Can Stuttering Hosts France Still Go All the Way at Euro 2016?

The French might have invited the rest of the continent to Euro 2016, but so far they haven’t been the most accommodating or entertaining hosts.

Of course, they are unbeaten, and in to the quarter-finals, where they will Sunday night face Iceland at the Stade de France in Paris for a place in the last four.

But it has all been a bit of a struggle; France have not glided through this tournament with sumptuous displays of attacking football, but rather they have had to huff and puff, and narrowly secure their wins.

They had an attack of first-night nerves in their opening game against Romania and needed a goal from Dimitri Payet to rescue them in the last minute.

In their second game against Albania the French could not muster a goal until the death, when Payet and Antoine Griezmann scored in added time, and then against Switzerland they played out a rather uninspiring goalless draw.

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In the round of 16, Ireland could sense France were vulnerable, and went ahead in the first minute, but they couldn’t hold out and were eventually worn down, with two goals in the second half from Griezmann.

Can France continue to stumble through Euro 2016 in this fashion all the way to the final?

So far the draw has been kind to them, and put the modest knockout obstacles of Ireland and Iceland in their way, but should they triumph tonight, Germany await them in the semi-finals.

The France manager Didier Deschamps has to find a way to energise his team from the very first minute, for the hosts remain the only team not to score in the first half at Euro 2016.

So far they have been too sluggish and timid at the start of games, unable, or unwilling to trust their attacking players, and take the game to the opposition.

"We react instead of taking the initiative," the veteran French defender Patrice Evra has said, as reported by the Associated Press (h/t the Daily Mail). "I get the impression that we only play well when we have our backs to the wall. I hope we're going to start well and not wait until the second half before we step on the accelerator."

France have located this obvious problem, they now need to address it.

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It would help if Deschamps, who has been blessed with a squad of incredible depth and talent, actually knew who should be in his starting 11.

Like a higher class Roy Hodgson, Deschamps has also been thrashing around, changing his team, dropping players, bringing them back and all the while desperately trying to work out his best team.

Deschamps has fielded a different team in each of France's four games so far. 

And he will have to change his team for a fifth consecutive game with N’Golo Kante and Adil Rami being banned for the quarter-final against Iceland.

Their likely replacements, Morgan Schneiderlin and Eliaquim Mangala have both endured underwhelming seasons in Manchester, and so could weaken France.

In fairness to Deschamps, France have claimed each of their three winning goals after he has made his first substitution, proving that shuffling his players around can also be effective.

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What should also give Deschamps hope is that his much-derided defence has stood firm, conceding only two penalties so far, while the majority of his attacking players have shown their obvious quality.  

In Griezmann France appear to now have a reliable source of goals, who has so far scored three from three starts, the first Frenchman since the venerated Zinedine Zidane managed that amount at a European Championship.

But France are not solely reliant on him, with Payet also relishing this opportunity to prove he belongs on this elevated stage.

The West Ham attacker has scored two goals and, like Griezmann, taken his exceptional club form from last season in to Euro 2016.

With this pair in such fine goalscoring form, France always have a chance.

Paul Pogba was expected to be France’s leading player at this tournament, but, possibly overwhelmed by all the hype, we haven’t seen the best of him yet.

There were, however, promising signs in the win over Ireland, where Pogba played with greater presence and authority, and finished the game with more touches and passes than anyone else on the pitch.

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If Pogba steps up like this again, the hosts could still prove to be unstoppable.

Don’t discount Kingsley Coman as well, his telling contributions have bolstered France, and the Bayern Munich man has a lot more to offer at this tournament.

France will surely learn from England’s mistake, who treated Iceland as a novelty and a mere warm-up game for their expected quarter-final appearance.

Iceland do pose a threat, they are in the last eight on merit, and France will have noted they didn’t simply hang on for dear life against England, and actually produced more shots on target than Hodgson's side. 

Above all, France need to heed Evra’s words, and grasp the initiative in games, for these late goals and comebacks are bound to run out soon.