Friday, June 11, 2010

Group A: France v. Uruguay Preview

Europe's biggest underachiever faces off with the South American team of the same distinction. On paper, France - as usual - looks the much better side, and Uruguay may struggle to contain France's wide players. Uruguay plays a traditional 3-5-2, with two very hard-working wingbacks - Alvaro Pereira on the left, Maxi Pereira on the right (no relation) - covering the wide positions, meaning that these two players must shoulder both the offensive and defensive burdens on the wings entirely on their own. France has a plethora of wide players, all recently given even more license in its new 4-3-3 formation. On the right there is Sidney Govou and the attack-minded defender Bacary Sagna, and the left there is the dangerous Franck Ribery supported by Patrice Evra (Florent Malouda, a natural left-winger, is deployed out of place in central midfield, but has a tendency to drift wide into his preferred wider position too). France will want to use its numerical advantage on the wings to supply the striker - Yoann Gourcuff, the typical central playmaker, is likely to be tightly man-marked by Walter Gargano and will struggle to find space.

To read more, go here:

No comments:

Post a Comment