Analysis: How France overcame sloppy first half against Senegal | OneFootball

Two-time World Cup champions France put on dominant second half display against Senegal as Kylian Mbappé broke their all-time scoring record, but it was not smooth sailing for the whole encounter.

In the first half, it appeared that Les Bleus were going to struggle as other favourites had so far this tournament – with Spain being incredibly held by Cape Verde one of the stories of the tournament so far.

However, in the second half they improved drastically and put on a performance that highlighted why so many believe they can go all the way once again.

Mbappé’s first half struggles

Kylian Mbappé was at the head of the French side, and he played as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

The Real Madrid striker was playing on the shoulder of the Senegalese defence, and it was clear France looked to slip him in behind when dispossessing the opposition.

Within the first 15 minutes Mbappé had three opportunities in behind but failed to threaten after a poor first touch on each occasion.

However, it was clear that Mbappé wanted to use his pace in behind to exploit the Senegal defence when they stepped out.

As the first hydration break was called Mbappé had failed to impress. He had attempted two dribbles and been unsuccessful with both. One attempt saw him dispossessed easily and lead to a huge chance for Nicholas Jackson on the break.

Luckily for Mbappé Jackson would end up hitting the post, but he had few chances in the first half and when he did receive the ball was quite wasteful with it.

France’s fluid wing play

When in possession, France’s formation allowed them to have two wide players at all times when in possession.

These players were used to stretch the pitch, and the French could afford to do so due to the two holding midfielders, whose job was to nullify Senegal’s counters by these holding players allowing France the freedom to push higher and wider.

The French were fluid with their formation and often Michael Olise, Ousmane Dembélé, and Désiré Doué could be seen coming inside to receive.

However, as soon as they came inside the fullbacks, Theo Hernández and Jules Koundé, would replace them on the touchline.

Unlike Spain, who were very rigid in their formation when Cape Verde held them to a shock goalless draw, Les Bleus attempted to confuse the Senegalese defence and drag defenders out of position creating space for France to exploit.

In the first half though the French were sloppy, and for all their movement and fluidity they were sloppy on the ball and their decision making was poor.

They looked disjointed and failed to pick out the correct passes. Les Bleus lacked a good final ball and for all their possession they had created no big chances in the first half.

In the second half, the French were much more direct and drove at the Senegal defence. In the first period France had looked to work the ball around Senegal meaning Olise and Dembélé had few opportunities to run at the defence.

However, within the first 10 minutes of the second half Doué and Olise both had efforts at goal coming from direct and quick play.

Mbappé a further French player who benefitted from being able to run at the Senegal defence and shockingly was not awarded a penalty after a late Mané challenge.

France had shown how not to play with width in the first half and then how to do it in the second. They struck the balance between rigid structure and fluid movement.

The forwards continued to interchange but it was not as forced. The French attackers were more direct when they received the ball because the fullbacks and midfielders were not occupying the space they wanted to drive into.

In the second half, the role of the wide man had become effective. The play out to whoever was wide was not sloppy and then the final ball was much more deadly.

The extra man on the flank allowed France to overrun a tiring Senegalese side. With the extra man being more direct with their play France created far more chances in the second half.

The Role of Dayot Upamecano

Within the first half of the match one French player stood out. Surprisingly, it was not a forward player but their centre-half Dayot Upamecano.

The French defender was pivotal to the style of football the side wanted to play, with the high line and press of France meaning when Senegal did win back possession Upamecano had to be a dominant presence in defence.

He was the last line of French defence and played a stellar role in keeping the score to zero in the first half. Upamecano was a key reason France survived the first half, and their disjointed defensive structure.

Upamecano made recovery runs and won his duels. He was often in foot races with quick wingers like Ismaila Sarr but used his own speed and strength to shield the ball and nullify any danger.

He also dealt with the long balls from Senegal with relative ease and did not afford them the chance to break. This allowed sustained French pressure on the Senegal backline.

Upamecano had much less to do in the second half but continued to win duels. He looks to be a vital centre piece of the French side.

Although he saw some poor defensive displays around him, he remained solid throughout winning headers tracking runs and keeping Senegal at bay.

France’s second half rhythm

A tale of two halves for the French and for all their woes in the first half they became unplayable in the second. The lacklustre movement and play subsided. The fluidity of the team was now taking full effect.

France’s first goal came courtesy of Kylian Mbappé, and he showed why he is now France’s joint all-time leading goal scorer after a poor first half display. His movement off the ball created the space inside the box allowing him to finish superbly.

The assist came from Olise, and he was much more creative and dangerous in the second half. He had the vision to see Mbappé’s movement and instead of recycling play was direct and played it into Mbappé who did the rest.

France now appeared to be playing like the highly dangerous side we expected them to be.

France showed much more desire in the second period and were helped by a tiring Senegal side. Senegal struggled to continue their press allowing France to gain an extra yard on the Teranga Lions.

France’s second came about much like their first. As Senegal came out to chase the game, second-half substitute Bradley Barcola played on the shoulder of the defence.

He timed his run to perfection and exploited the space left by Senegal before finishing expertly.

Adrien Rabiot highlighted the role of the deep lying midfielder in the French formation as he played the ball through to Barcola. His role was to create when France regained possession and harness the pace within the French side.

Kylian Mbappé rounded off a phenomenal second half performance by getting his brace and becoming France’s solo all time leading goal scorer. It was a fantastic finish from Mbappé and once again France showed how lethal they can be when they are direct. Olise carries the ball before Mbappé produces the magic.

France must learn from their performances in both halves if they are to win the tournament. Their wide play is at its most effective when they have the spare man and they use him to be direct and attack the defence with pace.

Their transition needs to be much quicker and their fullbacks and wide players must get back into shape when defending, as stronger sides will exploit this.

France lose shape in transition

France operated with very attacking fullbacks. Koundé and Hernández are both players who want to get high and create but lacked the fundamentals when off the ball. Both fullbacks seemed reluctant to track back and opened up gaps for Senegal.

The key difference as the first half ended was the desire between the two sides. Senegal were battling for every ball and second ball, but France looked lazy and unwilling to put the hard yards in.

Ultimately, this meant that the French structure was poor and although the fluidity of the side could be a positive, they were not getting it right.

The French were fluid going forward but when in transition were unable to keep a defensive structure and in the first half Senegal were able to exploit the gaps left by numerous French players being out of position.

In the second half, France still looked like they could be exploited.

However, Senegal had tired and created less problems. This allowed France to get back into shape more easily. It was not as much of an effort to regain their defensive structure and the French seemed more inclined to track back.

Les Bleus played with greater structure and the fullbacks were stricter with their positioning. This meant there were less gaps they could be exploited in.

The fullbacks did still get high which left space, but the French had worn down Senegal, and they lacked the pace to do so.

In the final few minutes, France were exploited wide and Ibrahim Mbaye gave a lifeline to Senegal.

He drove down the right-hand side into the space left due to France being slow in transition, before rounding the fullback with relative ease and finishing.

Albeit Mike Maignan should probably do better, it highlights that the French can be exploited out wide due to the nature of their attacking width and reluctance to transition into a defensive structure.

France will need to address this issue if they are to not grow too dependant on the sole brilliance of their attack, and in particular their new all-time leading goalscorer Mbappé, if they are to avoid a shock against Iraq next Monday.

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