Analysis: How Argentina fell victim as France found their groove

In a match that involved two highly talented teams that have underperformed at the finals, Les Blues find their feet against an unfortunate Argentina team.

It was seen as a battle between two of the most talented teams of the tournament on paper. France and Argentina struggled to beat all of their group stage opponents. The knockout stages where both teams were expected to hit top gear and for the fans, it was what they got. Both Argentina and France knew that they had to shed their conservative approach to come up trumps.

At the end of the 90 mins, it was Didier Deschamps' team that seemed to have found the way to function leading to a 4-3 victory over the Albacete. 

Argentina could have a few pointers from France's attacking approach

Both France and Argentina have struggled to find the right approach to accommodate the embarrassment of riches they have in the attacking department. But what was common in the teams' key attacking players like Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Angel di Maria function better when they have a target man to aim for. Higuain's presence up front occupied the defenders leaving Messi to work his magic and it is very clear that Giroud's presence up top allows Griezmann and Mbappe to function effectively. 

However, Argentina had the option to cause France more problems if they had both Paulo Dybala and Lionel Messi on the pitch at the same time. The issue for Sampaoli is that both players thrive in the similar positions, in the hole and in an inside right forward position. What Sampaoli seemed to have overlooked is that both these players are capable of switching positions at will and causing damage at will.

Cristian Pavon's unidirectional approach was in contrast to the fluid front line that France possessed where Mbappe and Griezmann did exactly what Dybala and Messi would have done had they been on the pitch together. 

Lack of dealing with width again Argentina's downfall

Argentina's demoralising defeat to Croatia was down to the fact that their opponents recognised the weakness on Argentina's flanks and exploited it to the hilt. While Sampaoli reverted to a four-man defence in their virtual final game against Nigeria, the full-backs Nicolas Tagliafico and Gabriel Mercado were found far too up the pitch to offer any defensive cover. 

France's dynamic front three exchanged positions at will to pull the full-backs out of their positions and also dragged the Argentina central defence out of position. This allowed the French full-backs Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez the freedom to punt in dangerous crosses and also threaten goal as exhibited by the acres of space Pavard had on his way to his goal. 

This will no doubt be an area for Argentina to address very soon and a lesson to every other team in the tournament on France's threats from the flanks. 

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Argentina arrived with one of the oldest squads in the tournament and their weariness was clearly seen on the pitch. For far too long has the team riding on Lionel Messi's brilliance and the tournament was a rude reminder to the golden generation of players like Javier Mascherano, Enzo Perez, Sergio Aguero and Lucas Biglia that their time may have come to step aside. 

Unlike France who have unearthed a whole new generation of players, the Argentines haven't integrated more such players into their ranks to refresh the team. This is a problem that plagued the Germans as well on their way to a humiliating first-round exit. While it is natural for coaches to retain the tried and trusted, it is almost equally important for the team to be refreshed to ensure that motivation, merit and performance are the sole factors upon which a player needs to be picked.