Euro 2012: England's X's and O's For Beating France

England kick off their Euro 2012 campaign against the hottest team in Europe right now. France are unbeaten in 21 games leading up to this competition and finished their pre-tournament preparations with a 4-0 thumping of Estonia.

Boasting key players such as the slippery Franck Ribery and the mercurial Karim Benzema, Les Bleus have English fans feeling largely pessimistic.

But Roy Hodgson has proven at least one thing during his warm-up wins against Norway and Belgium: His team is built to withstand heavy pressure. Whilst looking unconvincing in an attacking sense against the Norwegians and the Belgians, England never looked in danger of conceding a goal.

This article will explain how England can look to get the better of a strong French opposition.

Without further ado, here is how both teams will likely line up for the Group D opener.

We know by now that Hodgson utilises a loose 4-4-2, allowing Ashley Young a "free role" as a second striker in order to help out his central midfield duo.

The formation is built to absorb huge amounts of pressure and deliver counter-attacking blows to the opposition. This can be done one of two ways: quick release to Danny Welbeck or long-ball relief to Andy Carroll.

On the contrary, Blanc's French team are built to control the game and maintain huge chunks of possession. Patience, incisive movement and technical ability are key here.

What France Do

In many ways, Blanc's France reminds me of Roberto Mancini's 2011-12 Mancheser City team.

He utilises two pure holding midfielders to control the game and maintain a one-man advantage over any two-man opposition midfield. This allows huge possession advantage.

The holding midfield duo act as insurance, allowing the two full-backs to bomb forward and stretch the play. While this can result in overloads, it can also create the bottleneck the Citizens experienced against Queens Park Rangers on the final day of last season.

Mathieu Debuchy is particularly adept at bombing forward and can usually be found at the back post during France's attacks. His runs force France's right winger inwards, resulting in fluid interchanging of positions between Blanc's advanced midfield three of Jeremy Menez, Samir Nasri and Franck Ribery.

Karim Benzema, the focal point of France's attack represents a difficult customer. He is able to pull the defensive line in the directions he wants, and retains the explosive ability to spring an offside trap or burst through a gap.

How England Can Combat This

As discussed, England can absorb huge amounts of pressure.

It's an absolute certainty that France will maintain relative control of the game and have superior possession statistics.

Goals win games, though, and Hodgson certainly has the resolute personnel at his disposal to deal with the opposition's potent attack.

Here is an example of a scene early in England's game against Belgium. A quick release saw Welbeck through, and he stretched the play by pulling out to the touchline.

Young and James Milner were able to bomb forward into the box and occupy the defence, whilst Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain arrived late on the edge of the area with room to shoot.

This happened again later on, only for the chance to fall to Steven Gerrard instead.

These opportunities will be few and far between, so grit and determination will be a requirement for the large majority of the game. In Welbeck, England have a good, composed finisher. When Wayne Rooney arrives, they'll have an even better one.

Conclusion

Being outnumbered in midfield takes it toll on you, so don't expect England to rival France going forward for the entire game. The team will end up sitting deeper and deeper as time ticks on.

A swift counter-attack is the most probable way that England makes headway in this game, alongside any potential goal from a set piece.

It must be said, France are not aerially strong. Aside from Phillippe Mexes and Adil Rami, the team will struggle to deal with England's big guys in the box.

It won't be fun to watch, but Hodgson hasn't conceded a goal during his time as boss, and that could still be the case on Tuesday morning.

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- Tactical Analysis of England