Beating France is not just about stopping Kylian Mbappe
England need to be wary of all France's weapons
I am not optimistic about England vs France.
I feel Gareth Southgate’s side has done a lot to dispel the cynicism that surrounds the national team where we ‘expect disappointment so we’ll never be disappointed’, but there are still a handful of teams that strike fear into my heart.
One of those teams is Didier Deschamps’ French side.
Firstly let’s address the elephant wearing football boots in the room, Kylian Mbappe is kinda good at this football thing. You could go so far as to say that at this moment, he is the best player in the world.
He has five goals and two assists so far and has driven his team forward at every opportunity. Bar the first 45 minutes of the tournament, I think he’s been flawless.
So do England have any chance of stopping him?
Well, yes or at least limit his influence on the game. As I said before, England are a good side and though he is getting older, Kyle Walker still has the ability on his day to completely lock out the very best.
Mbappe may still get past him, but then it’s up to the rest of the team to stop him from scoring or laying it off for one of his teammates.
A lot of the talk has been on the 1-on-1 battle between the Frenchman and Walker, so if he scores we know where the blame will be laid, but football is a team sport. The City defender will be his first point of contact, but the midfielders, wingers and other defenders still need to play their part as well.
But while most of the media and fan chatter has been drawn to ‘What do we do about Mbappe?’, I hope that this isn’t how Southgate and his England players approach the game.
Focusing just on Mbappe is like entering an MMA Octogan and just worrying about the fighter’s right hook.
You might think it’s their most dangerous attack, but they can still kick you, knee you, strike you with their left elbow or grab you around the neck and wrestle you to the ground.
On the opposite wing for France is Ousmane Dembele, a player I think has been as influential as Mbappe even if his numbers don’t show it.
His ability to go inside and outside seamlessly will challenge Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire more than any other player they have faced so far. Deschamps will likely tell him to hold the width to spread England’s backline out and provide space for their other weapons.
One of those weapons is Oliver Giroud, now France’s all-time top goalscorer and a man who could find space at a Christmas Market on a busy Saturday afternoon.
He will look to find the gaps England leaves in trying to deal with France’s dynamic wingers and exploit them.
And this is just the forward line, I’ve not even mentioned Antoine Griezmann and Adrien Rabiot who have consistently been making third-man runs into the box and adding even more chaos into the mix.
But one player I think is going under the radar for this game is Theo Hernandez.
Hernandez didn’t begin this tournament as a starter (which is still baffling to me) but was thrust into the starting lineup when his brother Lucas suffered a tournament, and season, ending injury in the opening game.
The AC Milan left-back can be a devastating force going forward and often finds himself in good positions in the box. While Walker, and potentially Jordan Henderson if he drops back in support, are occupied with Mbappe, an underlapping run from the defender could completely cut through England’s back-line.
And to say he lines up as a defender, Hernandez has a wicked shot on him which will ask a lot of questions of Jordan Pickford.
England aren’t completely out of this game, they have a lot of weapons of their own that will equally cause problems for France, but I think this is the hardest challenge that the Three Lions have faced while Southgate has been at the helm.
Reports have been circling that Southgate will name an unchanged lineup for England’s game against France.
After a bit of thought, I agree that keeping the formation is the right idea. In the past, England have defaulted to a three-at-the-back formation in bigger games but as Grace Robertson noted on Twitter, that change would play into France’s hands:
The personnel however is something I would tweak. After talking to Carl Anka a bit, we both agreed that something akin to Jose Mourinho’s trivote (three defensive midfielders) would be the best approach.
France will be looking to create gaps to play into, so putting more players on the pitch to plug those holes would give England a lot more stability.
Yes, it would be at the cost of Jude Bellingham, who has been one of England’s best performers, for Kalvin Phillips, but Luke Shaw and Declan Rice can provide the ball progression needed when England regains possession and the likes of Buyako Saka, Phil Foden (though Marcus Rashford would also be a decent option) and Harry Kane add enough creativity and goal threat going forward.
Overall, I’m bricking it but I don’t feel completely hopeless.
This could be the end of England’s World Cup dream under Southgate, but it could also be the moment where it starts to feel real.
So at 7 pm, I’m going to be sitting there watching (probably with a beer i hand to calm the nerves), an uneasy feeling in my stomach but a hopeful feeling in my heart, cheering on England and hoping we can overcome France.