Pace, power, precision: The new France sound their World Cup arrival in style

France didn’t qualify directly for the World Cup. They not only needed a playoff win over Ukraine to make it, they had to overturn a two-goal deficit in the second leg just to book their ticket to Brazil. A patchy qualifying campaign and the memories of a win-less World Cup 2010 marred by a player revolt meant France flew under the radar despite some big names in their team. But two games into the tournament and they’ve made a mark with some sensational attacking football that frankly no one expected them to play. Didier Deschamps’ leadership has united the team so well that the absence of the unselected Samir Nasri and injured Franck Ribery is not even being felt. His words “I am not picking the 23 best French players, but the best France team,” seem resoundingly true at this point in the tournament. [caption id=“attachment_1581729” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Paul Pogba attempts to hold a fan who ran onto the pitch after the group E World Cup soccer match between Switzerland and France. AP[/caption] Here are three things from France’s world cup so far, and especially their 5-2 mauling of Switzerland: Pace and speed of play: The French team is gifted with attackers who can beat their marker with a drop of the shoulder and a quick dart to either side of him. In two matches the team has attempted 22 take-ons and have an average of seven successful dribbles. France’s four wide-men and a fluid midfield are fast, but their game is also direct. It doesn’t include too many long balls (among the top teams Netherlands and Uruguay’s average pass lengths are more than 20m) but with a passing average length of 18m, they’re not a team who will waste time in unlocking defences with intricate moves either. France will approach you with lethal speed and directness — four of their five goals came from moves which averaged just 5.75 passes. France have also created the second highest number of chances in the World Cup (29) and are join top with Netherlands in assists (5 out of 8 goals assisted) which indicates that they’re scoring proper goals. They’ve also attempted a whopping 41 crosses in two games. This means France’s wide players are getting into danger areas and with Karim Benzema and Olivier Giroud up front, pose a consistent aerial threat.  France’s third goal vs Switzerland came through a brilliant counter-attack Precision: France have the most number of set-piece goals (3) and are joint highest with Netherlands with most number of goals (8). They’re third in the passing chart with 982 passes but have scored more than Italy (2 goals from 1146 passes) and Spain (1 goal from 1190 passes) above them. They have the most shots in the World Cup with 42 attempts (25 inside area and 17 from outside area) and 50 percent of them have hit the target. All their goals have come from inside the area and through five different players. Benzema is in top-form (3 goals in 2 games, 67 percent shot accuracy) already and France also have Blaise Matuidi, Mathieu Valbuena, Paul Pogba, Moussa Sissoko, Antoinne Griezmann, Yohan Cabaye and Giroud — players who can shoot and hit the target regularly. France have also created the most number of chances with 29 in two games. These numbers are scary — France have hardly put a foot wrong in attack. Give them space, and they will punish you.  Power: France’s three-pronged midfield is packed with strength. Deschamps has the option to pick two out of Pogba, Matuidi, Rio Mavuba and Sissoko to shelter Cabaye. Among centre-backs, he’s able to choose from Mamadou Sakho, Raphael Varane, Eric Mangala and Laurent Koscielny. The result? France have the second best tackle percentage (55 percent) in the tournament so far and have won 56 percent of all their duels (take-ons, aerial and ground tackles). Aerially they’re behind Belgium and Germany with 63 percent but have scored two goals from set-pieces in two matches — they won 80 percent of their aerial duels against Switzerland. They’re surprisingly not roughing up their opponents though, with just 28 fouls committed (the Dutch have 43, Uruguay have 37) in two games and have suffered only 24 fouls. Defensively they’re clean with just 25 clearances, four blocked shots and one major defensive error (which did not lead to a goal) so far but you can credit that to the slightly weaker opposition they’ve faced compared to other teams.  France aerial duels won against Switzerland There is the argument that France have faced slightly weaker opposition if you compare them to Italy, England, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Brazil or Portugal — but we’ve seen that no team has been a pushover in the World Cup so far. Also, after last year’s fiasco, it’s just good to see France play to their potential again.