UEFA EURO 2016: France team preview

As is so often the case with the host nation, France come into this tournament as the bookies’ favourites, and are fancied by many as the team to beat. The fact that France are hosting does hold some significance, after all the last time they hosted a major tournament they duly won it. Although whether the current squad quite matches up to that of 18 years ago is debatable.

Since the highs of both the World Cup in 98 and Euro 2000 French football has seen a bit of a lull. They did reach the World Cup final in 2006, although this achievement was overshadowed by the sending off of one of their greatest ever players (Zinedine Zidane). Aside from that – especially since France are considered one of the world’s power-houses when it comes to international football – their record in major tournaments over the last 10 years or so reads very bleakly if you’re a French football fan.

As we approach the Euros this time around though there seems to be renewed optimism surrounding Les Bleus. It would appear as though they have as good a squad as any country entering this tournament, on paper at least. Players such as Dmitry Payet, N’Golo Kante and Captain Hugo Lloris are coming off the back of impressive seasons domestically, while the likes of Paul Pogba and Antoine Greizmann are players who’ve cemented themselves among the most recognisable talents in European football over the last year or two.

EURO 2016 Squad

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Benoit Costil (Rennes)

Defenders: Samuel Umtiti (Lyon), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Eliaquim Mangala (Manchester City), Patrice Evra (Juventus), Bacary Sagna (Manchester City), Christophe Jallet (Lyon), Lucas Digne (Roma), Adil Rami (Sevilla)

Midfielders: Paul Pogba (Juventus), Blaise Matuidi (PSG), N’Golo Kante (Leicester), Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle), Morgan Schneiderlin (Manchester United)

Forwards: Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Dimitri Payet (West Ham), Anthony Martial (Manchester United), Kingsley Coman (Bayer Munich), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Andre-Pierre Gignac (Tigres)

Key Player: Antoine Griezmann

Just two years ago this might have been a different story, but no one can deny the fact that Griezmann’s stock has risen considerably over the past two seasons, and since featuring in the 2014 World Cup, the 25 year old has become an indispensable figure for both club and country. Not only has the forward already notched 7 goals in 26 appearances for France, but with 32 goals in 54 appearances in all competitions for Champions League runners-up Atletico Madrid this season, Griezmann established himself as one of Europe’s top marksmen.

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Although relatively small in stature the Frenchman has all the qualities of a top goal-scorer. And through a combination of pace, evasive movement, quick thinking and an array of finishing styles, he has tormented La Liga defences all season long and now looks set to star on the big stage for his country.

Qualifying: N/A

As the host nation France were automatically awarded their place in this competition, which means they haven’t played any competitive football over the past two seasons, although from what we’ve seen in “friendlies” they’ve looked good on the whole. Since failing to make their presence felt in the latter stages of the 2014 World Cup, France have played 19 matches, winning 13, drawing twice and losing the remaining four. In doing so they’ve scored 35 goals and have conceded 21.

Group Matches

France v Romania – 10 June, 2016

France v Albania – 15 June, 2016

Switzerland v France – 19 June, 2016

Click here for the full Euro 2016 match schedule. 

Verdict

Having been thrown in with Romania, Switzerland and Albania. France find themselves in one of the easier looking groups. If there is such a thing that is. On name alone they are of course the red-hot favourites and in all honesty if they don’t advance from this group then something will have gone drastically wrong.

From a betting point of view there are a couple of eye catchers in the hosts opening game against Romania. The prices for this one suggest that France should breeze past Romania, but this might not be the case.

Admittedly, in terms of quality in depth, France are the better side and this probably will be enough to secure them three points at the first time of asking, although it wouldn’t be surprising if they encountered a few complications along the way. Romania will certainly be considered as the underdogs (along with Albania) in this group, although this defensively astute team really shouldn’t be seen as the whipping boys. They are set up to counter attack sides such as France, and as proved in fairly recent games against both Italy and Ukraine they can carry out this tactic to good effect.

France may have a strong squad, although it does look somewhat top heavy. In other words, their real quality seems to be in the attacking third rather the defensive third. This isn’t to say that their defence looks overly poor, but they do seem to be lacking something from the very top bracket, while the absence of Raphael Varane certainly doesn’t help either. With this in mind the two bets that look very appealing, at odds of 6/4 and 2/1 respectively, are ‘Romania To Score’ and ‘Both Team To Score’. At the time of writing, France have conceded in seven of their last ten matches, while the fact that Romania have scored in six of their last ten matches also bodes well.

It is also worth pointing out that Romania’s counter attacking tactics are the driving force for this one. France are likely to dictate possession and press high up the field, with their quality they are likely to score themselves, but the Romanians shouldn’t be without opportunities of their own, especially if they can exploit the space left in behind.