Quote:
Originally Posted by RapidPotential
2. Martial. He was brought on with so little time to make a difference. Why wasn't he up there as centre-forward instead of Gignac. He'd have offered much better mobility and he has the ability to get that half-yard for a shot. Giroud did a pretty good job considering his limited role as a target man, and Portugal did well to shut crosses in to him.
3. Pogba's defensive mentality. I don't know what was going on in his mind but if Ronaldo had gone off injured, it was his time to take charge and run the midfield. Instead he was getting all shy about it and gave a lot of respect (read: room in midfield) to Portugal. I don't like how he hollered at Matuidi, Sissoko and Gignac, because he didn't play well enough to warrant doing that. Hell, Sissoko was the French threat throughout the game. Pogba just proved why £100m for him is hyperbole and isn't worth the money. He hasn't proven to rise to occasions (CL Final 15 and now this).
|
The bit with Martial has been my biggest gripe with Deschamps on an attacking front. When I saw players like Payet, Griezmann, Martial and Coman emerging the way they did, the first thing that came to my mind was that any France manager has his front 4 right there. When you look at it, that front 4 should have had plenty of mobility and creativity to succeed against almost anybody. If the plan of using Giroud as a target man doesn't work, then the situation is begging for a more mobile player like Martial. Gignac reminds me of the wasteful Stéphane Guivarc'h, against whom I cursed a number of times for missing scoring chances in the 1998 World Cup.
Pogba... I think it's not his place to play as defensive midfielder. He puts in a shift when he can, but IMHO he's wasted as a sitter in front of the back 4. He should have been the box-to-box mid whereas Kanté and/or Matuidi fit better in tha CDM role. It goes to the main criticism people have against Deschamps about being too defensive when he uses 2 sitters in front of the Ds. Pogba is another Patrick Vieira, not another Claude Makélélé.
Quote:
Originally Posted by germanturkey
also, say what you want about ronaldo, but the guy went of and came back on twice before finally calling it quits. even if he was capable of 70%, he would have stayed on. it must have been crushing for him to go off. his dedication and commitment are things everyone who plays the game should look up to.
|
Can't argue against that. He's a very proud athlete, and he does a good job as a captain until the bitter end. I have to tip my hat off to him for encouraging his teammates from the sidelines as he did.