Griezmann and Pogba Prove Point to Deschamps as France Late Show Downs Albania

Hosts France became the first team to reach the latter stages of the 2016 UEFA European Championship, but Didier Deschamps’ men left it late to see off a resilient Albania side 2-0 at Stade Velodrome on Wednesday.

The big talking point pre-match was the fact that the 47-year-old tactician left Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann and Juventus’ Paul Pogba out of his starting XI, and the polemic over Deschamps’ gambles only heightened as the game wore on and remained 0-0.

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Les Bleus eventually broke the deadlock in Marseille and—fittingly—it was Griezmann who put the home side in front with a header in the 90th minute of a hard-fought encounter.

The 25-year-old met an Adil Rami ball in the air and guided his header past Etrit Berisha in the Albanian goal to send the Velodrome crowd into ecstasy.

West Ham United’s Dimitri Payet—arguably France’s best performer over the 90 minutes—scored a delightful second with the last kick of the game, but it was Griezmann who ultimately made the difference.

Speaking with journalists after the final whistle, Deschamps praised plucky Albania and conceded that it took his players longer than expected to get going.

The 1998 FIFA World Cup- and Euro 2000-winning former captain also insisted that his decision to leave Griezmann and Pogba out was tactical and not punishment for disappointing displays in the 2-1 win over Romania in the opening match of Euro 2016.

Deschamps also reserved special credit for Payet after two late goals in his last two games for his country:

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Albania played with a lot of heart and spirit. They defended well and have the ability to counterattack. We might have scored earlier; we had a lot of chances. While it was goalless it was a good result for Albania. It's always difficult against teams that keep it tight. Once we finally got going we let loose a bit, albeit slightly late in the day. Pogba (being on the bench) was more of a tactical decision. With that system I thought we needed two scrappers in the middle of the park. As for Griezmann, I'm managing him. Neither he nor Pogba is happy, but often players who come off the bench can make the difference. That was the case in the opening match and again tonight. Payet has become more consistent. He's always had ability and a lot of confidence. Now, in one-on-one situations and challenges, he's always up for the fight. Clearly we didn't do everything well. If you've seen a team that has, please tell me. We were a bit laborious in the first 45 minutes because Albania were physically fresh.

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Although a wretched Velodrome pitch was not conducive to flowing, attacking football, France were still well below their best.

The first-half performance from the hosts must go down as one of the worst opening 45 minutes of football in Deschamps’ entire reign.

Les Bleus had struggled against Albania in the past; the pair drew 1-1 in a friendly in Rennes back in 2014 and Kuq e Zinjte famously beat their more illustrious opponents 1-0 in Elbasan last year, and a similar shock looked on the cards against the 42nd-ranked national team.

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Paris Saint-Germain’s Blaise Matuidi, Manchester United’s Anthony Martial and Juventus’ Patrice Evra all struggled, while Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud toiled in front of goal to no avail.

Martial’s outing against the Albanians was so bad that Deschamps had to swallow his pride early and replace the former AS Monaco man with Pogba at half-time.

Clearly keen to prove his boss wrong for leaving him out of the starting XI—even if the act was intended to relieve some of the pressure on him and not increase it—the 23-year-old immediately got involved and ended up playing a role in one of his country’s two late goals.

Visibly frustrated by some of the flak he has been getting from the press and even gesticulating towards the press box at one moment, Pogba’s moment came right at the death.

The Juventus man picked out fellow substitute Andre-Pierre Gignac, and the Tigres UANL star found Payet in comic style before the former Olympique de Marseille schemer completed the link-up between two of the Velodrome’s favourite sons by finishing in style.

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Pogba and Griezmann both made a huge difference for France after being brought on, and it was the latter who finally broke Albania’s admirable resistance.

Left unmarked as Les Bleus started to turn the screw, the Atletico attacker nodded home with a rare headed finish from an even rarer Rami cross.

Although Deschamps’ pre-match decisions appeared to be rooted in some logic, the bottom line is that he perhaps picked the wrong players to rotate ahead of the Albania clash.

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Switching to a 4-2-3-1 formation, considering Payet’s preference for playing in the No. 10 role, was the right decision, and the inclusion of Martial—despite his woeful first half—and Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman made the French more of a threat out wide because of the pair’s pace.

The holes in Deschamps’ changes arguably came elsewhere. Matuidi had another poor game and looks exhausted after another gruelling season with PSG, while Evra continues to look a liability at the back.

Pogba could have been handed his preferred left central midfield role from the start instead of Matuidi, while Evra could have been replaced by AS Roma’s Lucas Digne, and the Velodrome may well have witnessed a better performance from the hosts over the opening 89 minutes.

Griezmann starting from the bench, considering his draining season under manager Diego Simeone in Madrid, was probably the right call, but he could have come on in place of Giroud up top.

Although the Arsenal man scored against Romania, he missed a number of good chances, and the same happened against Albania.

A lightning-fast front three of Griezmann, Coman and Martial might have been exactly what France needed to break down a stubborn visiting defence, but the former’s accumulated fatigue dictated that he started as a substitute.

Now that Deschamps has rested both Pogba and Griezmann, he arguably cannot do it again and certainly will not get away with it against Switzerland in the final Group A match.

The Juventus and Atletico men have proved that they were not the problem in the opening match but have picked up some valuable rest, and results have not suffered for the French.

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What Deschamps must do now is identify the other areas of the team that need improving and work on them before taking on the Swiss in Lille.

Matuidi and Evra will be lucky to start in Sunday’s encounter at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, while Giroud could also find his starting role under scrutiny.

Whether he keeps his preferred 4-3-3 shape or plumps for the 4-2-3-1 instead, it is clear now that Deschamps must start Pogba, Griezmann and Payet. Not only must all three play from the off, they must also be deployed in their preferred roles and that—crucially—makes the 4-2-3-1 the best option.

In the 4-2-3-1, Deschamps can put Pogba in his favoured left central midfield role—albeit at a slightly deeper level than usual—while Payet should continue to excel behind the main striker and Griezmann will offer a goal threat either on the right and tucking in or through the middle.

Goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris, Leicester City’s N’Golo Kante, Sevilla’s Adil Rami, Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny and Manchester City’s Bacary Sagna are the only other players who should be able to consider their starting roles guaranteed after two matches.

The likes of Matuidi, Evra and Giroud should be sweating over their potential involvement against Switzerland this weekend.