Monsters in the midfield. Monsters in the defense. Watch out, Germany. France is still a real threat.
Paul Pogba and Raphaël Varane, arguably the best midfielder and the best central defender in the world. Both French. Both 22 years old.
UEFA Euro 2016 is next year, and the French National Team has built on its 2014 World Cup success to have an even stronger national team that must be regarded as one of the very best.
With Kurt Zouma and Raphaël Varane in the center of the defense and a midfield comprised of Blaise Matuidi, Morgan Schneiderlin, Geoffrey Kondogbia, and Paul Pogba, Les Bleus are a stacked and formidable squad poised to threaten Germany.
Not only is the entire spine of France virtually impenetrable, but every one of those midfielders and central defenders is technically-gifted – and all but Schneiderlin are truly world-class athletes.
Varane is a phenomenally smooth defender with explosiveness and refined fundamentals, and Zouma gives rivals night terrors.
While Varane is hard to wrong foot and next to impossible to outpace, Zouma is just plain scary to face.
With Varane, France already had arguably the best defender in the world, and Zouma has looked equally as good for Chelsea.
The French midfield is a four-man wall of center midfielders, and only Schneiderlin is strictly a defensive midfielder as opposed to the other three midfielders who are all complete center midfielders with the versatile to change positions during games.
Both Matuidi and Kondogbia are left-footed, but either one can line-up slightly right of center in the midfield. With Pogba best used in a more advanced position in the midfield, Matuidi or Kondogbia will have to be deployed as the right midfielder on paper.
With the exception of Schneiderlin, France’s midfield should prove to be a fluid trident of Matuidi, Pogba, and Kondogbia – any of them can play anywhere in the midfield.
While Antoine Griezmann deserves to start with Karim Benzema in the attack, Kingsley Coman of Juventus might just have too much skill, creativity, and speed to leave on the bench. Griezmann is an excellent passer and dribbler that leaves defenders for dead, but Coman is an a phenomenon like Varane and Pogba.
It’s unfair to Griezmann, but Coman might deserve to start over him for Les Bleus.
France has been excelling with the 4-3-3, and they should stick with this formation for consistency. In this set-up, Pogba can be thought of as part of the Front Three as a trequartista that defends.
In front of the Back Four, the two blocks of three would look as follows:
Matuidi Schneiderlin Kondogbia
Benzema Pogba Griezmann/Coman
As for the full 11, here is arguably France’s best line-up:
GK- HUGO LLORIS
RB- BACARY SAGNA
CB- KURT ZOUMA
CB- RAPHAËL VARANE
LB- LAYVIN KURZAWA / LUCAS DIGNE
RM- BLAISE MATUIDI
DM- MORGAN SCHNEIDERLIN
LM- GEOFFREY KONDOGBIA
AM- PAUL POGBA
F- KARIM BENZEMA
F- ANTOINE GRIEZMANN/KINGSLEY COMAN