While on the show this morning, French football writer Philippe Auclair said that the French public are happy with the results en route to the World Cup final but the football fans aren’t necessarily overjoyed by it.
What that’s relating to, is the way in which France have been winning. It seems to be that the French fans are more worried that these kinds of performances aren’t enjoyable for the fans or won’t actually win the tournament for them even though it’s brought them this far.
"I cannot remember being as un-thrilled as I am now."
Philippe Auclair thinks this 2018 #FRA team hasn't realised its potential as Deschamps' taken a pragmatic approach to the tournament.https://t.co/SGvxL0tLEj
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) July 11, 2018
Auclair isn’t a massive fan of Deschamps old-school Italian style of play. After watching Giroud hanging back in the French box defending, as opposed to pushing forward scoring goals for France, you can see what he means. While he found the defensive play impressive he feels that the team has much more potential that has yet to be seen.
Listen to the full conversation here:
One aspect that frustrates him is that when comparing the current team to former French teams that won major titles. The beautiful style of play is missing. He compares the style to that of the France of 2000. Auclair considers that team the best team that France has ever had both in terms of performance and entertainment.
Not to say that Deschamps hasn’t been successful. Auclair is full of praise for the defense which, while it may not lead to the most entertaining style of football, does mean that Deschamps is becoming successful. Even when talking about Griezmann who has had an underwhelming tournament, in comparison to what was expected of him, he appears to be playing good defensive football.
By Hugh Farrell
