All of France’s optimism and fears were exposed in the space of 90 minutes Friday night, giving Didier Deschamps a reason to be hopeful while also offering the coach a degree of anxiety moving forward.
The Stade de France rose expecting a dynamic attacking display, and France certainly achieved that; Dimitri Payet all flicks and tricks with a quite magnificent strike to win the game; Paul Pogba and Blaise Matuidi having their moments with some incisive passing; N’Golo Kante at his formidable and forceful best, allowing the flair around him to flourish.
Chances were created and once Olivier Giroud found the net, the stage was set for a commanding victory in a group Les Bleus should win with some comfort. Except Romania came to play as well as frustrate and suffocate the style out of their hosts. And what they maybe lacked in finesse or style, they made up for in a relentless determination, knowing France’s Achilles heel lurks with what lies behind the limbs of Kante.
The Leicester star gave ample signs he is the man who owns the defensive midfield role but he can only cut out so much and Patrice Evra’s sly trip on Nicolae Stanciu to earn the Romanians a penalty was a snapshot of what the French are capable of, in a negative sense.
For the Romanians clearly targeted both full-back areas; the 35-year-old Evra and 33-year-old Bacary Sagna are rich in experience but poor on pace, especially when having to turn. Too often in the first half was Sagna on his heels.
While inside them the previously concerning presence of Adil Rami proved not quite as troublesome as the doom mongers envisaged, but at the same time neither he nor Laurent Koscielny looked assured presences to make you think: this is a tournament-winning defence, especially one so lacking in natural speed. But Deschamps knew this all before kick-off, the question is, should he look to change it or will it be an issue which irons itself out.
Rami and Koscielny after all have enjoyed little gametime alongside each other. The understanding will come, it’s just France don’t necessarily have the games to form the sort of partnership Deschamps had as a player, when performing in front of Laurent Blanc and Marcel Desailly or Blanc and Basile Boli. He will likely have to make do with what he has, with the benefit of a group they have plenty of room to breathe in, and as Friday night emphasised, an attacking edge that can, for now, paper over the cracks.
Payet was sensational; the key source of creativity, dribbling and passing his way through a rigid Romania backline others struggled to pick their way through. His goal the result of a 90 minute display bristling with joy and menace every time the ball was at his feet. Anthony Martial and Kingsley Coman were also introduced implying they aren’t here at this tournament to gain experience. Their time is now.
Giroud found the target but also delivered the kind of maddening performance which has made him almost the torchbearer for Arsenal’s acceptance of just not being quite good enough. At his best he can look an elegant bully, at his worst a cumbersome, clumsy forward who looks ill at ease in the abstract idea of an elite striker. Just three passes were completed in the first half while he had his chances before scoring. A direct France probably play to his strengths more than Arsenal do, but his weaknesses can only be sustained for so long, especially with that defence.
There was plenty of the good and bad to precede it; a storming ‘La Marseillaise’, Paul Pogba’s rooster shaved into his hair while David Guetta became the first musician in living memory to mime playing other people’s records, on not one, but four CDJs.
It was a time for celebration and to lay down a marker and while France didn’t quite achieve that, they did at least give notice of the entertainment they should provide for as long as they remain in the competition.
