PLAYER RATINGS: England 2-0 France – How the French fared
February 9, 2025 | News | No Comments
Eric Devin assesses the French performances on an extremely difficult, but beautiful night for France and for football.
Hugo Lloris – 6
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Did well to get down quickly after some sharp interchanges between Clyne and Sterling early on, but will have been disappointed to let Alli score from distance.
Bacary Sagna – 6.5
Kept Kieran Gibbs largely under wraps by virtue of being positioned so high up the pitch, but displayed little quality in his attacking contributions.
Raphael Varane – 5.5
For a defender whose biggest asset is his pace, he looked largely off it tonight, failing to establish the rapport with Koscielny that was on display against the Germans.
Laurent Koscielny – 6.5
Was embarrassed by Rooney midway through the first half, but otherwise generally assured.
Lucas Digne – 5
Got forward demonstratively in the opening stages, but influence waned as the match wore on. If Evra’s place in the eleven wasn’t already cemented, it is now.
Yohan Cabaye – 7
Probably the best of France’s starting eleven; failed to be involved much going forward, but started a handful of counterattacks quite well and tackling and positioning was fine indeed.
Blaise Matuidi – 6
Played some nice stuff with Martial on several occasions, but was the poorest of France’s midfield three.
Morgan Schneiderlin – 6.5
While the Manchester United man doesn’t offer as much as Deschamps’ other options going forward, his passing was generally crisp and assured, a fairly mistake-free match.
Hatem Ben Arfa – 5.5
Eager to make a good impression, like Digne, his early energy soon dimmed, undone by a consistently poor touch. An exciting player on his day, he doesn’t look cut out to be a part of this 4-3-3.
Andre-Pierre Gignac – 5
Another fringe player, Gignac showed a willingness to get about originally, but was never on the same wavelength as Martial and Ben Arfa, failing to trouble Hart.
Anthony Martial – 6
A frustrating evening for the youngster; with Dier sitting deep, he was rarely afforded space in the box. Could’ve been less selfish at times. The best of France’s front three, but that’s not really saying much.
Substitutes:
Paul Pogba – 7
Consistently inventive and tricky, the big Juventus man’s gifts were somewhat lost owing to a lack of chemistry with front three.
Kingsley Coman – 6
An anonymous performance from the Bayern youngster, although Gibbs had as much to do with that as anyone.
Lassana Diarra – 7
Probably Les Bleus’ best player, delivered an assured and confident performance at the base of midfield, getting forward when needed, but also doing much to limit the involvement of England’s attack, who consistently forced wide.
Olivier Giroud – 6
Much like Gignac, cut a frustrated figure. No service made the Arsenal forward visibly unhappy on more than one occasion.
Moussa Sissoko – N/A
The former Toulouse man left little impression besides a cynical challenge on Shelvey.