Kurt Zouma

The New French Defense: Raphaël Varane and Kurt Zouma

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After the emergence of Raphaël Varane onto the world stage as a prodigy of a central defender with lightning pace, effortless technical skill, and strong defensive instincts and fundamentals, there was a question about whom would partner Varane in the center of the French defense.

Kurt Zouma is the answer to that question. Zouma is a monster of a central defender not only in his physique and athleticism, but also in his technical skill and ability as a man-marker and tackler.

Zouma has also proved to be a big threat offensively on set pieces. Let’s see what else the central defender (and defensive midfielder) shows in the attack.

The French National Team released some videos of Varane and Zouma juggling (along with Paul Pogba) and frankly they were scary good.

While most professional players playing for top clubs all display impressive technical skill as a given, the type of juggling that Zouma and Varane were doing looked worthy of a Ronaldinho or Neymar freestyle performance.

Even right now, the Zouma and Varane pairing has to be considered arguably the best center back pairing on the international level – and maybe the club level as well. It’s hard to think of a better pairing, especially since Brazil has been changing up their center backs and snubbing Thiago Silva (the best defender in the world).

Why is Zouma and Varane the best center back pairing in the world? Because Varane was already considered one of the top three or five center backs in the world, and now Zouma has been a standout for Chelsea. So what you have now is central defenders that are considered prodigies and both of them are very hard to beat for pace. They are also very comfortable with the ball at their feet.

With UEFA Euro 2016 coming up next year and the 2018 World Cup a few years away, it’s hard to see a better center back pairing in all of world football. Those two young defenders could be France’s central defense for the next decade.

The Zouma and Varane pairing should come to be considered the most formidable in soccer, and after France made a deep World Cup run in 2014, maybe France is an early favorite for the 2018 World Cup.

The New Look French National Team

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Raphaël Varane and Paul Pogba. (Photo: AFP)
Raphaël Varane and Paul Pogba. (Photo: AFP)

 

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