this post, from this thread, was a pretty accurate description of the french national team at this tournament and what to expect from them, i think:
"
i am worried about this tournament because france has everything needed to win or at least they will be very hard to beat
a good goalkeeper is very important for this kind of tournament, a flawless one, and lloris is the best in the world with neuer unless he has forgotten what football is after spending years in the premier league
then france has offensive players of very good level, griezmann and giroud (3 goals in the last 2 games, and like 5 in the last 5 games) , after having benzema for years (worst player in the history of the euro champs in both minutes without a goal and shots without a goal in the competition, over 2 tournaments) this will be a big change
and payet who is i think half indian and then some strange typical reunionais mix and not black will be very dangerous, he is one of the best free kick takers right now
and to think that we had to suffer nasri and ben arfa over decades, instead of this kind of offensive midfielder, lol
a traditional weak point of black france is on corner kicks, free kicks etc, since blacks can't head the ball
for example at the latest world cup we lost against germany because of a header from a free kick, and it was fully expected because our best headers are giroud (best in the world in this area, he can both defend and score on free kicks and corner kicks) and koscielny and they didn't start in that match
but now that giroud and koscielny will probably start, this weak point is less obvious
in the midfield expect relentless fouls from cabaye, kante, matuidi, pogba etc
pogba was supposed to be this crazy playmaker and he did nothing in that position, but when he has the referee on his side (and it's likely to happen sincefrance plays at home) he is unplayable because he makes fouls very often and plays with his elbows very high, in the face of the opponents
to pass the ball in midfield the player will be cabaye (1/4 asian, considered white in that context
)
then france has the worst pair of fullbacks in the world with evra and sagna
i hope both will start and other teams will use that to their advantage
and they will likely have a black clownish defender that can cost them a match at any moment"