Officialized this Tuesday, May 4 by UEFA, the information obviously did not catch any of the twenty-four coaches concerned by Euro 2021 (June 11-July 11) by surprise.
For more than a month, Didier Deschamps and his staff had been preparing for the idea of being able to summon twenty-six players (including three goalkeepers) instead of twenty-three.
Concretely, this expansion dictated by an unprecedented health context - it is a question of allowing the teams to mitigate any risk of contamination with Covid-19 and possible quarantine - will not fail, however, to have some impact on the list announced by the boss of the Blues on May 18.
Deschamps should be spoiled for choice
"I do not even think about it today because I do not have all the data anyway", explained the technician, questioned on the architecture of his future list at the end of the tricolor success in Bosnia on the 31st. March (1-0).
“Afterwards, I will have important choices to make, he estimated.
Maybe it will be a larger list, it would not be a bad solution for UEFA to make this decision.
Because in the situation today ... Instead of having twenty-three, twenty-five or twenty-six players, if there are positive cases, it's complicated.
There, I will follow them over the last two months and I will make decisions.
"
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More than a month has passed since this speech. Between now and May 18, the international calendar will not see any respite. For now, no bad news has come to darken the tricolor sky. Raphaël Varane, hit with an adductor, is injured, but his current unavailability does not seem to inspire any fear about his participation in the Euro. Engaging signals have even arrived from England where Anthony Martial resumed collective training on Monday. The Mancunian striker, hit in the left knee in Kazakhstan, will be eligible for the Euro.
Clearly, and barring contingencies to come, Deschamps will be spoiled for choice.
Even if he prepares himself as always to make difficult decisions by eliminating players, he will perhaps spare himself some dilemmas by summoning, for example, an additional reinforcement per line.
One last point, and not the least, is not neutral: all staffs will have to deal with the possible moods of the three players relegated to the stands at each meeting (only twenty-three on the score sheet).
For them, it does not change anything or almost
The triptych against Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Bosnia, in the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, had issued, in March, twenty-six tickets. If one of the four goalkeepers, very likely Alphonse Areola, will not participate in the continental adventure, the twenty-five other French all have, in slightly different ranks, reasons to believe in their star. Among the goalkeepers, Hugo Lloris, the captain, and his number two Steve Mandanda will be on the trip with Mike Maignan. In defense, Benjamin Pavard, Raphaël Varane, Presnel Kimpembe and Lucas Hernandez will also be called up. Lucas Digne, Leo Dubois, Kurt Zouma and Clément Lenglet are very credible applicants.
In the midfield, we will undoubtedly find Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kanté, Adrien Rabiot.
Tanguy Ndombele and Moussa Sissoko seem very favorable on waivers.
In attack, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappé and Olivier Giroud, despite a playing time that has become starved again these days at Chelsea, should be accompanied by Ousmane Dembélé, Wissam Ben Yedder, Anthony Martial and Kingsley Coman.
Who could be the beneficiaries?
Present in March, Ferland Mendy, likely to evolve left and right, had, then, totaled no minute during the three meetings. He could, in view of his consistency this season at Real Madrid, where he pushed Marcelo on the bench, benefit from this new situation. The remark also applies to Marcus Thuram or Nabil Fekir. Revelation of the fall, the first experienced a slightly more delicate passage then, marked in particular in December 2020 by a suspension linked to his spitting in the face of an opponent during a Bundesliga match. It has since become decisive again with Mönchengladbach. As for the former Lyonnais, more appeared in the Blues since September 2020, he allowed Betis Seville to climb to seventh place in the standings and believe in a continental qualification.
Steven Nzonzi's experience also remains an asset. Finally, it is possible to wonder about the fate of the Bleuets. In March, Deschamps had left several players (Aouar, Ikoné, Camavinga) at the disposal of his counterpart Sylvain Ripoll. "In May, before I make my list, obviously, the Euro A will return priority
",
had, however, specified the coach. Qualified for the rest of the Euro in their category, the Hopes will end their competition from May 31 to June 6, in Hungary and Slovenia. Should we expect to see one of the three nuggets - one thinks in particular of Camavinga - relish the “A”? At this point, the reflection is still ongoing.
