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Nedim Remili, the conductor
In the absence of Dika Mem, hit in the abdominals and absent for the second consecutive time after Saudi Arabia, Nedim Remili found his old role of right-back.
Which was not going to be a problem for him in a first royal act on his part.
With a formidable efficiency in shooting from a distance (5 out of 6), the player from Kielce also delivered the caviars for his partners for the first thirty minutes with eight decisive actions.
In the end, the French finished the game with 7 goals (out of 8 shots attempted) and 7 assists.
Great art.
Only marred by his injury around the 40th minute of play, and the legitimate concern it causes for the future, knowing that Guillaume Gille must also deal with the absence of Dika Mem for two matches.
The Blues take care of their ball losses
Since the start of the World Cup, the Blues had shown extreme generosity for a declared candidate for the title by offering 21 balls to their Polish and Saudi opponents.
A gap that had to be stopped on Monday, under penalty of being harshly punished by Slovenia.
As such, the first period was almost immaculate with only one loss of the ball, in the 3rd minute of play. And after that nothing until the break.
A solidity that was hardly going to be called into question during a second act with three loss of ball.
For a total of four which looks much more like what one is entitled to expect from a candidate for the world title.
A more impermeable defense
Faced with the Poles and the Saudis, without wanting to disrespect these two nations, the French defense had not really been tested.
Which was not the case this Monday against the Slovenians who were particularly impressive during their first two outings in terms of the fluidity of their collective game.
But the return of Luka Karabatic has given the Blues a solid footing in the central sector and apart from a few passages, Slovenia has never been able to devour spaces as they like to do.
Especially since Vincent Gérard was able, at the start of each period, to take out the necessary parries (11 saves) to prevent Dean Bombac and his partners from gaining confidence and reciting their scales.
FLOPS
The success in shooting of the Blues
On the difficulty of being perfect.
If on the one hand the French had managed to drastically reduce their number of bullet losses, on the contrary, they saw their success in shooting drop sharply during the first act, to go from 70% since the start of the competition to a small 55 %, which explained that Slovenia does not completely take on water.
Like Kentin Mahé, author of a 3 out of 7 during the first thirty minutes, the Blues tended to stumble too much on Urban Lesjak.
Worse, twice, Valentin Porte and Melvyn Richardson found the face of the Slovenian goalkeeper, which was synonymous with two exclusions for two particularly damaging minutes.
In the second half, however, this percentage would rise to 64%.
Jure Dolenec and the Slovenians in the hard
The former Montpellier player will have been the symbol, despite himself, of the difficulties of his team on Monday.
By missing a seven-meter throw against Vincent Gérard, Jure Dolenec set the tone for an oh-so-delicate meeting for him, finished with a meager one out of five on shots.
Rok Ovnicek quickly touched, Slovenia lost two of its artists, while Dean Bombac, without demerit (5 goals and 4 assists), however did not manage to impose his paw on the game of his people.
Result, it has often relied solely on the talent of Aleks Vlah, author of 9 goals and 5 assists.
But he was too alone to bring down the beautiful French edifice.