Dimitri Payet and Paul Pogba pickle poses problems for Deschamps

France have five more days until their last-16 game in Lyons on Sunday, five days for Didier Deschamps to solve the problem that has afflicted his team at the Championship so far: how to get the best out of Dimitri Payet and Paul Pogba at the same time?

The story of France’s group stage is one of Deschamps slowly trying to puzzle together what his best team is, and still not reaching an answer. He has tried 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1. then 4-3-3 again. He has kept the same back five in all three matches but started 11 different players in the front six positions. Twice he has got it wrong from the start but been bailed out by last-minute winners, although last Sunday night against Switzerland in Lille there was no such saviour and France were left with a draw.

All of this tinkering and rotation comes down to the attempt to build the perfect platform for two very different players. Pogba was billed as the likely star of the tournament, but it is Payet, in fact, who has seized that mantle. He has been France’s saviour, their meneur de jeu, the man who has delivered what remains the outstanding goal and moment of this championship so far.

Payet started that opening game on the left of France’s front line in the narrow 4-3-3, almost a 4-3-2-1, which is Deschamps’ preferred formation. But his winning goal against Romania came when Deschamps switched to a 4-2-3-1 at the end of the game, with Payet in the number 10 role, and Anthony Martial and Kingsley Coman on the wings. There is no real place for Pogba in a 4-2-3-1, and he was taken off.

When France went to Marseilles to play Albania last week, they stuck with that 4-2-3-1, meaning Pogba and Antoine Griezmann were left on the bench. On a poor pitch they struggled to get anything going, even when Pogba came on in the second half and Deschamps went back to 4-3-3. It took last-gasp goals from Griezmann and Payet to win the game.

open image in gallery

But France’s best first-half display so far, with not much competition, was on Sunday against the Swiss. Payet was rested and so Deschamps returned to 4-3-3. Crucially, Pogba played on the left of the midfield three, the role he plays for Juventus and not the one that he was given against Romania. That night Blaise Matuidi played on the left instead, Pogba looked out of place and was hauled off.

On Sunday, though, Pogba was back on the left, his favoured position, and it showed. He was the best player on the pitch by a distance, brilliant in possession, motoring across the pitch, threatening Yann Sommer’s goal from all angles and distances. In one 10-minute spell he nearly scored three brilliant goals and set up another chance for Andre-Pierre Gignac.

Didier Deschamps was delighted with him afterwards. “Paul was the animator of the game in the first half,” the coach said. “He had two quality strikes. After, in the second half, he got forward less. But he has great, great potential and I have confidence in him, of course. We need Paul at his highest level.”

open image in gallery

In the second half Deschamps turned to his bench for Payet, who replaced Coman in that inside-left position, in front of Pogba. Coman likes to go wide and stretch the play, but Payet prefers to come inside for the ball. Suddenly Pogba’s space was restricted and he had less influence on the game.

This, in short, is the problem. If Deschamps plays a 4-3-3 with Pogba in his best position, then the only position for Payet is immediately in front of him, and they will get in each other’s way. If Deschamps moves to 4-2-3-1 he can play Payet as a 10, but with no obvious role for Pogba. If he plays Pogba on the right of the midfield three, he cannot take control of the game in the same manner. If he plays Payet on the right of the front three, what does he do with Griezmann?

These are the issues that Deschamps has to resolve between now and Sunday afternoon, when he leads his team against a third-placed side likely to be Northern Ireland or the Czech Republic. Some players will not make the cut and Matuidi, who plays in the same role as Pogba, may not get back into the team. He has not had his usual spark so far and is less dangerous in that role than Pogba.

open image in gallery

That may open up a space for Moussa Sissoko on the right of the midfield three, after an authoritative display in Lille in which he showed how dangerous he can be when he is focused. His natural instinct to run wide, shown when he made a chance with which Payet hit the bar, gives France an option they do not otherwise have.

‘I think I have shown what I can do at this level,” Sissoko said. “I gave my best for the team, like I do every time. When I play 90 minutes or 10 minutes, I try to give everything for my team. I’m very happy and proud of how I played. I hope I will now have a chance to play the next game and get that win.”

Few would have expected Sissoko to be pushing for a starting spot in the knock-out rounds, but strange things happen in tournaments. Deschamps is still trying to find the right combination and he knows that he must come up with something better by the end of the week.