France’s Fluid Style of Football

Hosts France have a beautiful, fluid style of football, the kind of football to turn even the most staunchly disinterested into a fan. What have they shown us in the group stage, and how can we expect this to evolve in their upcoming matches?

The Good

One of France's strengths is in their work on the wings: more than any other team in the tournament, they are able to cut through the defence, especially on their right-hand side. This means that teams facing them are constantly on the back foot, trying to recuperate lost ground when Bussaglia makes yet another line-breaking pass into her forward line.

Compared to the USA, Germany, England and Canada, who average 2.9 line-breaking passes per game in the right channel, France have more than double:

The Bad

One of the surprising things about the French team is that their passing accuracy really falls under pressure. This is particularly true of their centre-backs, Wendie Renard and Griedge Mbock Bathy. Their passing accuracy falls to 59.3% and 55.6% respectively.

France’s attacking build-up depends heavily on the talents of its midfielders, who play a large number of incisive passes through the defences of their opponents. As the wingers push forward, these two use the width of the field and make line-breaking passes to the attackers.

Les Bleues will look to use the width of the field and capitalize on the counter-attack.

Follow us on Twitter @Sportlogiq throughout the tournament to learn more about how we see the game.