France vs. Armenia: Date, Time, Live Stream and 2015 Friendly Preview
France manager Didier Deschamps still has plenty to think about before Euro 2016 kicks off in his home country next summer, not least of which will be choosing the forwards for his squad—and his starting XI.
Having previously featured with a 4-3-3 ahead of, and during, the World Cup, Deschamps has since tried out a number of different systems in friendly games over the past year or so, including a diamond midfield with two up front.
With up to seven forwards reasonably hoping to win themselves a spot in the final squad, competition for places is fierce, and goal tallies will be telling over the coming months for both club and country.
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Five have made the squad this time: La Liga duo Antoine Griezmann and Karim Benzema, Premier League pair Anthony Martial and Olivier Giroud, and Ligue 1's Alexandre Lacazette.
Lacazette was top scorer by some margin in France last year, but Deschamps' comments this week might have the Lyon man feeling a little left-out.
Benzema was left in no doubt he is Deschamps' No. 1 man after the boss all but admitted he'd play the full 90 minutes for France, per Goal.com: "I won't substitute him. Benzema is a team player, he is very important for us. He always wants to score with us, but scoring is not everything to him."
Arsenal forward Giroud was also a beneficiary of Deschamps' affections despite not finding form as readily as some of his compatriots this term. Yahoo.com quote the French manager as saying he "trusted" Giroud, even though he "could have been more effective" in the last match against Serbia.
Martial, meanwhile, has also been in for praise, per Sky Sports, with Deschamps delighting in the youngster's impact at Manchester United:
"He has proved his critics wrong with his performances and with the goals he managed to score.
He still has steps to take in his development. It changed his world moving to Manchester United this summer.
But Anthony joined us because I think he has a lot of potential.
"
With such faith in much of the attack, those who don't get to start in a friendly against Armenia could be forgiven for having some self-doubt, perhaps—but at least they are in the squad, while Paul-Georges Ntep and Nabil Fekir watch on from the sidelines.
Even five forwards may turn out to be too many once the final list has to be chosen by the manager, so expect performances in games like this to be particularly telling over which attacking players might make the final cut.
Date: Thursday, October 8
Time: 7:45 p.m. GMT/2:45 p.m. ET
Venue: Allianz Riviera, Nice
TV Info: TF1 (France)
Live Stream: bwin (UK), Fox Soccer 2Go (USA)
The Teams
As Euro 2016 hosts, France do not need a qualification campaign to take their place in the finals next summer.
Instead, their past year has been a succession of friendly matches, home games all over the country to become accustomed to the stadia they may play in during the tournament and a rotation of systems and personnel for Deschamps.
Results suffered a dip across the first half of 2015 as the side perhaps let performances slip or lost an appreciation of the importance of these build-up games in the absence of competitive action—but wins over Portugal and Serbia in the last international break put an end to any negativity.
Armenia looked as though they were emerging as a force in qualification for the 2014 World Cup, only missing out on the play-offs in the last couple of matches, but Euro 2016 qualification has been a disaster.
No wins from seven games and only two points amassed leaves them fourth in the group of five—but only because bottom side, Serbia had points deducted.
Even so, Armenia won't feel as though they have been a million miles away, with four of the five losses coming by just a single goal.
An 80th-minute goal saw defeat to Denmark at the beginning of the campaign and that theme has continued throughout—Serbia scored in injury time for a 1-1 draw, Cristiano Ronaldo won the match in Portugal with 18 minutes left and Armenia conceded twice in the final 12 minutes to lose 2-1 in Albania while playing with 10 men.
A friendly now against France brings a big test, but also a chance to reassess and see where minor tweaks, rather than mass overhauls, can be made.
Team News
France's squad shows five changes to to the one named in September for the last games, some through injury and some through Deschamps wanting to change things around.
Laurent Koscielny is an obvious miss in defence, while Fekir suffered a long-term injury with France in the previous international break.
"Deschamps has confirmed that Koscielny will not be considered for the upcoming internationals after suffering a hamstring strain #AFC
— Ben Dinnery (@BenDinnery) October 1, 2015"
"Mamadou Sakho has been named in Didier Deschamps France squad after reclaiming his first-team spot at #LFC. pic.twitter.com/NdtMGrw8Hu
— Jack Lusby (@jacklusby_) October 1, 2015"
Alphonse Areola is a surprise call-up as the third-choice goalkeeper. He has been performing well, if a little to-the-cameras at times, on loan at Villarreal from Paris Saint-Germain and has earned his chance with Stephane Ruffier and Benoit Costil missing out.
Areola, 22, is the only uncapped member of the squad, though Kurt Zouma and Martial have just one and two caps respectively.
The biggest shock in France's squad, however, is the recall for Lassana Diarra—five years after his last international cap.
"From exile to Euro 2016? How Lassana Diarra came back from the brink. By @amylawrence71 http://t.co/fpyNIo3uw7 (EPA) pic.twitter.com/gqveQPByqy
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) October 7, 2015"
As for Armenia, they have been able to name largely a full squad including their key men: First-choice goalkeeper Gevorg Kasparov, defender and most experienced player in the squad Robert Arzumanyan, attacking midfield talisman Henrikh Mkhitaryan, wingers Aras Ozbiliz and Gevorg Ghazaryan and forward Yura Movsisyan.
When those individuals are in form, Armenia have already shown they have the capacity to trouble good sides. The problems in consistently winning games have come from perhaps not quite having the support cast in place, and a lack of goals throughout the squad.
Possible Starting Lineups
France (4-4-2 diamond): Hugo Lloris; Bacary Sagna, Raphael Varane, Mamadou Sakho, Benoit Tremoulinas; Yohan Cabaye, Moussa Sissoko, Blaise Matuidi, Paul Pogba; Karim Benzema, Anthony Martial.
Armenia (4-2-3-1): Gevorg Kasparov; Kamo Hovhannisyan, Varaz Haroyan, Robert Arzumanyan, Gael Andonian; Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Karlen Mkrtchyan; Aras Ozbiliz, Marcos Pizzelli, Gevorg Ghazaryan; Yura Movsisyan.
Players to Watch
France: Anthony Martial
It's his explosive nature and current good form which makes Martial a great option to unleash for France in a non-competitive environment and see where it takes them.
His pace and direct running is a good foil for Benzema's more considered movement and predatory instincts and, if the Manchester United man keeps up his good strike rate at club level, there's every chance this could become a regular pairing in the future.
France have plenty of depth in attack with Griezmann and Giroud also looking for game time, but maybe now is the time to see what Martial can offer.
Armenia: Gevorg Ghazaryan
Everybody knows about Mkhitaryan and the Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder is in excellent form early on this season, but France can—and should—dominate the centre of the park, making it hard for him to get involved unless they put him on one flank.
Playing and staying wide, however, will be Ghazaryan. He's lightning quick, strong and direct when running in possession and will always look to race in behind a full-back who attacks. If he switches flanks from the left and comes up against Patrice Evra, the French defender will have plenty to think about.
Ghazaryan, 27, is also a goal threat, scoring nine times for his nation and already twice this season for Maritimo in Portugal.
Prediction: France 2-0 Armenia
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