Match date: 19 November 2013

The first leg of the tie saw Ukraine win 2-0 in Kiev and many doubting that France would be able to make a comeback significant enough in the second leg to make it to Brasil.

Didier Deschamps made numerous changes to the side that lost in Kiev, dropping Eric Abidal, Samir Nasri, Loic Remy, and Olivier Giroud, with Laurent Koscielny suspended as well. Mathieu Valbuena, Mamadou Sakho, Raphael Varane, Yohan Cabaye, and Karim Benzema were all brought into the side. It wasn’t just the personnel that were different however, with Deschamps opting for a 4-3-3 rather than a 4-2-3-1, which proved to be much more effective for France.

Mathieu Valbuena

Overlooked in the first leg, but Deschamps opted to bring in Valbuena over Nasri for the second leg and he had an incredible influence on the match, being given something of a free role. WIth Ukraine playing in a 4-2-3-¼-4-1-1, Valbuena’s movement throughout the match allowed France to an extra man into the centre of the field and allowed them to dominate possession. He linked up well with both Benzema and Ribery and the duo of Pogba and Matuidi.

During the first match, Nasri’s movement made it very difficult for France when getting forward. The Manchester City man dropped very deep throughout the match, picking up the ball from Pogba and Matuidi almost on top of the them. When he dropped this deep, Ukraine would let him go, which allowed one of Ukraine’s holding midfielders, usually Rotan, to drift out wide to help Fedetskiy contain Ribery, which limited the winger’s influence on the match.

Valbuena’s movement in the second leg, however, made the Ukrainian defensive midfielders have to constantly look to pick him up as he drifted throughout the pitch. This allowed Ribery to get into more 1v1 situations and allowed him to have a bit more of an impact on the match. Valbuena was a constant option for French players on the ball as he moved relatively freely around the pitch. Below you can see that once he picks up the ball, he gets the attention of Edmar, who is closest, but as he dribbles forward he also has both Rotan and Yarmolenko close him down, which, theoretically allowed Evra and Ribery to have a 2v1 against. On this occasion, Evra moved inside and looked to receive the ball from Valbuena against Ukraine’s centre back.

These occurrences happened all throughout the match as Valbuena created numbers up situations both centrally and wide left. Debuchy did a fairly good job of offering France an outlet on the right when needed and handled his defensive duties well.

Valbuena’s set piece delivery and ability to win fouls in dangerous areas was also quit significant, especially if you consider that Mamadou Sakho scored two goals. While neither were the direct result of Valbuena’s delivery, Sakho was only a threat in front of Ukraine’s goal because of set pieces. France had other good opportunities that fell to Pogba and Benzema, both with good chances in the opening ten minutes to the match from set pieces.

Yohan Cabaye’s Inclusion, Implications

Again, overlooked in the first leg, when France suffered on the counter attack, but also suffered from Nasri having to drop deep to receive the ball, Cabaye offered good distribution as well as cover in wide areas.

Throughout the match, Cabaye dropped between the centre backs to receive the ball and worked his way up the pitch with it, either getting the ball to Pogba and Matuidi or Evra and Debuchy.

During the first leg, France were exposed with both Pogba and Matuidi instructed to play a holding midfielder role, which neither are exceptionally good at. Both like to push forward, leaving the back four exposed, but were also easily undone by one vertical pass from Ukraine throughout the match. With Cabaye’s introduction in the second leg, it allowed both Pogba and Matuidi the ability to get forward without the hesitation of being caught out on a Ukrainian counter attack and allowed one or both to press Ukraine higher up the pitch. At times, Pogba and Matuidi were the furthest up the field and making good runs in and around Ukraine’s penalty area. Below you can see Pogba is the furthest forward with Ribery on the ball.

Ukraine’s Faults

Certainly set piece defending was a problem for Ukraine as there were numerous chances for France to exploit good delivery by Valbuena even more scoring their opening goal. However, there was certainly a problem between the midfield and back four. Many times, the defenders wanted to play a higher line, which theoretically allows the midfielders to push on a press the ball a bit higher, but in this particular match, the Ukraine midfielders wanted to sit a bit deeper, which is natural considering they wanted to protect their 2-0 aggregate lead. However, this allowed Cabaye and the French centre backs far too much time on the ball to pick out passes. Varane is a decent passer of the ball and was able to play long diagonal passes to Ribery a few times. Sakho had the highest passing accuracy in the match and Cabaye’s distribution was certainly evident.

As the match progressed, however, and France were able to get their first goal, it pushed the midfield a bit higher up the field, but the defensive line a bit deeper, which allowed the likes of Valbuena, Pogba, and Matuidi to play in between the lines of the midfield and defense. Below you can se Matuidi receiving the ball in that area where he was able to work the ball to Ribery, who put the ball across goal for Benzema to tap into the net, only to be wrongly called offside.

Conclusion

France were a much better side in this leg, showing more willingness and more creativity. Deschamps changes certainly proved the difference in the match and comparatively to the first leg. Valbuena’s influence can’t be understated and if Mamadou Sakho didn’t get two goals (maybe just one), then Valbuena was certainly the man of the match. It wasn’t just Deschamps personnel changes, however, as his move to a 4-3-3 rather than a 4-2-3-1 put much more pressure on Ukraine and allowed Matuidi and Pogba to push on and help the attack without leaving France’s back four exposed.

See you in Brasil, France.