Dembélé, Olise, Doué: Lizarazu highlights traffic jam on France's right flank before World Cup

France’s defeat to Ivory Coast (1-2) on Thursday evening has reignited questions about Didier Deschamps’ offensive lineup, less than two weeks before the World Cup kicks off. While Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise are considered automatic starters by the manager, their coexistence with Désiré Doué raises a concrete problem: all four players naturally gravitate to the right flank.

It was Bixente Lizarazu who put words to this puzzle in L’Équipe’s columns. “If we assume the striker position is promised to Mbappé, there’s a major traffic jam on the right, with Olise, who is shining at Bayern in that position, Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué, whose preferred position is also there,” he observed. The former international defender proposes two solutions to untangle the situation: line up Dembélé on the right, Olise in the centre and Doué on the left, or place Dembélé in the centre behind Mbappé to leave Olise his usual wing at Bayern Munich.

Lizarazu tempers these tactical constraints by highlighting the value of positional switches during play: “Even if not everyone starts in their favourite position, switches make many things possible afterwards and frustrations less significant.” Rayan Cherki, meanwhile, took advantage of the match against the Ivorians to make a point, showing compatibility with Olise despite similar profiles. The Manchester City midfielder should nevertheless settle for a substitute role during the tournament.

Despite the evening’s underperformance, the former 1998 World Cup winner remains convinced of the French attack’s potential: “France arrives at the World Cup with the best attack on the planet.” A label he handles with caution, reminding that “in 2002, that label didn’t work out for us…”