England Get Les Blues At Wembley: Where It Went Wrong Against France

A wet Wembley witnessed a French revolution on Wednesday night, as the supposed bright future for English football looked anything but as France strolled to a 2-1 win. 

Les Blues look like a new team under Laurent Blanc, with Samir Nasri, Mathieu Valbuena, Yann M'Vila, Bacary Sagna and a rejuvenated Karim Benzema all having enjoyed stellar performances against England.

As for Fabio Capello's men, however, it was nothing but gloom until the final ten minutes. 

Captain Rio Ferdinand struggled against Real Madrid striker Benzema, while talismanic Steven Gerrard failed to conjure up anything of note bar a header that crashed against the crossbar. 

The new kids produced mixed performances. Sunderland starlet Jordan Henderson didn't look out of place, simply because he didn't look in place; the midfielder faded into obscurity for the majority of the match. 

Newcastle United revelation Andy Carroll had a better game, winning most of the aerial challenges against Lille's Adil Rami and a few against seasoned campaigner Philippe Mexes, but didn't get enough service from midfield and out wide to create a significant impact. 

Overall, it was a disappointing night in London for the Three Lions, as Capello's tactics left a lot to be desired. 

All Defence, No Attack

For the first 15 minutes, England stuck to Capello's plan perfectly.

They pressed France all over the pitch, and had all bases covered in terms of passing options for the French, meaning Les Blues couldn't find much use for all the possession they were receiving. 

However, the problems started when the English got the ball. They simply didn't have a set plan in going forward. 

Capello's attacking ideas before the match most likely involved threading the ball out wide for Walcott and Milner, who would run at the full-backs and whip in a cross for Carroll and onrushing midfielders to attack, or cut inside and play intricate defence-splitting passes with the likes of Gerrard, Henderson and perhaps Carroll. 

On a side note, both of these options lead to the goals for France, the latter for Benzema's goal, and the former for Valbuena's strike. 

It's just a shame nobody told these tactics to Joleon Lescott or Phil Jagielka, who mixed things up by frequently punting the ball forward, old English style, for Carroll to challenge and chase. 

And in midfield, Henderson, Barry and Gerrard seemingly didn't know who was running where, often playing the ball to a heavily marked Carroll instead of straight out wide to a winger, meaning the Newcastle forward had to drop deep and slow the tempo of the attack down in order to keep it alive. 

It seems England concentrated so much on defence that such confusion going forward led to players being dragged out of position here, there and everywhere, allowing France the chance to attack in numbers every time they moved up the pitch.

Les Blues got so far forward at times, right-back Sagna was stood just outside England's penalty area for a whole minute, in open play, waiting for the ball!

Playing the Safe Game

Within the first minute of the match, France were attacking in numbers, committing both full-backs forward, and a central midfielder to go with the wingers, striker and support-striker. 

Therefore, Laurent Blanc signalled to Fabio Capello and the England players that his men were playing an open, attacking game based on possession and passing the ball forward. 

Capello and his lads therefore went for the English version of catenaccio, sitting back, pressing, waiting, then hitting quick on the break. 

It was a safe bet from England, providing they were up to the task defensively (which they weren't, as Benzema, Nasri, Valbuena and co. proved).

But against a resurgent France full of confidence, it wasn't the right bet, as the French had the belief and capability to get forward in numbers and camp in England's own half, waiting for the leak in defence before capatilising with devastating effect. 

Most of the match was taking place in England's half, with Les Blues dominating territorial advantage and of course possession of the ball, making them far more likely to score.

The Three Lions needed to overcome this; English-style catenaccio simply wasn't working, as Laurent Blanc clearly instilled more confidence in his men than Capello expected. 

The cliché "attack is the best form of defence" wasn't created for nothing, and England needed to match France's ambition by committing as many players forward and pinning their opponents right back when they were on the attack. 

In other words, they needed to take a risk. They could've conceded further by pushing more players forward, but far more crucially, they could have easily, and most probably, scored more goals. 

As far as risk management goes, it's clear Capello and the England players went for the former, and as it turned out, no risk, no result. 

Forget the Formation

Both England and France went into this match with a 4-4-1-1 formation. As it turned out, both teams came onto the pitch with different playing styles. Laurent Blanc's clearly worked better, according to the statistics and final result. 

As Manchester City first-team coach David Platt once told the media, "it's not about the formation, but rather the tactics within that formation."