French national team manager Didier Deschamps is not one to shy away from being creative with his team.
For one, Deschamps has recently been experimenting with a new tactical system for France. Last year, he began to line up his side up in a three-at-the-back system, which has been carried over to as recently as last month. Deschamps used this system in France’s pair of UEFA Nations League wins against Sweden and Croatia. In the 1-0 win against Sweden, Deschamps had Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe upfront with Olivier Giroud alongside him and Antoine Griezmann behind the two as the main central attacking midfielder.
This formation change is one that Deschamps is now much preferring. In a press conference (via Le Parisien) ahead of France’s international friendly fixture against Ukraine, Deschamps further explained the advantages of this new setup and the benefits that it will have for players like Mbappe.
“It is not to be more solid behind,” Deschamps said. “I try to put the offensive players in the best possible conditions. Whether for Antoine [Griezmann] or Kylian [Mbappe], the attacking triangle looks good on both of them. The three-defender system has its advantages and disadvantages. But it made it possible to bring danger offensively.”
In the fixture against Sweden, France lacked the revered offensive attack that opponents are accustomed to seeing from them. Still, Deschamps is slated to continue to use this formation throughout the Nations League group stage. And for one, it will be interesting to see how Mbappe performs in this relatively new system against Portugal next week.
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