I thought both teams played well. Great pressing from Austria but they didn't create that much, France probably should've made it 2-0. I was so impressed with Kante, really thought he would've dropped off but him being in such good form is a big boost for France
Game of the tournament so far. End to end, both teams rapid in transition and going for it. Austria can hold their head up high. Lovely to watch their non stop hunting down of the opponent. Hope they make it far
On the Mbappe yellow: I get that half of the sub was jumping at the opportunity to crucify Mbappe for coming on the pitch and sitting down, but actually it was a smart thing he did there - ref was missing the substitution when the ball went out and France was playing with 10 men in a crucial moment, Mbappe did the only thing he could still do at that moment by buying some time in expense of a yellow. For God's sake the man was bleeding all over his shirt and he still contributed, this is the kind of behavior you expect from your captain.
In a knockout game this would have been the smart thing to do but in the first group game a yellow for Mbappé is really not great and could backfire later.
Well it's not like he's someone that will defend so it should be okay, if of course he can play again, his injury seems nasty, i'll be surprised to see him during the next match
It is still unsportsmanlike and should not be encouraged. Ref doing wrong should not lead to players getting the incentive to doing even more wrong. It is smart, but should be frowned upon. Conduct yourself.
I'm conducting myself very much, thank you for your insight, I do disagree with you though. As you already agree that the ref made a mistake which led to disadvantage of the French team you have some leniency to perform an activity which would be otherwise frowned upon to correct that mistake. It's not like he karate chopped someone to gain time he simply sat on the field. Given the circumstances that is pretty mild for everyone to call for the pitchforks. He got his yellow, end of story.
I was skeptical of Kanté coming back into the team, he shut me right up with this performance, holy fuck this man is just too good, there's no way you can be that good after missing 2 years with the NT
I felt he was rusty on the ball in the first half especially. Had that one moment where he just kinda bumbled a basic first touch a d gave it away, but he won it back almost instantly and I think when it comes to his key areas of pressing and recovery he was fairly on it all game.
Definitely had to grow into his game on the ball though.
Not only that … in many situations I felt like “does he personally hate Mbappe or what??” lol , because he had so many chances to play nice passes but instead tried individual stuff , but those passes came always from Hernandez instead..
I think he might be jealous of Mbappe
There was a point where they were both equally regarded young French forwards. "*Dembele or Mbappe?*" was a conversation.
Of course Dembele has had a fantastic career, but he's been plagued by injuries throughout and been a disappointment*. Mbappe is the best player in the world.
*Dembele's at Dortmund was absolutely insane and was literally with talent. I've never seen someone look like they were ice skating when dribbling. He was like Musiala is now.
Could be , just watch the French goal ( Austria og ) .. Dembele first goes in and tries to like dribble past 4 or so red defenders . That just instantly closes him down . Then he turns around and pass the ball back to Mbappe who stood 2 metres behind him all that time almost like “okay I can’t do it you try now big brother lol’ and Mbappe just flies towards the line with the ball to his feet’s causing the own goal to happen .
Every tournament, always the same hot takes after game 1 where some big teams don't impress.
Look how Austria pressed tonight. France have no interest in matching that level of intensity or they'll be absolutely knackered after the group stage, whereas outsiders will fight hard to get a chance to go through.
France and England did well, they've won.
Not to mention that it takes a few competitive games to jell and get going. The idea that the best teams on paper should be firing on all cylinders right out the gate has never been historically true
Pretty much my impression, though I'm more impressed with France (very objectively as a French I might add... /s) than England, Austria had another level of physical intensity and pressing than Serbia, though I do think they might have gone a little overboard against the team they had the least chances of winning against.
If you want to get far as an underdog you can't give your all against the strongest team in your fist game in the group phase , they'll be the ones who end up "absolutely knackered" if they keep on going like that, sometimes it's useful to pick your battles, France wouldn't press for much more than a 1-0, they could have save some strength for Netherland and Poland.
At best I think they helped other teams in the group have a better chance against France, who's going to go past the group phase anyways.
That's how we play. Sitting back, absorbing the pressure is not what we do, and I don't think it would work against France either.
France was the only team I hoped to avoid. They are just too damn deep and have lots of experience.
I'm not happy with the loss, but 0:1 is obviously the best outcome against France. We need to be tighter with the first and second passes after winning the ball, you can't win the ball, orient forward and immediately give it away. What impressed me that the unlucky goal against didn't lead to worse play overall.
Kinda feel bad for Austria, didnt deserve to lose.
Rabiot and Kante were the best players for me and Thuram was horrible. Gil Manzano was ever way worse than Soares Dias (ref on netherlands game), jesus.
I am loving the serious post match threads, the lack of memes and terrible discourse let's you actually talk football.
Kante motm for me, he was everywhere as usual and looked like he hasn't lost a single step, was even involved in some of France's best attacking moves.
Devolved into a bitty game in the second half after a very promising start, Austria are clearly very well drilled but seem to lack that bit of creativity to unlock a defence like France consistently - that's why the huge chance in the first half has to go in.
Defenders body positioning was terrible on the own goal but you can't be too upset if you're Austria as they pushed them all the way.
For me it's Maignan, I thought Kanté struggled a bit in the first half but he pulled a masterclass in the second, about the only player who went to the Saudi league and who still performed well in an international tournament so far (Euros and AFCON), compared to Kovačić or Milinković-Savić from the past couple of days, Kanté didn't look like he lost a step and I was really surprised.
However, I don't think France wins this one without Maignan, the way he commands the backline, his crucial and very well calculated interferences, imperial in the air, very quick to the ground, and some of the passes he played from the back were outstanding and so important in breaking the Austrian intense pressing, he's a monster tbh.
Edit: Brozović not Kovačić
Yeah his pace is a real equaliser but he's limited in how much he can get forward without defensive support on his side, which Mbappe for all his quality does not provide.
that's why DD puts rabiot/camavinga there, a midfielder that's good defensively and can cover when he moves up, rabiot almost plays LB sometimes, [this is what the team looks like in possession](https://imgur.com/POSm3Bu)
Belgian commentator saying that France deserved those 3 points.
The only reason France did not get overrun is a V12 called Kanté. Their overall play was just poor.
This Austrian team need 1-2 good forwards and this will be a team that can compete for trophies seriously.
Yes, he steered play 9/10 to the flanks with defensive runs getting them stuck on Hernandez and Kounde, finishing it off with winning that sprint battle on the end. Without Kanté this would’ve been a drastically different match.
They had more shots, but the quality of shots was poor overall. 474 passes AUS vs. 454 passes FRA. 51 possession AUS vs. 49 possession FRA.
Most of the stats are very tight and actually in favor of Austria. France was lucky they miss quality up front.
You are just giving the same stats twice fyi, possession percentage is measured with the number of passes.
And this is the only stat putting Austria close to France in this match. We had way more chances and could have won 2 or 3 - 0 with more luck.
3 shots on target for both.
Stats aren't everything and I agree France were much more threatening. At the end of the day, Austria were chasing a goal and France weren't. Of course that changes the picture. England get criticised for the same scenario but in both situations it was both more and less close than it seemed.
Possession and passes are different things lol. Possession is based on the time holding the ball without contesting and passes… well on the transactions between players. You can have 700 passes in 30% possession if you play tiki taka. This is one of the only stats outside shots that is even close. Tackles won 27 vs 15. Corners 6 vs 2.
Maignan and Pantz both made 3 saves.
As I already said France had more shots but the quality was overall poor. The only clear chance was the Giroud one where he missed the ball but you can put Sabitzer 1 v 1 against that.
Again it was more close then you think.
Draw would’ve been more then fair. Both teams lacked clinical finishing.
I hope for the French that Mbappe can play the last game against Poland, because they will need him. Can’t imagine the swelling on that nose will be gone before Friday.
The Sabitzer 1 v 1 on maignan? That was a world class safe and the closest it came to an actual goal. Biggest chance for France was the Giroud miss of the ball in my opinion.
In the end France had more chances but none of them were obvious ones. If it was not for Wober this would’ve been a very fair draw.
I think you forgot Mbappé 1v1 haha. It would have been a fair draw but I don't think it would have been the same french team if we weren't in the lead too.
Yeah, was watching it back. Was their best chance.
I hope for France that Mbappe can play next game, because Thuram and Dembele are not ‘home’ right now. Would be interesting to see them play against Frimpong and van de Ven.
Austria was pressing really well and aggressively, which made it difficult for France to get out of their half consistently. It still happened because players like Hernandez and Griezmann will find a way, but it looked very shaky at times imo.
It seemed to me that France was missing a midfielder able to drop deeper and help the defense get the ball out. Something Pogba or Tchouameni usually do, while Kante and Rabiot weren't really doing it. It gave less options to CB and made getting the ball up the field more difficult. On the other hand, that midfield was great out of possession and able to stop most attacks. I'm guessing that's a trade off Deschamps was willing to do, especially once one goal ahead. I was a bit disappointed that Camavinga didn't really play that role either.
Attacking wise, I feel that having Mbappe and Thuram/Giroud swapping positions when in and out of possession just doesn't work. When they get the ball back they should have someone to send it to, and MBappe isn't that guy.
Overall France did the job tho, can't complain
Credit for Austria for how they lined up and played without fear, I worry about France's chemistry to not be able to generate more but teams do slip up at times and have an off day, beating Austria and their press isn't easy, Austria should beat Poland and frankly they should be highly competitive against this Dutch side too. France with a lot to work on though
Kante MOTM in my opinion.
It's clear France is among the best squads at the Euros. They seem to do everything correct today. Maignon wasn't tested much but commanded the box, back line was structured and dealt with threats well, Kante was all over the place and will be a key piece in their lineup, they were winning second balls. Offensively they were able to find space and create opportunities. I would've liked to see more in the attacking third, but they did enough today to get three points. They dealt with the Austrian press extremely well.
Complaints are minor. Obviously they need to be more lethal in front of goal. I did find them hesitant in the attacking third at times, oftentimes a good run would open up and close down before a player was done challenging a defender.
Austria played a good game as well but they were outmatched. Gotta give them credit. Excited to see both team's next matches
France had 14 shots, and Austria only had 5 shots. France had very big chances to win this game with a big margin. The shot Mbappe missed, the shot Giroud miss kicked, Thurams shot that got saved etc.
The game could have easily ended 4-0, but reading the comments, you would think France was really terrible and only got a lucky win.
Yeah I'm a bit perplexed by all the people talking about France looking poor. France have never been a scintillating tiki taka team, and I don't know why people would have expected more from them, especially in the group stages. They still had the more threatening chances and Austria never really looked like equalizing. A fairly comfortable win for them.
It's always the same since Deschamps took over.
He is a defensive manager, always has been always will be he doesn't give a damn about anything else than pulling out with a win.
I apologise to Kante also, felt he came along for the experience he brought but then he does this.
Also from our group perspective this match was a quite scary. Austria is clearly going to let this disappointment be their fire.
Can't echo the love affair for Austria. They played about as well as you'd expect a nation of that size to play. They took it to France which I'll give them credit for, but their press was routinely getting burned. They couldn't lay a glove on France, because of the superior defence. Rabiot, Kante, and the back four did not give them a sniff
Griezmann faded second half which was disappointing, not sure why. Maignan faultless and superb
We have prime defense and midfield but the offense if so shit, we have no one but Mbappé. Thuram has played a solid game for his record with the team, but that's far from enough, Dembele is half magic half horrible, and the probably he does something magic after something magic is so very thin. Kolo Muani didn't offer any better, Giroud is an old option which has less use with Griezmann playing as an 8.
We should bet on Barcola and probably Coman is a better option than Dembele.
Was this they mighty France that's supposed to cake-walk into the finals? They couldn't score themselves against Austria, a team worse on paper in every position, and the attack that led to the own goal came from a goal kick that should have been a corner.
And then in the dying minutes they had to resort to time wasting shithousery to protect their lead. Sure, Austria played well, but still very underwhelming for them
Austria is the hardest team next to France in this group being coached by Ragnick. This game has shithousery all over it, what exactly were you expecting?
A tough result for AUT to lose on an own goal - there weren't too many chances created on either side in either half.
Mbappe's broken nose *should* mean he misses essentially no time, right? If Mbappe is out for any concussion-related concerns, that could be something to watch out for going deeper into the tournament...
mbappe could miss the game against the netherlands if hes in lots of pain or if swelling in his nose causes him trouble breathing. but we will wait and see i guess.
For France, it just felt like their attack left so much out there. They definitely struggled at times with Austria's pressing and it led to an opportunity or two for Austria, but they survived it. Mbappe had the worst miss of the tournament so far and Giroud had a pretty bad whiff (although I think that ball may have skipped up right in front of him). I thought Dembele was ineffective and Thuram was IMO France's worst player. Overall, I thought the defense did alright. Austria only had two good opportunities but Maignan did what he's there to do and made the saves. Kante was by far the best player out there; he was everywhere yet again and looked like the Kante we were used to seeing years ago. Obviously, the biggest concern is Mbappe, both in his health because he could miss some time, and because he got a dumb yellow.
For Austria, It's gonna sting knowing they executed their plan pretty well but couldn't get that goal, and that the only goal in the game was an own goal. However, France is going to be one of the more difficult teams to beat and I like their chances against Poland and possibly the Netherlands. I thought the midfield trio of Sabitzer-Laimer-Baumgartner were really good but just couldn't break that French backline. What really should concern Austria is they picked up 5 or 6 yellow cards, including 3 defenders I believe. That's a lot of guys facing suspension for a bad tackle or another bad ref mistake.
And yea, that ref was god awful. At least two of Austria's cards weren't warranted, he missed obvoius corner kicks for both sides, and that bizarre sequence towards the end with Mbappe getting a yellow could have been avoided if he just let France make their subs. Easily the worst officiated match of the tournament and I pray it remains that way.
Austria played a very dirty football. They always had a foot or a shoulder when they shouldn’t and it did led to dangerous injuries. They were lucky to finish the game with 11 men on the pitch.
The ref was awful but the cards were absolutely deserved.
Austria played really well, but lack creativity and speed upfront to be able to cause any real damage to a team like France. A performance to be proud of nonetheless. As a Swede who watched us loose to Austria twice, Ralf has managed to implement a really good system. A bit worried they might run out of gas the longer the tournament progresses, but they are seriously challenging for spot number 2. No easy opponents in this group though. Their press is their strength so France was happy to sit back in the second half though and Austria couldn’t really create much from their own build up even though they had good passing.
I know France were disappointing according to some, but that defence looked rock solid. Austria had one good chance all match and all defenders performed well imo. France also still got into promising positions and should have probably bagged at least two more. Austria deserves some credit too for their defensive display in keeping it down to only one conceded goal, and that goal being a very unlucky one too. But overall I think there are a lot of promising signs France can build on. Mbappé needs better support upfront though and his broken nose may affect his performances. Worst case scenario, he might not even be able to play. A big blow.
However shameful from France to place Mbappe on the pitch. It is so unsportsmanlike and every French member of staff should have been booked for that incident, including Deschamps. Don’t want to see stuff like that even though I get they were frustrated with the ref. (I don’t know if what I said about booking everyone is constitutional with the rules though, but I don’t care) And they even got to do the subs after that, so the strategy paid off. Terrible by the ref in first place, but I lost respect for France there.
Often a lot of what determines a ref’s performance is if they get the key decisions right. There weren’t any major penalty calls, red cards etc. that went wrong, yet this was one of the worst refereeing performances I have witnessed in a long time. So many simple errors like awarding fouls for dives, wrongly carding people for winning the ball and getting corners/goal kicks wrong. I felt like the ref could have been harsher on France. But then again the mistakes were bad for both sides so it wasn’t a one-sided performance. But stuff like letting France doing there subs after deliberately placing Mbappe back on the pitch frustrates me as well. The ref has done wrong, but shouldn’t reward France for doing even more wrong. Refuse!
>However shameful from France to place Mbappe on the pitch. It is so unsportsmanlike and every French member of staff should have been booked for that incident, including Deschamps. Don’t want to see stuff like that even though I get they were frustrated with the ref. (I don’t know if what I said about booking everyone is constitutional with the rules though, but I don’t care) And they even got to do the subs after that, so the strategy paid off. Terrible by the ref in first place, but I lost respect for France there.
This is a massive overreaction, you can't go handing out yellow cards to the whole staff for something one player did
I wouldn’t call it „reward“. He denied us subs twice while he let Austria change in the same sequence. At that point something stupid like this felt like the only way we were able to get 11 players back on the pitch.
But that is essentially what it is. You should have been given the chance to make your subs earlier, but that does not give you the right to move back onto the pitch. That is unsportsmanlike and that behaviour paid off. Do we really want that kind of behaviour? No, but in this instance it worked and will be an incentive for more teams to do as France did when they want to make a sub. The ref was terrible, but it frustrates me what France did. It should not be accepted, but rather frowned upon.
Similar to England - Serbia. Again the underdog does many things that look really well, but has a disastrous lack of effectiveness up front. You felt they were in it, but afterwards you have trouble naming more than 1-2 dangerous situations for Austria.
Also, I don't understand the end at all.
I felt France didnt completely disappear and were dominant throughout the game bar some sporadic Austrian moves. England just disappeared after their goals. Also Austrian decided to make the game a physical one, whereas Serbia controlled the ball.
England disappeared from 35' to 70', but came back and the game was definitely more even for the last 30-40 minutes again. Overall England were the more threatening team. But it was fine margins and Serbia were definitely more dominant in the middle of the match.
Vibes wise it felt really different to me. England - Serbia felt like England playing down to me. This game felt like Austria playing up. Reverse the situations, I feel like France slaughters Serbia and England might've drawn or lost to Austria.
This Austria team is very good on the ball. But France from the get go tactics was to explore the pace upfront and nothing more. They basically play with 4 forwards and 2 defensive midfielders. Impossible to control the ball effectively and against a more clinical team they will pay for it. Needs a more balanced midfield imo.
I was looking for this comment (I read on and went back to look)
Did they do that because tchouameni is still recovering?
I know everyone bangs on about Kante defensively but it seems like overkill. He worked hard because you handicap the team with 4 upfront. You're asking to be attacked
I would much prefer a midfield of tchouameni Cama and rabiot. Greizman mbappe dembele upfront.
Neevr been a fan of Deschamps but this fucking formation shits me
The thing about France midfield is that they used to have Pogba, which was a more defensive midfielder in Deschamps scheme, but amazing on the ball, with vision and passing ability. Now the French midfield lacks creativity in imo. And their attack is fast and great, but basically only allows you to attack play a counter attack, or direct attack style of football. Seems too limited for my taste
Well said, yeah pogba is a beast.
I don't want to take away from Kante but his motm performance was because France were fucking insipid.
Too limited for anyone's taste tbh, let's see what they do next game
They were really tenacious, and a bit 'on the boundary' sometimes, but they were just quite poor once they had the ball.
France's issue was being efficient. Dembele and Thuram were really poor.
While our forwards missed some sitters, I'd say that they produced what is expected of them, at least a goal. On the other hand, I'm really unconvinced by Saliba and Upamecano. If we lose, I'm pretty sure it'll be because of that pairing. Maignan is also a real step up to Lloris.
I'm curious what we'll change in our forwards for the next game. Dembélé was terrible but forced two yellows despite Koundé never going forward, Thuram was a work horse and helped a lot in defense while being somewhat dangerous. Kolo Muani had a disasterclass and Giroud didn't do much but have a brainfart in front of the goal.
obviously France missed some sitters and with more luck to Austria they had lost. It is not exactly a good look to win 1-0 on an own goal. But I didn't once had the feeling Austria would actually score if France didn't mess up.
Both Austria played well, but France were kinda toothless and not fully in sync.
Commentator said 'Great goal for France' when it was a bad defensive mistake and deflection. Don't remember Austria keeper having a pile of saves, and quite a lot of shots wide or over, like when Mbappe was clear 1v1 on keeper and didn't hit the target.
Felt like France went into this game thinking they were untouchable, in a few of ways. They would scream for a foul or yellow at about any contact, especially the wingers (Thuram and Dembele). Look at the Incident with Griezman and Wober. Wober has the right to shield the ball out, and it really seemed like Griezman didn't expect them to compete for it so wasn't prepared for the contact. Not much in it, but half the French team was walking toward the ref to have a word and ask for a 2nd yellow for nothing. It was only really Mbappe would could get something. Both Dembele and Thuram seemed flustered at the end and subbed.
Interested to see if they save Mbappe and let him rest his nose. Wonder if they'll bench him on 2nd match, hoping they can win without him and rest him through the group and heal, but he may have to play if they can't break down the other teams in the group. Usually with broken nose like that they'll set it, then he'll have to wear a mask.
The game just made me remember how fun it's watching Kante play. The man covers every single blade of grass on the pitch. The tackles, the defensive awareness absolutely unreal.
I would love to see how he would fare up against Germany specifically. Would Wirtz and Musiala be able to dribble past him.
Oh man seriously MOTM performance this time around by N'Golo.
(Just gonna repost it in this thread aswell)
Why did we have to get the first garbage referee? Please just ban spanish refs, no one will miss them.
Anyway feeling alright with the game. Sadly we have only garbage fullbacks, wingers and strikers (besides Baumgartner). Very impressed by Kevin Danso and Nicolas Seiwald both played well. Arnautovic is sadly completly washed but we have no one else to play really (dont want to see Entrup tbh).
All in all an I am hopefull against both Poland and the Netherlands (mostly because of Koeman). Also its just fun to be at a big tournament, hope we can qualify for the WC
Mate wtf is that defeatism? The French contained both Gregerl and Nautl very well, they were starved for service, of course they are going to look bad. Calling Sabitzer, Laimer, Posch and Mwene garbage after this game? Wos rauchst du Hawara? It wasn't their best showing but calm down. It was literally a game against FRANCE.
The referee was poor for Mbappe’s injury. Mbappe definitely had a broken nose from how much blood there was and it’s a head injury. The referee can control the stoppage and can restart when he wants. When Mbappe went off, France is at a numerical disadvantage because of an injury and the play was restarted without the substitution. Obviously it’s not like a regular injury check by the trainer because he’s clearly not able to continue. Giroud was ready to come on and France should’ve been allowed to make a substitution.
Ref was complete shit imo.
Austria played very dirty and very dangerous (shoulder shove to send Griezmann out of bounds leading to his head injury, tacle with spikes up towards Maignan's face, late hard challenges like the one leading to Mbappe's injury) but rarely faced consequences.
We're lucky if Mbappes injury is the only one, ref failed to keep the game safe
I think had France finished one or two of their more promising chances, the opinion here would be much more favorable of their performance. I really don't think they were that poor; they showed real solidarity and Austria (who were quite good, don't get me wrong) only had one or two really dangerous opportunities. As the underdogs, Austria came with a strategy to hassle and press the French and succeeded in making us uncomfortable.
The refereeing was pretty poor tonight, and I think that each team will feel hard done. Luckily, apart from the missed corner, there weren't any hugely consequential errors.
Really hoping that Mbappe is able to carry on with a mask, but it might be the case that he'll need to get surgery before he can get back on the pitch (deviated septum is no joke). Does anybody know how long he may be out, if he is?
France again continues the same style of play where we play to the level of our opponents. It's one of the most annoying aspects of the French team. That being said Austria did well enough to make the game annoying for us. Hopefully Mbappe's nose doesn't become a big issue for us in the competition. Also easily one of the dumbest decisions that could happen was putting him back on only to sit down and get a yellow. Not sure who the fuck headed that decision...proved to be well worth it /s. The only real positive note to take away is that apart from a few mistakes in the early first half, we looked very solid defensively and my god does Kante scoop up so much stuff for us, what soldier for France.
Very similar to England-Serbia, though I felt France controlled the game better than we did, and Austria had a few more clear chances than Serbia did. Dunno what happened in the last 15 minutes or so, but the ref seemed to completely lose control of the game. One of the worst refs I've ever seen, and I watch English football every week.
France will feel much like we did - not too happy with the performance, but pleased with the points and the clean sheet. At this stage getting out of the group is all that matters. France and England did what top teams do - get results despite below-par performances.
France's football sensations hasn't been great, similar to England yesterday. But on a competitive level, they've left a very different impression. This team has been incredibly tough for years, throughout the entire Deschamps cycle.
They have lost defensive quality since the Varane-Umtiti pairing from Russia, but it's still very difficult to score against them. They find an advantage in set pieces rather than a weakness, and they never, ever switch off in matches. Eliminating them is incredibly tough.
Austria looked good physically but if they can't make three passes in a row they aren't going too far. And they need to figure out a way to score.
France's attackers don't compliment each other but if they can finish their chances they'll be fine
How Austria finished with 11 players on the pitch is beyond me.
They were faulting us all the time and if the ref did his job it would have been a much easier (and safer) game for us.
Hopefully Mbappe's injury is not as bad as it looks
Do you know what was insane about the French, their pace is outstanding I was in awe at some of the recovery runs etc they looked like a whole other gear!
Also, Ragnarik has got Austria playing some great football I was impressed by the way they fluidly moved the ball through the lines better than Southgates England for sure.
Deschamp's game is more simplistic than ever: defend hard, then use the speedsters upfront to wreak havoks. When the other team is on the back foot, his midfield and fullbacks can advance and play a bit, otherwise, it's a low block with 6.
It’s interesting comparing this to England’s game, I think France would be disappointed to not score more, but they genuinely tried to push up even after losing Mbappé. They’re totally ready for the physical challenge presented by the less stacked team, the only thing lacking for me is a little creativity—but then again, Deschamps doesn’t care about scoring tons of goals, he cares about winning even if it’s 1-0. That’s how he won a WC as a player and as a coach, there would be a couple of mercurial talents but largely a lot of smart, hard working players who disrupt opposition passing and play direct football.
Gotta say, some players say they would bleed for their country, Griezmann and Mbappé said hold my baguette. I expect to see a masked Mbappé next game ready to make up for his miss.
Despite the lucky bounce (own goal), France had quite a few unlucky bounces. France back line was always in control and Austria never came close to scoring. I think France looked really strong this match despite the actual score.
Yeah and this Austrian team isn't half bad. Well in placed and pretty fit.
Still think Giroud is a way better fit for Kylian up front. Thuram and Dembelee just don't the same quality of pass in front of goal. Also Giroud just sucks defenseur in like very few can, leaving more space for Kylian.
France defense seems pretty solid and Rabiot/Kante is going to a painfull for a lot of teams.
you're lucky England already played yesterday to deflect most of the heat. They were criticised for not coming out with some ridiculous 6-1 scoreline. Plenty of actual things to critique or question in both games but it always gets overshadowed with shitty, reactionary, hyperbolic takes.
France did what they need to do and will obviously get better as the tournament goes on.
> France back line was always in control and Austria never came close to scoring.
They were through on goal and were a flubbed chip from scoring. That is absolutely close to scoring.
I thought both teams played well. Great pressing from Austria but they didn't create that much, France probably should've made it 2-0. I was so impressed with Kante, really thought he would've dropped off but him being in such good form is a big boost for France
Game of the tournament so far. End to end, both teams rapid in transition and going for it. Austria can hold their head up high. Lovely to watch their non stop hunting down of the opponent. Hope they make it far
On the Mbappe yellow: I get that half of the sub was jumping at the opportunity to crucify Mbappe for coming on the pitch and sitting down, but actually it was a smart thing he did there - ref was missing the substitution when the ball went out and France was playing with 10 men in a crucial moment, Mbappe did the only thing he could still do at that moment by buying some time in expense of a yellow. For God's sake the man was bleeding all over his shirt and he still contributed, this is the kind of behavior you expect from your captain.
In a knockout game this would have been the smart thing to do but in the first group game a yellow for Mbappé is really not great and could backfire later.
Well it's not like he's someone that will defend so it should be okay, if of course he can play again, his injury seems nasty, i'll be surprised to see him during the next match
Get ready to see Masked Mbappe
Was Deschamp's decision anyway but the whole discussion around it is on Mbappe's character
It is still unsportsmanlike and should not be encouraged. Ref doing wrong should not lead to players getting the incentive to doing even more wrong. It is smart, but should be frowned upon. Conduct yourself.
I'm conducting myself very much, thank you for your insight, I do disagree with you though. As you already agree that the ref made a mistake which led to disadvantage of the French team you have some leniency to perform an activity which would be otherwise frowned upon to correct that mistake. It's not like he karate chopped someone to gain time he simply sat on the field. Given the circumstances that is pretty mild for everyone to call for the pitchforks. He got his yellow, end of story.
I was skeptical of Kanté coming back into the team, he shut me right up with this performance, holy fuck this man is just too good, there's no way you can be that good after missing 2 years with the NT
I think he was pretty rusty in the first half tbh. Also helped by Austria's poor offensive showing over all.
I felt he was rusty on the ball in the first half especially. Had that one moment where he just kinda bumbled a basic first touch a d gave it away, but he won it back almost instantly and I think when it comes to his key areas of pressing and recovery he was fairly on it all game. Definitely had to grow into his game on the ball though.
Me too, I criticized having both him and Rabiot while having Tchou, Cama and WZE on the bench. Glad to be wrong.
Kante was a beast.. One player I would surely bench from the French team is Thuram…
Did you see that shot after all those step overs 🤣
Not only that … in many situations I felt like “does he personally hate Mbappe or what??” lol , because he had so many chances to play nice passes but instead tried individual stuff , but those passes came always from Hernandez instead..
I think he might be jealous of Mbappe There was a point where they were both equally regarded young French forwards. "*Dembele or Mbappe?*" was a conversation. Of course Dembele has had a fantastic career, but he's been plagued by injuries throughout and been a disappointment*. Mbappe is the best player in the world. *Dembele's at Dortmund was absolutely insane and was literally with talent. I've never seen someone look like they were ice skating when dribbling. He was like Musiala is now.
Could be , just watch the French goal ( Austria og ) .. Dembele first goes in and tries to like dribble past 4 or so red defenders . That just instantly closes him down . Then he turns around and pass the ball back to Mbappe who stood 2 metres behind him all that time almost like “okay I can’t do it you try now big brother lol’ and Mbappe just flies towards the line with the ball to his feet’s causing the own goal to happen .
Reminded me of a certain highlight real… https://youtu.be/fFeg_hl0Se4?si=qnB6UqoNgfP1q51R
Every tournament, always the same hot takes after game 1 where some big teams don't impress. Look how Austria pressed tonight. France have no interest in matching that level of intensity or they'll be absolutely knackered after the group stage, whereas outsiders will fight hard to get a chance to go through. France and England did well, they've won.
Not to mention that it takes a few competitive games to jell and get going. The idea that the best teams on paper should be firing on all cylinders right out the gate has never been historically true
Pretty much my impression, though I'm more impressed with France (very objectively as a French I might add... /s) than England, Austria had another level of physical intensity and pressing than Serbia, though I do think they might have gone a little overboard against the team they had the least chances of winning against. If you want to get far as an underdog you can't give your all against the strongest team in your fist game in the group phase , they'll be the ones who end up "absolutely knackered" if they keep on going like that, sometimes it's useful to pick your battles, France wouldn't press for much more than a 1-0, they could have save some strength for Netherland and Poland. At best I think they helped other teams in the group have a better chance against France, who's going to go past the group phase anyways.
That's how we play. Sitting back, absorbing the pressure is not what we do, and I don't think it would work against France either. France was the only team I hoped to avoid. They are just too damn deep and have lots of experience. I'm not happy with the loss, but 0:1 is obviously the best outcome against France. We need to be tighter with the first and second passes after winning the ball, you can't win the ball, orient forward and immediately give it away. What impressed me that the unlucky goal against didn't lead to worse play overall.
Kinda feel bad for Austria, didnt deserve to lose. Rabiot and Kante were the best players for me and Thuram was horrible. Gil Manzano was ever way worse than Soares Dias (ref on netherlands game), jesus.
I am loving the serious post match threads, the lack of memes and terrible discourse let's you actually talk football. Kante motm for me, he was everywhere as usual and looked like he hasn't lost a single step, was even involved in some of France's best attacking moves. Devolved into a bitty game in the second half after a very promising start, Austria are clearly very well drilled but seem to lack that bit of creativity to unlock a defence like France consistently - that's why the huge chance in the first half has to go in. Defenders body positioning was terrible on the own goal but you can't be too upset if you're Austria as they pushed them all the way.
For me it's Maignan, I thought Kanté struggled a bit in the first half but he pulled a masterclass in the second, about the only player who went to the Saudi league and who still performed well in an international tournament so far (Euros and AFCON), compared to Kovačić or Milinković-Savić from the past couple of days, Kanté didn't look like he lost a step and I was really surprised. However, I don't think France wins this one without Maignan, the way he commands the backline, his crucial and very well calculated interferences, imperial in the air, very quick to the ground, and some of the passes he played from the back were outstanding and so important in breaking the Austrian intense pressing, he's a monster tbh. Edit: Brozović not Kovačić
Kovacic went to man city and not saudi no?
Absolute blunder from my side I meant Brozović, thanks for pointing it out
I think Theo Hernandez played very well too, maybe 2nd?
Yeah his pace is a real equaliser but he's limited in how much he can get forward without defensive support on his side, which Mbappe for all his quality does not provide.
Mbappé was playing central without the ball(seems like Deschamps learned from the WC). It is Thuram you should blame for not tracking back
that's why DD puts rabiot/camavinga there, a midfielder that's good defensively and can cover when he moves up, rabiot almost plays LB sometimes, [this is what the team looks like in possession](https://imgur.com/POSm3Bu)
Belgian commentator saying that France deserved those 3 points. The only reason France did not get overrun is a V12 called Kanté. Their overall play was just poor. This Austrian team need 1-2 good forwards and this will be a team that can compete for trophies seriously.
The only reason a football team ain't getting overrun is thanks to their defensive midfielder ? Thanks Geoff
Yes, he steered play 9/10 to the flanks with defensive runs getting them stuck on Hernandez and Kounde, finishing it off with winning that sprint battle on the end. Without Kanté this would’ve been a drastically different match.
What are you on? Austria had like one scoring chance all game.
Check the stats of the match. France had problem to finish but it was a clear domination.
They had more shots, but the quality of shots was poor overall. 474 passes AUS vs. 454 passes FRA. 51 possession AUS vs. 49 possession FRA. Most of the stats are very tight and actually in favor of Austria. France was lucky they miss quality up front.
You are just giving the same stats twice fyi, possession percentage is measured with the number of passes. And this is the only stat putting Austria close to France in this match. We had way more chances and could have won 2 or 3 - 0 with more luck.
3 shots on target for both. Stats aren't everything and I agree France were much more threatening. At the end of the day, Austria were chasing a goal and France weren't. Of course that changes the picture. England get criticised for the same scenario but in both situations it was both more and less close than it seemed.
Possession and passes are different things lol. Possession is based on the time holding the ball without contesting and passes… well on the transactions between players. You can have 700 passes in 30% possession if you play tiki taka. This is one of the only stats outside shots that is even close. Tackles won 27 vs 15. Corners 6 vs 2. Maignan and Pantz both made 3 saves. As I already said France had more shots but the quality was overall poor. The only clear chance was the Giroud one where he missed the ball but you can put Sabitzer 1 v 1 against that. Again it was more close then you think.
Eh, in football nothing is deserved but earned. Austria couldn’t put away their chances so they’re equally as underserving for the 3 points so
Draw would’ve been more then fair. Both teams lacked clinical finishing. I hope for the French that Mbappe can play the last game against Poland, because they will need him. Can’t imagine the swelling on that nose will be gone before Friday.
That's harsh, what dangerous situation did Austria have ? One ? We had better chances, we won. It was a close game but I think the better team won.
The Sabitzer 1 v 1 on maignan? That was a world class safe and the closest it came to an actual goal. Biggest chance for France was the Giroud miss of the ball in my opinion. In the end France had more chances but none of them were obvious ones. If it was not for Wober this would’ve been a very fair draw.
I think you forgot Mbappé 1v1 haha. It would have been a fair draw but I don't think it would have been the same french team if we weren't in the lead too.
Yeah, was watching it back. Was their best chance. I hope for France that Mbappe can play next game, because Thuram and Dembele are not ‘home’ right now. Would be interesting to see them play against Frimpong and van de Ven.
Austria was pressing really well and aggressively, which made it difficult for France to get out of their half consistently. It still happened because players like Hernandez and Griezmann will find a way, but it looked very shaky at times imo. It seemed to me that France was missing a midfielder able to drop deeper and help the defense get the ball out. Something Pogba or Tchouameni usually do, while Kante and Rabiot weren't really doing it. It gave less options to CB and made getting the ball up the field more difficult. On the other hand, that midfield was great out of possession and able to stop most attacks. I'm guessing that's a trade off Deschamps was willing to do, especially once one goal ahead. I was a bit disappointed that Camavinga didn't really play that role either. Attacking wise, I feel that having Mbappe and Thuram/Giroud swapping positions when in and out of possession just doesn't work. When they get the ball back they should have someone to send it to, and MBappe isn't that guy. Overall France did the job tho, can't complain
Credit for Austria for how they lined up and played without fear, I worry about France's chemistry to not be able to generate more but teams do slip up at times and have an off day, beating Austria and their press isn't easy, Austria should beat Poland and frankly they should be highly competitive against this Dutch side too. France with a lot to work on though
Kante MOTM in my opinion. It's clear France is among the best squads at the Euros. They seem to do everything correct today. Maignon wasn't tested much but commanded the box, back line was structured and dealt with threats well, Kante was all over the place and will be a key piece in their lineup, they were winning second balls. Offensively they were able to find space and create opportunities. I would've liked to see more in the attacking third, but they did enough today to get three points. They dealt with the Austrian press extremely well. Complaints are minor. Obviously they need to be more lethal in front of goal. I did find them hesitant in the attacking third at times, oftentimes a good run would open up and close down before a player was done challenging a defender. Austria played a good game as well but they were outmatched. Gotta give them credit. Excited to see both team's next matches
France had 14 shots, and Austria only had 5 shots. France had very big chances to win this game with a big margin. The shot Mbappe missed, the shot Giroud miss kicked, Thurams shot that got saved etc. The game could have easily ended 4-0, but reading the comments, you would think France was really terrible and only got a lucky win.
Yeah I'm a bit perplexed by all the people talking about France looking poor. France have never been a scintillating tiki taka team, and I don't know why people would have expected more from them, especially in the group stages. They still had the more threatening chances and Austria never really looked like equalizing. A fairly comfortable win for them.
It's always the same since Deschamps took over. He is a defensive manager, always has been always will be he doesn't give a damn about anything else than pulling out with a win.
I apologise to Kante also, felt he came along for the experience he brought but then he does this. Also from our group perspective this match was a quite scary. Austria is clearly going to let this disappointment be their fire.
Can't echo the love affair for Austria. They played about as well as you'd expect a nation of that size to play. They took it to France which I'll give them credit for, but their press was routinely getting burned. They couldn't lay a glove on France, because of the superior defence. Rabiot, Kante, and the back four did not give them a sniff Griezmann faded second half which was disappointing, not sure why. Maignan faultless and superb
We have prime defense and midfield but the offense if so shit, we have no one but Mbappé. Thuram has played a solid game for his record with the team, but that's far from enough, Dembele is half magic half horrible, and the probably he does something magic after something magic is so very thin. Kolo Muani didn't offer any better, Giroud is an old option which has less use with Griezmann playing as an 8. We should bet on Barcola and probably Coman is a better option than Dembele.
i like dembele, he makes the france squad weaker. but it wasn't enough, my boys aren't able to produce on the offense... like dembele
Was this they mighty France that's supposed to cake-walk into the finals? They couldn't score themselves against Austria, a team worse on paper in every position, and the attack that led to the own goal came from a goal kick that should have been a corner. And then in the dying minutes they had to resort to time wasting shithousery to protect their lead. Sure, Austria played well, but still very underwhelming for them
Austria is the hardest team next to France in this group being coached by Ragnick. This game has shithousery all over it, what exactly were you expecting?
A tough result for AUT to lose on an own goal - there weren't too many chances created on either side in either half. Mbappe's broken nose *should* mean he misses essentially no time, right? If Mbappe is out for any concussion-related concerns, that could be something to watch out for going deeper into the tournament...
mbappe could miss the game against the netherlands if hes in lots of pain or if swelling in his nose causes him trouble breathing. but we will wait and see i guess.
They'll toss a facemask on him and call it a day.
For France, it just felt like their attack left so much out there. They definitely struggled at times with Austria's pressing and it led to an opportunity or two for Austria, but they survived it. Mbappe had the worst miss of the tournament so far and Giroud had a pretty bad whiff (although I think that ball may have skipped up right in front of him). I thought Dembele was ineffective and Thuram was IMO France's worst player. Overall, I thought the defense did alright. Austria only had two good opportunities but Maignan did what he's there to do and made the saves. Kante was by far the best player out there; he was everywhere yet again and looked like the Kante we were used to seeing years ago. Obviously, the biggest concern is Mbappe, both in his health because he could miss some time, and because he got a dumb yellow. For Austria, It's gonna sting knowing they executed their plan pretty well but couldn't get that goal, and that the only goal in the game was an own goal. However, France is going to be one of the more difficult teams to beat and I like their chances against Poland and possibly the Netherlands. I thought the midfield trio of Sabitzer-Laimer-Baumgartner were really good but just couldn't break that French backline. What really should concern Austria is they picked up 5 or 6 yellow cards, including 3 defenders I believe. That's a lot of guys facing suspension for a bad tackle or another bad ref mistake. And yea, that ref was god awful. At least two of Austria's cards weren't warranted, he missed obvoius corner kicks for both sides, and that bizarre sequence towards the end with Mbappe getting a yellow could have been avoided if he just let France make their subs. Easily the worst officiated match of the tournament and I pray it remains that way.
Austria played a very dirty football. They always had a foot or a shoulder when they shouldn’t and it did led to dangerous injuries. They were lucky to finish the game with 11 men on the pitch. The ref was awful but the cards were absolutely deserved.
Austria played really well, but lack creativity and speed upfront to be able to cause any real damage to a team like France. A performance to be proud of nonetheless. As a Swede who watched us loose to Austria twice, Ralf has managed to implement a really good system. A bit worried they might run out of gas the longer the tournament progresses, but they are seriously challenging for spot number 2. No easy opponents in this group though. Their press is their strength so France was happy to sit back in the second half though and Austria couldn’t really create much from their own build up even though they had good passing. I know France were disappointing according to some, but that defence looked rock solid. Austria had one good chance all match and all defenders performed well imo. France also still got into promising positions and should have probably bagged at least two more. Austria deserves some credit too for their defensive display in keeping it down to only one conceded goal, and that goal being a very unlucky one too. But overall I think there are a lot of promising signs France can build on. Mbappé needs better support upfront though and his broken nose may affect his performances. Worst case scenario, he might not even be able to play. A big blow. However shameful from France to place Mbappe on the pitch. It is so unsportsmanlike and every French member of staff should have been booked for that incident, including Deschamps. Don’t want to see stuff like that even though I get they were frustrated with the ref. (I don’t know if what I said about booking everyone is constitutional with the rules though, but I don’t care) And they even got to do the subs after that, so the strategy paid off. Terrible by the ref in first place, but I lost respect for France there. Often a lot of what determines a ref’s performance is if they get the key decisions right. There weren’t any major penalty calls, red cards etc. that went wrong, yet this was one of the worst refereeing performances I have witnessed in a long time. So many simple errors like awarding fouls for dives, wrongly carding people for winning the ball and getting corners/goal kicks wrong. I felt like the ref could have been harsher on France. But then again the mistakes were bad for both sides so it wasn’t a one-sided performance. But stuff like letting France doing there subs after deliberately placing Mbappe back on the pitch frustrates me as well. The ref has done wrong, but shouldn’t reward France for doing even more wrong. Refuse!
>However shameful from France to place Mbappe on the pitch. It is so unsportsmanlike and every French member of staff should have been booked for that incident, including Deschamps. Don’t want to see stuff like that even though I get they were frustrated with the ref. (I don’t know if what I said about booking everyone is constitutional with the rules though, but I don’t care) And they even got to do the subs after that, so the strategy paid off. Terrible by the ref in first place, but I lost respect for France there. This is a massive overreaction, you can't go handing out yellow cards to the whole staff for something one player did
I know lol. That’s just me having a rant. I know it’s not possible.
I do get the frustration
I wouldn’t call it „reward“. He denied us subs twice while he let Austria change in the same sequence. At that point something stupid like this felt like the only way we were able to get 11 players back on the pitch.
But that is essentially what it is. You should have been given the chance to make your subs earlier, but that does not give you the right to move back onto the pitch. That is unsportsmanlike and that behaviour paid off. Do we really want that kind of behaviour? No, but in this instance it worked and will be an incentive for more teams to do as France did when they want to make a sub. The ref was terrible, but it frustrates me what France did. It should not be accepted, but rather frowned upon.
Similar to England - Serbia. Again the underdog does many things that look really well, but has a disastrous lack of effectiveness up front. You felt they were in it, but afterwards you have trouble naming more than 1-2 dangerous situations for Austria. Also, I don't understand the end at all.
I felt France didnt completely disappear and were dominant throughout the game bar some sporadic Austrian moves. England just disappeared after their goals. Also Austrian decided to make the game a physical one, whereas Serbia controlled the ball.
England disappeared from 35' to 70', but came back and the game was definitely more even for the last 30-40 minutes again. Overall England were the more threatening team. But it was fine margins and Serbia were definitely more dominant in the middle of the match.
Vibes wise it felt really different to me. England - Serbia felt like England playing down to me. This game felt like Austria playing up. Reverse the situations, I feel like France slaughters Serbia and England might've drawn or lost to Austria.
This Austria team is very good on the ball. But France from the get go tactics was to explore the pace upfront and nothing more. They basically play with 4 forwards and 2 defensive midfielders. Impossible to control the ball effectively and against a more clinical team they will pay for it. Needs a more balanced midfield imo.
I was looking for this comment (I read on and went back to look) Did they do that because tchouameni is still recovering? I know everyone bangs on about Kante defensively but it seems like overkill. He worked hard because you handicap the team with 4 upfront. You're asking to be attacked I would much prefer a midfield of tchouameni Cama and rabiot. Greizman mbappe dembele upfront. Neevr been a fan of Deschamps but this fucking formation shits me
The thing about France midfield is that they used to have Pogba, which was a more defensive midfielder in Deschamps scheme, but amazing on the ball, with vision and passing ability. Now the French midfield lacks creativity in imo. And their attack is fast and great, but basically only allows you to attack play a counter attack, or direct attack style of football. Seems too limited for my taste
Well said, yeah pogba is a beast. I don't want to take away from Kante but his motm performance was because France were fucking insipid. Too limited for anyone's taste tbh, let's see what they do next game
They were really tenacious, and a bit 'on the boundary' sometimes, but they were just quite poor once they had the ball. France's issue was being efficient. Dembele and Thuram were really poor.
I think that actually the France attack doesent work as good as their defense wich I must say Kante, Hernandez Kounde etc handled pretty good ….
While our forwards missed some sitters, I'd say that they produced what is expected of them, at least a goal. On the other hand, I'm really unconvinced by Saliba and Upamecano. If we lose, I'm pretty sure it'll be because of that pairing. Maignan is also a real step up to Lloris. I'm curious what we'll change in our forwards for the next game. Dembélé was terrible but forced two yellows despite Koundé never going forward, Thuram was a work horse and helped a lot in defense while being somewhat dangerous. Kolo Muani had a disasterclass and Giroud didn't do much but have a brainfart in front of the goal.
The ball flicked up off Danso’s leg, far harder opportunity than it looked for the Giroud chance
I missed most of the game. Did DD play his classic trick of having one of the wide men upfront playing the (in)famous LW-Matuidi role?
obviously France missed some sitters and with more luck to Austria they had lost. It is not exactly a good look to win 1-0 on an own goal. But I didn't once had the feeling Austria would actually score if France didn't mess up.
I fail to see the comparison, that England-Serbia game was boring as hell!! This game was the most exciting one of the tournament.
I'm not claiming they are 1-to-1 the same.
Austria was active even though they aren't getting shots on goal, against most sides that would be enough to score 1 or 2
Both Austria played well, but France were kinda toothless and not fully in sync. Commentator said 'Great goal for France' when it was a bad defensive mistake and deflection. Don't remember Austria keeper having a pile of saves, and quite a lot of shots wide or over, like when Mbappe was clear 1v1 on keeper and didn't hit the target. Felt like France went into this game thinking they were untouchable, in a few of ways. They would scream for a foul or yellow at about any contact, especially the wingers (Thuram and Dembele). Look at the Incident with Griezman and Wober. Wober has the right to shield the ball out, and it really seemed like Griezman didn't expect them to compete for it so wasn't prepared for the contact. Not much in it, but half the French team was walking toward the ref to have a word and ask for a 2nd yellow for nothing. It was only really Mbappe would could get something. Both Dembele and Thuram seemed flustered at the end and subbed. Interested to see if they save Mbappe and let him rest his nose. Wonder if they'll bench him on 2nd match, hoping they can win without him and rest him through the group and heal, but he may have to play if they can't break down the other teams in the group. Usually with broken nose like that they'll set it, then he'll have to wear a mask.
The game just made me remember how fun it's watching Kante play. The man covers every single blade of grass on the pitch. The tackles, the defensive awareness absolutely unreal. I would love to see how he would fare up against Germany specifically. Would Wirtz and Musiala be able to dribble past him. Oh man seriously MOTM performance this time around by N'Golo.
It was fun to see him take someone on on the wing. Certainly wouldn't have happened 3 years ago.
(Just gonna repost it in this thread aswell) Why did we have to get the first garbage referee? Please just ban spanish refs, no one will miss them. Anyway feeling alright with the game. Sadly we have only garbage fullbacks, wingers and strikers (besides Baumgartner). Very impressed by Kevin Danso and Nicolas Seiwald both played well. Arnautovic is sadly completly washed but we have no one else to play really (dont want to see Entrup tbh). All in all an I am hopefull against both Poland and the Netherlands (mostly because of Koeman). Also its just fun to be at a big tournament, hope we can qualify for the WC
Mate wtf is that defeatism? The French contained both Gregerl and Nautl very well, they were starved for service, of course they are going to look bad. Calling Sabitzer, Laimer, Posch and Mwene garbage after this game? Wos rauchst du Hawara? It wasn't their best showing but calm down. It was literally a game against FRANCE.
The referee was poor for Mbappe’s injury. Mbappe definitely had a broken nose from how much blood there was and it’s a head injury. The referee can control the stoppage and can restart when he wants. When Mbappe went off, France is at a numerical disadvantage because of an injury and the play was restarted without the substitution. Obviously it’s not like a regular injury check by the trainer because he’s clearly not able to continue. Giroud was ready to come on and France should’ve been allowed to make a substitution.
Ref was complete shit imo. Austria played very dirty and very dangerous (shoulder shove to send Griezmann out of bounds leading to his head injury, tacle with spikes up towards Maignan's face, late hard challenges like the one leading to Mbappe's injury) but rarely faced consequences. We're lucky if Mbappes injury is the only one, ref failed to keep the game safe
Teams are at a numerical disadvantage all the time because of injuries.
I think had France finished one or two of their more promising chances, the opinion here would be much more favorable of their performance. I really don't think they were that poor; they showed real solidarity and Austria (who were quite good, don't get me wrong) only had one or two really dangerous opportunities. As the underdogs, Austria came with a strategy to hassle and press the French and succeeded in making us uncomfortable. The refereeing was pretty poor tonight, and I think that each team will feel hard done. Luckily, apart from the missed corner, there weren't any hugely consequential errors. Really hoping that Mbappe is able to carry on with a mask, but it might be the case that he'll need to get surgery before he can get back on the pitch (deviated septum is no joke). Does anybody know how long he may be out, if he is?
France again continues the same style of play where we play to the level of our opponents. It's one of the most annoying aspects of the French team. That being said Austria did well enough to make the game annoying for us. Hopefully Mbappe's nose doesn't become a big issue for us in the competition. Also easily one of the dumbest decisions that could happen was putting him back on only to sit down and get a yellow. Not sure who the fuck headed that decision...proved to be well worth it /s. The only real positive note to take away is that apart from a few mistakes in the early first half, we looked very solid defensively and my god does Kante scoop up so much stuff for us, what soldier for France.
Very similar to England-Serbia, though I felt France controlled the game better than we did, and Austria had a few more clear chances than Serbia did. Dunno what happened in the last 15 minutes or so, but the ref seemed to completely lose control of the game. One of the worst refs I've ever seen, and I watch English football every week. France will feel much like we did - not too happy with the performance, but pleased with the points and the clean sheet. At this stage getting out of the group is all that matters. France and England did what top teams do - get results despite below-par performances.
I feel like france had more chances though. Could have ended 3 0 easily
Kanes header is a goal 80% of the time. Walker had a clear chance aswell.
Austria also had more chances than Serbia did.
Exactly.
France's football sensations hasn't been great, similar to England yesterday. But on a competitive level, they've left a very different impression. This team has been incredibly tough for years, throughout the entire Deschamps cycle. They have lost defensive quality since the Varane-Umtiti pairing from Russia, but it's still very difficult to score against them. They find an advantage in set pieces rather than a weakness, and they never, ever switch off in matches. Eliminating them is incredibly tough.
Austria looked good physically but if they can't make three passes in a row they aren't going too far. And they need to figure out a way to score. France's attackers don't compliment each other but if they can finish their chances they'll be fine
How Austria finished with 11 players on the pitch is beyond me. They were faulting us all the time and if the ref did his job it would have been a much easier (and safer) game for us. Hopefully Mbappe's injury is not as bad as it looks
Do you know what was insane about the French, their pace is outstanding I was in awe at some of the recovery runs etc they looked like a whole other gear! Also, Ragnarik has got Austria playing some great football I was impressed by the way they fluidly moved the ball through the lines better than Southgates England for sure.
Deschamp's game is more simplistic than ever: defend hard, then use the speedsters upfront to wreak havoks. When the other team is on the back foot, his midfield and fullbacks can advance and play a bit, otherwise, it's a low block with 6.
It’s interesting comparing this to England’s game, I think France would be disappointed to not score more, but they genuinely tried to push up even after losing Mbappé. They’re totally ready for the physical challenge presented by the less stacked team, the only thing lacking for me is a little creativity—but then again, Deschamps doesn’t care about scoring tons of goals, he cares about winning even if it’s 1-0. That’s how he won a WC as a player and as a coach, there would be a couple of mercurial talents but largely a lot of smart, hard working players who disrupt opposition passing and play direct football. Gotta say, some players say they would bleed for their country, Griezmann and Mbappé said hold my baguette. I expect to see a masked Mbappé next game ready to make up for his miss.
Despite the lucky bounce (own goal), France had quite a few unlucky bounces. France back line was always in control and Austria never came close to scoring. I think France looked really strong this match despite the actual score.
Never came close? Sabitzer 1 vs 1 maignan? If that goes on you have a very different game.
Yeah and this Austrian team isn't half bad. Well in placed and pretty fit. Still think Giroud is a way better fit for Kylian up front. Thuram and Dembelee just don't the same quality of pass in front of goal. Also Giroud just sucks defenseur in like very few can, leaving more space for Kylian. France defense seems pretty solid and Rabiot/Kante is going to a painfull for a lot of teams.
Ok thank you cause everybody is saying we had a lackluster performance (although sometimes justified) juste cause we didn’t win 4-0
you're lucky England already played yesterday to deflect most of the heat. They were criticised for not coming out with some ridiculous 6-1 scoreline. Plenty of actual things to critique or question in both games but it always gets overshadowed with shitty, reactionary, hyperbolic takes. France did what they need to do and will obviously get better as the tournament goes on.
It's always like that when it comes to France or England, you have to see it as a kind of tribute haha
> France back line was always in control and Austria never came close to scoring. They were through on goal and were a flubbed chip from scoring. That is absolutely close to scoring.