Guardians
If this Euro gave us great performances from goalkeepers unknown to the general public, Polish goalkeeper
Wojciech Szczesny
, holder of Juventus, had the opposite effect. He failed in his first match against Slovakia, with an own goal from a missed save, with the ball bouncing off his head (2-1 victory for the Slovaks). In his other matches, he suffered from the disorganization of his defense, but did not help his poorly assumed placement which left his rearguard still between two waters. He is our flop in the cages of this Euro 2020, but we must also mention another goalkeeper from Group E, the Slovak
Martin Dubravka
.
Against Sweden, he is guilty of a dangerous exit on Robin Quaison and causes a penalty that he will not stop (0-1).
Against Spain, he went from light, stopping Alvaro Morata's penalty, to darkness with a tap ... in his own goal, then two failed outings on Aymeric Laporte and Pau Torres (0-5).
Defenders
The entire French defense was a candidate for this eleven of the flops, as it seemed fragile in the group stage and so much it was shattered against Switzerland (3-3 ap, 4-5 tab).
Benjamin Pavard
is a symbol of blue evils. The right side was taken in his back by Attila Fiola against Hungary (1-1). He didn't stop Xherdan Shaqiri's cross on Switzerland's first goal before conceding a penalty in the second half. Offensively, he succeeded ... zero crosses. On the left side, we opt for
Raphaël Guerreiro
. Perhaps the least disappointing of the eleven, we will agree. But the native of Blanc-Mesnil was far from his level at Euro 2016. A goal against Hungary (3-0), another against his camp against Germany (2-4). Copy to review.
Didier Deschamps after France-Switzerland: "It really hurts"
In central defense, we regret to punish
Raphaël Varane
.
Often at the wrong time, the body badly oriented, he was totally beaten by Haris Seferovic on the second Swiss goal which relaunched the Nati in 8th.
Where did the leader of the 2018 World Cup go?
It would be unfair to evoke it by ignoring
Presnel Kimpembe
, also
missed
by his Euro, or
Clément Lenglet
, sent to coal by Didier Deschamps against these same Swiss.
Another incumbent in hinge in this "bad" eleven:
Antonio Rüdiger
, who will have been talked about by biting more or less Paul Pogba ... before biting the dust.
The Mannschaft took the water in every game, conceding 7 goals in 4 games.
We did not recognize the winner of the Champions League, a month before the Euro, with Chelsea.
Midfielders
We remain in Germany with an expected leader:
Thomas Müller
, recalled after two years of absence by Joachim Löw. The Bavarian has maintained his curse of the Euro: zero goals in 15 matches, while he is 10 goals in 16 World Cup matches. He did not float in the two difficult matches of his selection against France (0-1) and Hungary (2-2). He lost a face-to-face with Jordan Pickford against England (0-2), in the 8th. “
To have this opportunity and to waste it, it hurts like hell,
” he felt guilty after the meeting.
To accompany him,
Bruno Fernandes
. Being a club boss doesn't bode well in the selection, and Manchester United's game catalyst has proven it. Ghostly in Portugal's first two matches, he played the next two coming off the bench. Perhaps exhausted by his colossal playing time with the Red Devils. We almost completed the middle trio with another Portuguese, the Parisian defensive midfielder
Danilo
, also out of the starting XI during the Euro. We decided in (dis) favor of
Youri Tielemans
.
The Belgian weighed neither in the offensive animation of his team (0.5 pass before a shot / match), nor in the heart of the game (47% of duels won).
A neutral player, breaking with the one seen in Leicester and with whom he won the FA Cup last season.
Forwards
If this Euro has highlighted the importance of the collective, it has also shown that it is not that of the offensive stars. The attack of the Blues that "
all countries envy us
" returns home with only 6 goals scored, including 4 from Karim Benzema, but none from
Kylian Mbappé
. The Parisian prodigy has often been content to ask for the ball in the feet while he is able to make the difference in depth. His missed shot against Switzerland was just like a Euro to forget. Another disappointment:
Burak Yilmaz
.
The one who was the man of the title with the LOSC and present in our eleven of the Ligue 1 season, sank like the entire Turkish selection.
Silent in front of the goal, the “King Burak” was however awaited like top scorer of the Euro by some.
Tired and badly surrounded, he came home with three losses in the group stage.
Burak Yilmaz's incredible impact in Lille
Ante Rebic
also came home early, and he might not be back with Croatia anytime soon. The AC Milan winger was transparent during this Euro. He missed checks with a shovel and lost his percussion which usually allows him to tell the difference. Holder against Spain in the round of 16, he witnessed the sinking of his family with passivity (3-5 AD). Replaced in the 66th minute, he will quickly take his phone once Croatia has been eliminated to turn on his coach on his Instagram account, lamenting that the vice-world champions have "
no one to take this generation to a higher goal in the world. 'Euro
". A statement that will surely not forget Zlatko Dalic when making his list for the World Cup. In other disappointments, we could have cited
Ciro Immobile
, European champion but terribly absent from the Italian game, the German
Timo Werner
, who continued on his series of misses started at Chelsea, or the Welshman
Gareth Bale
, whose goals and leadership status had remained in Cardiff.
