5 Things France Coach Deschamps Should Experiment with vs. the Netherlands

France host the Netherlands in a 2014 FIFA World Cup warm-up match at the Stade de France this week and, although there were not many surprises in Didier Deschamps’ squad, Antoine Griezmann gets a long-awaited call-up.

The Real Sociedad star had been suspended until this year because of his role in an ill-advised trip to Paris while on French under-21 international duty. Now, in form too good to ignore in La Liga, Deschamps has opted to bring him in to have a look.

Aside from the 22-year-old, there were few surprises in the group outside of Paris Saint-Germain’s Lucas Digne been selected, despite his lack of regular playing time in the capital at present.

However, Lille OSC’s Rio Mavuba has had to withdraw following a hamstring injury in the 3-2 win over AC Ajaccio on Sunday and AS Saint-Etienne’s on-loan midfielder Josuha Guilavogui has been brought in to replace him.

Apart from those three, FC Porto’s Eliaquim Mangala and AS Monaco’s Geoffrey Kondogbia are the most notable inclusions.

Despite being a friendly, Deschamps is not likely to make too many changes to his team from the start against the Dutch. Instead, his experimenting will probably come in the second half when Les Bleus and Oranje are tiring and looking to shuffle their packs.

For the 45-year-old, this friendly is a chance to continue building his team and, with the exception of Griezmann, not necessarily one to discover new talent that can potentially force their way into his plans before the World Cup.

Here are five areas that Deschamps should be experimenting with in the French capital on Wednesday.

Goalkeeper

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Hugo Lloris’ status as France’s first-choice goalkeeper is undisputed. But because of that, nobody else gets a look-in and the likes of Steve Mandanda, Mickael Landreau and Stephane Ruffier barely get the chance to pull on the shirt.

Deschamps could use the Netherlands game as an opportunity to give one of these two a chance and a taste of international football. Moving Lloris out of goal for a game would also force the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship winner to consider a new captain for the side as well.

Identifying an outfield player who is capable of taking over the armband at some point is thought to be one of Deschamps’ priorities in the near future. Wednesday’s friendly could provide that chance for some perspective.

Eliaquim Mangala

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With no Eric Abidal in the squad, possibly down to his recent poor form with Monaco, there is a chance for Porto’s Mangala to impress once again.

Although France still have this summer’s World Cup to deal with before turning their attention towards Euro 2016, the Netherlands clash is a good chance to see a number of the players that will be ready to lead Les Bleus in two years’ time on home soil.

A central defensive partnership including Raphel Varane and Mangala is one of the most promising in the world and Deschamps could opt to take a look at it now, with a view to using it a few more times before Brazil this summer.

Lucas Digne is also an interesting alternative to Patrice Evra at left-back with one eye on the future.

Midfield

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Like in defence with Mangala and Varane, Deschamps has a number of options that are geared towards the future that he could pick against the Netherlands on Wednesday.

Monaco’s Geoffrey Kondogbia has been in improving form with Monaco and deserves his call, while Josuha Guilavogui’s international progress was hampered by his move to Atletico Madrid.

The duo could form a formidable central midfield pairing and alternating with Juventus’ Paul Pogba, who appeared jaded for Juventus in this weekend’s action, while PSG’s Blaise Matuidi could give Deschamps some interesting alternatives between now and 2016 that would also be of use in Brazil.

Attack

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Once again, Deschamps has named both Karim Benzema and Olivier Giroud in his squad. However, the two rarely play together for Les Bleus and there have been calls in the past, particularly when the Real Madrid man was in poor form, to play him in a more withdrawn role behind Giroud.

Wednesday, against the Netherlands, is the perfect opportunity to do that in what would be some overdue experimentation.

Although Benzema scores regularly for his club, the 26-year-old is a non-prolific presence in the French side and his recent goal drought made him the subject of fierce criticism. Despite his struggles though, Deschamps remained loyal to the former Olympique Lyonnais man.

Perhaps because of a lack of alternatives and perhaps because he does not fully trust Giroud as a consistent enough finisher, but the Les Bleus coach has yet to meaningfully combine the two and doing so before this summer could enhance French chances of a deep run in Brazil.

The Netherlands represents a perfect chance to experiment with that pairing now.

Antoine Griezmann

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Arguably the one experiment that everybody wants to see Deschamps make, and the one that he is most likely to go ahead with on Wednesday is to introduce Griezmann to the fold. The Real Sociedad star has been in impressive form in La Liga recently and could solve Les Bleus’ problems out wide.

So far, a number of players such as Mathieu Valbuena, Dimitri Payet and Loic Remy have all been tested on the right, with limited success.

Griezmann and Franck Ribery would provide two of the best wide options in international football at present, although the former would arguably be more comfortable in the latter’s left-sided role.

The 22-year-old will feature against the Netherlands, but whether or not he starts could be indicative of how seriously Deschamps is thinking about taking him to the World Cup this summer.