France are on their second longest winless streak in a major
tournament but they’ve got to change that if they’re to justify the support
that so many – this page included – have given them for Euro 2012 against co-
hosts Ukraine today, in a game that’s likely to provide plenty of fun and
entertainment for the neutrals.
Blanc opted for a 4-3-3 formation on Monday but it played
well into England’s hands with Karim Benzema taken out of the game by the heavy
man marking tactics of Lescott and Terry, often leaving the excellent Nasri (seen scoring) and
Ribery with nothing to target in face of their marauding runs from deep, while
the roaming Lille left back Matieu Debuchy seems to be denied of a proper target
man for his excellent crosses in the system. There was also the issue of the stifling temperatures
that the second half was played in – temperatures were topping 37 degrees at
one point – and the long length of the grass at the Donbass Arena was one of
the more specific reasons given for the lack of threat in the second half, but
there was an acceptance of a point from Blanc and his men on Monday (possibly
evidenced by the time it took for him to bring on Hatem Ben Arfa) and I’d be
very surprised to see them in that mindset today. For one, the return of highly
rated Midfilder Yann M’Villa from an ankle strain is likely to concede with the
return to a 4-2-3-1 formation, which should see Karim Benzemema played more as
a target man with Ribery and Nasri providing danger with Debuchy and Evra
overlapping. We all know that France are good enough to work their own opening
but one would have to be more hopeful about them getting spaces in behind to
run into given how forceful Ukraine’s back four were in their opening game to
get the ball forward, and with a chance to go straight through to the quarter finals,
they’re sure to go forward again in search of a win just like Poland did in
their second game against Russia.
Co – Hosts Ukraine can seal their place in the quarter
finals with a win over the French and spirits will be incredibly high for Oleg
Bolkhin’s side after their 2-1 win over Sweden on Monday night with Andriy
Shevcehnko providing both goals in a fairytale comeback from 1-0 down. All
credit must be given towards the co – hosts for fighting back when at times it
had looked as if they were going to concede a second and third, but it’s likely
that things will be harder for them here against Group favourites and tournament
tips France, who themselves should be encouraged, if not satisfied with their
1-1 opening draw with England. The end result was probably just about a fair
one between the two sides although France had 21 shots on target to England’s 5
and controlled 65% of the ball throughought the match, while passing the ball
more than twice the number of times of their opponents – 634 to 307. Despite
this, they lacked any real threat apart from the 5 minute period during which
they responded to England’s opener, although there’s good reason to think that
they may be a different animal this time round.
Blanc opted for a 4-3-3 formation on Monday but it played
well into England’s hands with Karim Benzema taken out of the game by the heavy
man marking tactics of Lescott and Terry, often leaving the excellent Nasri (seen scoring) and
Ribery with nothing to target in face of their marauding runs from deep, while
the roaming Lille left back Matieu Debuchy seems to be denied of a proper target
man for his excellent crosses in the system. There was also the issue of the stifling temperatures
that the second half was played in – temperatures were topping 37 degrees at
one point – and the long length of the grass at the Donbass Arena was one of
the more specific reasons given for the lack of threat in the second half, but
there was an acceptance of a point from Blanc and his men on Monday (possibly
evidenced by the time it took for him to bring on Hatem Ben Arfa) and I’d be
very surprised to see them in that mindset today. For one, the return of highly
rated Midfilder Yann M’Villa from an ankle strain is likely to concede with the
return to a 4-2-3-1 formation, which should see Karim Benzemema played more as
a target man with Ribery and Nasri providing danger with Debuchy and Evra
overlapping. We all know that France are good enough to work their own opening
but one would have to be more hopeful about them getting spaces in behind to
run into given how forceful Ukraine’s back four were in their opening game to
get the ball forward, and with a chance to go straight through to the quarter finals,
they’re sure to go forward again in search of a win just like Poland did in
their second game against Russia.
And with Philippe Mexès and Adil Rami being given a lot of
problems against England by the movement of Young and Wellbeck whenever they
had the ball, it would be foolish to think that the hosts – who are surely
going to be proactive from the get go – couldn’t use the movement of Andriy
Yarmolenko and Andriy Voronin to create some serious problems, especially with
the aforementioned two noted for struggling aerially. Add to that the
weaknesses of French fullbacks Patrice Evra (himself at fault for the goal
against England) and Matieu Debuchy going back upon themselves, and you have a
recipe for blotted scoresheets on both sides. We’ve got more than enough in the
France basket to leave 11/10 alone (it’s too short a price anyway) but France
to win with Ukraine scoring is 7/2 with Coral, and that looks to be a good
source of value, while the France 2-1 win is a mouthwatering 9/1 with Stan
James.
Advice
1 pt Both teams to score and France to win (7/2 Coral)
1 pt 2-1 France (9/1 general)
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