The last time Antoine Griezmann missed a French team match – June 13, 2017 against England – footballer Warren Zaire-Emery was not yet 11 and a half years old. Almost seven years have passed and the second should replace the Atlético de Madrid player, Saturday March 23 (at 9 p.m.), during the friendly match between France and Germany at the Groupama Stadium in Décines-Charpieu (Rhône), in the Lyon suburbs.
Antoine Griezmann, who had to withdraw due to a painful ankle after 84 consecutive matches played in the tricolor jersey, was discussed numerous times this week in the microcosm of the Blues. Like other of his teammates, Warren Zaire-Emery was thus invited to think about the consequences of the absence of the man he describes as the “elder” of the group.
To begin its year 2024 and its preparation sequence for the Euro, which will take place from June 14 to July 14, the French men's football team will therefore have to do without their talisman and master to play against Germany. How to do it ? The answer is far from obvious, like the challenge of imagining the France team without Antoine Griezmann. The French players will also have difficulty visualizing it: only 5 of them, among the 23 on the current list, have played a selection without the Atlético de Madrid striker around.
“Since I was in the selection, I have always been used to having him with me,” described a Kylian Mbappé who was orphaned, for this gathering, by his vice-captain. Those who are absent are not always wrong; and whoever France will miss in the next two matches knows that he will find his place in June. From a distance, he was able to benefit from the praise of his teammates in recent days. “He’s a player who cannot be replaced,” Kylian Mbappé and Marcus Thuram said together this week.
The absence of Griezmann, the opportunity to “test certain things”
However, the French players showed their confidence in finding alternative solutions, without disrupting the team's playing system. “We have what we need in the squad to compensate for this injury,” reassures Real Madrid defensive midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni. Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot sees it as an opportunity to “test certain things”, while Kylian Mbappé judges that “when your plan A doesn’t work, you need a plan B”. “It’s better that it happens there rather than in two or three months,” says their trainer Didier Deschamps. It will allow you to see something different. »
The coach, who knows that a large majority of the players on the current list will be present in the Euro list which he will unveil in May, confided that he is having “thoughts on two, three or four” elements. And the two upcoming friendly matches should allow him to carry out a squad review, to obtain answers on certain positions where doubt persists, like that of striker, which Marcus Thuram covets at the same time. , Olivier Giroud and Randal Kolo Muani.
Despite these questions, which the coach can easily describe as part of healthy competition, the French team is approaching this new year with full confidence after having (almost) crushed everything in its path in 2023. The only false note from last year, a defeat in September in Germany (1-2). The Blues, deprived of Kylian Mbappé – on rest – then did the kindness of the Nationalmannschaft to revive it while it was at the bottom of the hole.
Didier Deschamps’ 150th at the head of the Blues
Despite the appointment of Julian Nagelsmann as coach a few weeks later, Germany continued to dig in and remains with two embarrassing defeats against Turkey (2-3) and Austria (0-2). “It’s a good test because it’s one of the best teams in the world,” Kylian Mbappé still insisted. A good preparation match a few months before the Euro, against the future host country, which should allow certain players to score points with a view to the list or a place in the starting eleven.
The absence of Griezmann and the future of Kylian Mbappé, which was finally discussed on the eve of the match against Germany, will have almost eclipsed one of the events of this first gathering of the year of the team of France: Deschamps' tackle against Hubert Fournier, national technical director of the French Football Federation (FFF). The latter put forward the idea of launching a plan to improve the performance of the French teams during penalty shootouts, which the coach and his staff were able to take personally after the defeats against Switzerland at Euro 2021 and Argentina at the 2022 World Cup.
After this frontal attack – almost unprecedented in twelve years of mandate – and his tirade which followed, the coach appeared more relaxed in recent days. Against Germany, he will lead his 150th match at the head of the France team. Without his “favorite” Antoine Griezmann, but with his captain Kylian Mbappé. “It’s not an essential meeting, but it’s important,” Deschamps insisted. Especially to ideally start preparation for Euro 2024.
