first matches.

The WB position is one of the most difficult roles to execute; mainly because an extremely high level of commitment and discipline is required from such players and they would have to be on high alert all the time during the match. They need to track back the same distance (if not double) that they go forward and either narrow down or widen up certain areas of the pitch according to the flow of the game.


In midfield, there do not seem to be many problems in regards to tactical strategies or even player selections. All choices are more than capable of filling their roles to a perfect extent and have an adequate amount of experience at major international competitions to deal with the pressures of the WC.


At the forefront of attack is where more issues arise. Balotelli’s implosive nature and lack of patience when not having the ball prove to be his undoing time and time again; therefore, utmost discipline and commitment will be crucial requirements if he is to impose himself in matches and provide Italy with the goals they need.

Whether Prandelli chooses a 3-man attacking line-up supported by 3 (or 4) midfielders or simply goes for a 2-man attacking lay-out playing in front of 5 (or 4) midfield players remains to be seen. The decision will depend mostly on the form and fitness of Giussepe Rossi; for if he proves to be 100% ready and firing then coach Prandelli might be tempted to deploy him as a support-striker playing behind Balotelli.

The safer choice, of course, is to go with the traditional 2-wingers/SMs-supporting-a-striker system. Italy have huge talent either sides of the pitch and it would be a shame for their wide players NOT to feature from the start and dazzle the world with their amazing technique and abilities (especially given their great performances this last season). They all have extreme pace (something for which Italian players are not generally known) and possess dribbling skills that are bound to make opposition defenders’ lives miserable every time Italy go forward!

Italy:-

“Gli Azzurri” enter this WC campaign in a much better shape and form than 4 years ago; however, a lot has to be sorted out before they can even dream of WC glory!

Starting from the back, coach Prandelli and his staff have a huge dilemma in defense. Their lack of a true LB who has the proper attacking qualities that compliment coach Prandelli’s football philosophy might lead to a 3-man-defense line-up very similar (in tactics and even actual player selections) to that of Juventus.

It is within the midfield where Italy will look to launch their attacks. It is no secret just how important Andrea Pirlo is to Juventus’ offensive tactics and it is almost the same story when it comes to Italy’s attacking strategy. Players around Pirlo look to retain possession and then pass it back to the legendary 2006 WC winner, who will then disperse it either out wide or further forward with such perfection and precision, that it might sometimes seem as if he is playing all by himself on a practice field.

Italy’s offensive strategy is based on a number of different approaches. For starters, their wide players (should they deploy them) might try and run the channels to eventually feed their target man at every chance they get. That is NOT to say that the midfielders will be constantly passing the ball to the wingers/SMs, who will in turn run down the flank and just cross the ball. That’s not how coach Prandelli implements attacking football!

His approach is much more pragmatic and, to an extent, rather aesthetically attractive when compared to Italy’s previous teams and their respective approaches to attacking strategies. Coach Prandelli sets up his Italy side in such a way that they play with the ball at their feet more than is expected of them.

Now, that COULD mean that the midfield players will hold up play for their wide men and/or striker(s) and then play them in via accurate through balls. It could, however, also mean that the midfielders will simply go forward themselves and either try to penetrate opposition defenders vertically or just unleash a deadly shot from distance.

A huge dependence is also placed on set-pieces and dead-ball situations. Italy have great physical players who can put the ball in the back of the next via aerial balls and they have even better players who can deliver said aerial play.

They are dangerous on the counter-attack as well and are not shy of exerting extreme pressure, when needed, to force the opposition back into their own half and attempt to smother them with swathes of attacking play.

Coach Prandelli has a tendency to constantly tinker with his formations and tactics in CONSIDERABLE amounts DURING the actual tournaments in which Italy play. It is a sign of uncertainty and if Italy are to achieve WC glory this year, then stability will be the first and foremost requirement.


Main men: Andrea Pirlo and Mario Balotelli: Pirlo’s unbelievable vision, huge experience, extreme tactical awareness and even free-kick abilities are the foundations upon which Italy’s team is built. Balotelli’s physical presence, brilliant technique and great positional play will be coach Prandelli’s main asset in attack. If both Pirlo and Balotelli combine together perfectly, along with Italy’s dynamic attacking approach, Gli Azzurri might just live-up to their reputation as 4 times WC champions.

Odds (average from top 24 betting firms): 24.25

Iran:-

“Shirane Iran” fly to their WC camp in Guarulhos with high ambitions and the hopes for success of more than 75 million people riding on their shoulders!

Throughout the AFC WC qualifying campaign, Iran have had the best defense and their goals-scored-to-game ratio (1.875 from 16 games) was only bettered by Japan (2.143 from 14 games). Moreover, Iran’s 0.4375 goals-conceded-to-game (GCG) ratio is only third to England’s and Belgium’s 0.4 among all the teams that qualified (top spot goes to Spain’s 0.3); even though Iran (16 total) played more qualifiers (Spain: 8, England/Belgium: 10).

Now it’s true that the UEFA, CONMEBOL, CAF, and (maybe) even the CONCACAF WC qualifiers are (much) more competitive than the AFC ones; yet their GCG is still a very positive note for Coach Carlos Queiroz’s team heading into the WC.

The whole age issue is a recurring theme among the entire Iranian squad and, while experience is very vital at such international tournaments, the pace and tempo of modern day football is something which coach Queiroz must address in their training drills and tactical lay-out when dealing with their senior players. Their CB-choices’ average age is a staggering 31.25; which might be an issue when facing their group-stage opponents (Argentina, Bosnia and Nigeria) who all have extremely fast attacking players!

Tactics-wise, Iran clearly build their play around a solid back-bone of a defense and they have extremely talented players up front who are very, very comfortable with the ball at their feet and possess a good bit of sheer pace and strength going forward (a fact highlighted by the considerable amount of fouls they receive during matches [16.57 fouls/game from official stats]).

When Iran do have the ball, they like to slowly build their play from the back and most of their attacking players tend to go on mesmerizing runs down either sides of the field, sometimes even forcing their way into the opposition’s box right through the middle of the park. Unleashing lethal shots from distance is another aspect which might worry opposition defenders and goalkeepers when facing Iran.

In terms of running the channels and delivering the ball to their target-man, Iran’s main striker, namely Ghoochannejhad, is a proper prospect in front of goal; but he has not been very prolific over the course of this last season (3 goals/ca. 16 games) and coach Queiroz will certainly be hoping that he will get more out of him during the actual WC campaign.

It is worth mentioning that Iran’s initial squad boasts some very talented young players (the likes of Sardar Azmoun, Jahanbakhsh, Bakhtiar Rahmani & even Karim Ansarifard). So should coach Queiroz name some of them (or all) on the final 23-man squad heading to Brazil, he might be tempted to bring them onto the big stage (as impact substitutes) if, and when, their senior colleagues find it difficult to impose themselves during their games.


Main men (tough call!): Javad Nekounam and Ashkan Dejagah: Nekounam’s wealth of experience, incredible knack for scoring goals (for a midfielder) and amazing technical abilities are of huge importance for Iran. Dejagah’s immense talent, unbelievable pace, amazing technique and explosive nature going forward will be Iran’s most powerful weapon on the flanks; a real jewel who would help them produce some fruitful results!

Odds (average from top 24 betting firms): 1515

Honduras:-

“Los Catrachos” travel to Brazil for their third WC tournament, with not many expecting much from them!

Problem number 1 for Honduras is their lack of a true and trusted CB to partner Bernárdez at the back. Coach Luis Fernando Suárez will be looking to invert Maynor Figueroa from his traditional LB role to an established CB. Figueroa’s experience in the EPL with Hull Ciy will surely aid his transition into the center; but a significant amount of discipline and commitment will be crucial in Honduras conceding as few goals as possible.

Lining up in front of the defense will be a wide array of midfield players for Honduras. Their best bet going forward will be to utilize each of their midfielders’ individual talents and strong points to accommodate each other’s positional play and the way they dictate the game when they have the ball at their feet.

It is no secret that coach Suárez favors a very aggressive style of football and constantly orders his players to exert pressure in all areas of the pitch. With the team spending much of the game executing a high-press style of play, much will be asked of Honduras’ central and defensive midfielders in terms of how they coordinate the play from the central areas of the pitch.

Honduras have a deficiency when it comes to wide players which will probably see one or more central midfielders being pushed to one side of the pitch to accommodate the spaces on the flanks so as to deliver the ball from those positions to their target men.

The only problem with such a strategy is the fact that their midfield will be pretty much vacant when they attempt to go forward. Which, again, points out that a huge responsibility will be placed on the defensive and central midfielders’ shoulders, if Honduras are to come out of the WC campaign with a result or two.

A good sign for them in attack is the physicality that their strikers possess; which might prove advantageous in set-pieces and long balls forward (especially against less physical sides). While it’s not pretty common to play with 2 strikers these days, it could be somewhat productive to have both their strikers feeding each other if they can form some sort of profound chemistry prior to, and during, the WC.

Hondruas aren’t going to Brazil to wow the world; but that does not mean that they will not try and upset their opponents whenever the chance presents itself.


Main men: Wilson Palacios and Róger Espinoza: Palacios’ experience, versatility and quick vision coupled with Espinoza’s combative style and aggressiveness will dictate how Honduras play and their performances will reflect on the team’s performance as a whole.


Odds (average from top 24 betting firms): 2146 (lowest among all 32 teams participating)

Greece:-

“Piratiko” have been a work in the making over the last 4 years almost and they hope to provide their people the joy they have been missing!

In defense, coach Santos has established a properly functioning line-up and the players seem to come together wonderfully when they play. Individually speaking, Sokratis has enjoyed a breakthrough season at Borussia Dortmund and while he has shown that he can be error-prone, he is a very important player for coach Santos. His most-likely partner in CB, namely Manolas, has certainly shown flashes of brilliance but his inexperience at major international competitions might be his undoing.

Coach Santos prides himself on playing a very organized and structured form of football and his defensive strategy is the most important aspect within his formation. Either side of his CBs, he has very talented and experienced SBs in the form of Torosidis and Holebas; which is why Greece will prove to be a very stubborn opposition to most teams they’ll face.

Another positive element of Greece’s set-up is their midfield. Their most-probable midfield-trio all have a great amount of experience under their belts and have proven, domestically and internationally, that they are more than capable of handling the big pressures of a huge tournament like the WC.

Their midfield players will have a big say in how Greece compose themselves going forward; as Greece’s tend to play long balls forward and disperse play out wide starts mainly from those 3 midfielders. In between each other, coach Santos will look to allow them to play freely and position themselves according to the tempo and flow of the match at hand.

Further forward, Salpingidis and Samaras have enough experience and wherewithal to challenge opposition defenders and cause them all sorts of problems out wide; however, their lack of pace might be a problem whenever Greece would want to counter-attack.

The true nature of Greece’s problems in attack lies within their main striker options. Mitroglou has clearly shown that he can be a very, very deadly striker; but the timing of his 4-moth lay-off due to injury did not aid him in slowly integrating himself into top-level matches at Fulham.

Whether he can be 100% fit and in-form for the start of the WC campaign remains to be seen and coach Santos might opt to deploy Salpingidis at the spearhead of attack with the exceptional Panagiotis Kone featuring on the right side instead of him.

From a tactical point of view, as mentioned above, Greece rely on deep defending, playing long balls and launching quick counter-attacks. They also rely heavily on shots from distance and certainly have players who can score from odd yards out!

Main men: The Konstantinos pair (Katsouranis and Mitroglou): Katsouranis’ commanding role in midfield, alongside his vision and technique will be Greece’s special weapon going forward. Mitroglou is a lean, mean goal-scoring machine, whose tactical awareness and ability to “be in the right place at the right time”, every time, might help Greece produce good results this year!

Odds (average from top 24 betting firms): 285.65217

Ghana:-

The “Black Stars” just get better and better at every WC tournament they attend! Seeing how close they came last time around to achieving something great, a good portion of hopes for African WC glory rides on their shoulders.

Head coach Akwasi Appiah’s first worries lie on the left side of his defense. Schlupp’s lack of top-level experience and the fact that Ghana do not have another established left-back defender will probably see either Inkoom switched to LB or Harrison Afful pushed back into defense from his usual SM role.

Another issue for Ghana has been coach Appiah’s constant hesitance in picking a solid second CB to feature alongside John Boye. Both Akaminko and Mensah have proven their worth at the back and it remains to be seen whether coach Appiah will decide to go with Akaminko’s experience over Mensah’s youth.

Further forward, things start to look bright for Ghana; as they have an IMMENSE abundance of great attacking and midfield options! Most likely coach Appiah will stick to an (attacking) 4-3-3/4-4-2 set-up that has served him so well for the majority of his current tenure.

In midfield, a 2-man pivot will provide Ghana the solid back-bone when attacking and the proper cover when defending. Essien should feature as the main DM; however, his lack of pace and dynamism might prove costly during high-intensity games (think Germany and Portugal for starters). In such cases, Emmanuel Badu’s youth, higher tactical awareness and all-rounded positional play (coupled with Muntari’s own brilliance in midfield) would offer a slightly better choice for Ghana in the center of the pitch.

Ghana’s absolute main strength is provided by their wide players. They have extremely fast wingers and side-midfielders who all possess amazing dribbling skills, incredible technique and a very, very powerful shot.

Playing either side of the flanks will be the title of Ghana’s attacking strategy; they will harass midfielders and defenders in those areas of the pitch all game long and will look to expose every tiny inch of space to either penetrate the opposition defense from out-wide and launch an unstoppable shot or to simply run the channels and provide their target men with acute crosses time and time again.

Accommodating Kevin-Prince Boateng within the team’s set-up will be a tough task for coach Appiah; as he has worked really hard over the course of the last 2 years to achieve a proper, devastating attacking lay-out WITHOUT the inclusion of Boateng. Should Boateng start, it would lead to the exclusion of either Atsu or André Ayew, which is a shame in itself; because having both of those players on the pitch simultaneously takes Ghana’s football to a whole new dimension.

The degree to which Ghana accomplish such a task and offer alternative options if, and when, Boateng goes missing will dictate how far they go into this WC competition.


Main man: Asamoah Gyan: All eyes will be on this man whenever Ghana play. Incredible technique, wonderful agility, sharp goal-scoring abilities and a commanding presence sum up what Gyan is all about. He was utterly mesmerizing in South Africa 4 years ago and he will need to step-up big time in this WC campaign in order for Ghana to better their previous WC record.

Odds (average from top 24 betting firms): 215.13043

Food for thought: Germany's attack:-

To play a false-nine is a gamble on its own; however, to play an attacking MIDFIELDER as a false-nine is an even bigger gamble! So for Germany to go with such a complex plan (check out the tactical lay-out picture from previous post!) and deploy one of their attacking midfield players as a false-nine striker, then a HUGE amount of commitment is required from every single player around that striker and also from the striker himself (starting with the DMs and up to the wide players).

Also, an important aspect of playing as a false-nine is to drop deep into one’s own half and “come for the ball” to launch an attack all the way from the back; allowing the wide players and attacking midfielders to open-up play in the final third.

When choosing a midfielder as a striker, what matters the most are the numbers! Here are some quick, unsurprising, stats regarding Germany’s attacking midfield players’ goals-per-game ratios (GPG) [approximated] concerning this last season with their respective clubs (not including CLUB friendlies) and any games they played with the national team in 2013 and 2014:-


Lucas Podolski: 0.729 (/19 games)

Thomas Müller: 0.630 (/51 games)

Marco Reus: 0.609 (/46 games)

Mario Götze: 0.553 (/38 games)

André Schürrle: 0.462 (/28 games)

Mesut Özil: 0.296 (/51 games)


Clearly the perfect choice for a false-nine would be either Müller, Reus or even Götze; Podolski being omitted here due to the meagre amount of games he played this season. Özil certainly has the qualities required to play as a false-nine; however, his reluctance to take his chances in front of goal and instead opting to pass the ball to his team-mates (just ask Wenger!) makes it rather difficult to deploy him there.

Reus and Götze offer another dimension going forward and even provide that wow-factor with their dribbling skills and technique. Müller is more of a classical forward upon whom the team can always rely once the ball is delivered to him and therefore, he would be the “safer” choice.

It doesn’t really matter who ends up playing up-front, should Germany go for a false-nine strategy; as the responsibility will be huge and whoever would play there has to have a good command of what is going on around him and look to expose every single inch of space that the opposition defenders might leave.

Germany:-

Ach ja, the Germans (three of three…)! “Die Nationalmannschaft” have been THE most consistent team at major international competitions for, almost, more than a decade so far. Yet for all the talent and experience at their disposal, they haven’t tasted glory at the WC for 24 years now!

It’s quite a paradox to say that the stronger a team might appear, the more weaknesses it actually has; but Coach Joachim Löw has a good number of issues to resolve before Germany can finally celebrate winning the WC.

Germany’s defense seems to be very “leaky” and prone to goal-shedding moments. At the heart of it all, neither Hummels nor Boateng have been given enough time to form a good understanding with Mertesacker. With Hummels just recently returning to form (and Löw not trusting Boateng at CB much) , Mertesacker will probably carry the larger burden of coordinating the defense and enforcing his abilities on his CB-partner.

Having Khedira just returning from a very lengthy injury, Löw will probably deploy Lahm at DM, seeing as how he has been performing there excellently all season long (take a bow Mr. Guardiola!). Consequently, the RB position will be vacant, therein causing further headache for Löw; as they do not have an established and true RB other than Lahm himself.

Their tactics include total control within their midfield, with their wide players going on dynamic runs either side of the flanks. They will look to smother the opposition’s defensive areas with many attack-minded midfielders and exchange smooth passes between themselves. Positional play with backs to the goal is the name of the game for them and they do have the exact type of players who can execute such a strategy to perfection.

The pivot of two DMs, a CM and an OM supporting an inverted false-nine midfielder-turned-striker is the blueprint for Germany’s approach towards the opposition’s goal. They WILL exert pressure all the way towards the opposite final-third and they will look to allow the midfield to control almost all aspects of the game.

Whether Germany start with an out-and-out striker, or not, will dictate the way their wide players compose themselves on the channels and launch high (or low) crosses towards their target man, should they choose to deploy one. Nevertheless, they all possess incredible technique and dribbling skills, as well as a good amount of pace and even a lethal vision which helps them send incisive passes into the path of running midfielders.

Main man: Mesut Özil: Versatility, wonderful insight into the game, quick feet and sharp-shooting abilities. Özil has to put his so-so season with his club behind him and focus on performing at the highest of levels in Brazil. 4 years is a long time since Özil announced himself to the entire world and now is the perfect time for him to carve his name among the very best by guiding his team to glory.

Odds (average from top 24 betting firms): 6.59333

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