FRANCE midfielder Jeremy Toulalan has tipped his team-mates to raise their performance levels against Holland after they drew a blank against Romania in their Euro 2008 Group C opener.
The French failed to break down a stubborn Romanian defence as a low-quality match ended in a 0-0 draw at the Letzigrund.
Romania were negative and were clearly intent on picking up a point, but Toulalan reckons it will be a different story against the more offensive-minded Dutch on Friday.
"It is sometimes easier to play against the bigger teams," said the Lyon midfielder, who impressed against Romania as a stand-in for injured skipper Patrick Vieira.
"If the Dutch come and play a little more and not like the Romanians, it will be better for us. We are ready for what is coming.
"We tried but it was a difficult match, especially with Romania not playing too much football."
Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda wasted the only decent chances France created as they struggled to find the guile required to break the deadlock against Romania.
With Zinedine Zidane now retired, the pressure is on Franck Ribery to take up the playmaker mantle but the Bayern Munich star had an off-day.
Karim Benzema, the young Lyon striker who has been tipped for big things, also failed to shine, leaving Romania coach Victor Piturca to question the depth of reserves in the France squad.
"Maybe France are no longer at the same level as they have been in the past - we could see that here," he said.
"They still have very good players who are experienced, but a couple of them are a little old now.
"Maybe they are tired of playing all these finals and maybe they are being nice and giving somebody else a chance to win something."
Piturca will no doubt adopt similar tactics against Italy on Wednesday in their second match of the tournament, and they remain dark horses to emerge from the group with a top-two finish.
Romania were expected to be the team that struggled in the 'Group of Death' but France boss Raymond Domenech reckons it is a level playing field.
"I have been saying since the draw was made, this is a complicated group," said the coach of Les Bleus, who play in Bern next.
"Their (Romania's) team is solid, strong and well-prepared. There are no weak teams - but we have known that for six months.
"This will be a tough group right until the end and this match was just confirmation of that."
Romania were negative and were clearly intent on picking up a point, but Toulalan reckons it will be a different story against the more offensive-minded Dutch on Friday.
"It is sometimes easier to play against the bigger teams," said the Lyon midfielder, who impressed against Romania as a stand-in for injured skipper Patrick Vieira.
"If the Dutch come and play a little more and not like the Romanians, it will be better for us. We are ready for what is coming.
"We tried but it was a difficult match, especially with Romania not playing too much football."
Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda wasted the only decent chances France created as they struggled to find the guile required to break the deadlock against Romania.
With Zinedine Zidane now retired, the pressure is on Franck Ribery to take up the playmaker mantle but the Bayern Munich star had an off-day.
Karim Benzema, the young Lyon striker who has been tipped for big things, also failed to shine, leaving Romania coach Victor Piturca to question the depth of reserves in the France squad.
"Maybe France are no longer at the same level as they have been in the past - we could see that here," he said.
"They still have very good players who are experienced, but a couple of them are a little old now.
"Maybe they are tired of playing all these finals and maybe they are being nice and giving somebody else a chance to win something."
Piturca will no doubt adopt similar tactics against Italy on Wednesday in their second match of the tournament, and they remain dark horses to emerge from the group with a top-two finish.
Romania were expected to be the team that struggled in the 'Group of Death' but France boss Raymond Domenech reckons it is a level playing field.
"I have been saying since the draw was made, this is a complicated group," said the coach of Les Bleus, who play in Bern next.
"Their (Romania's) team is solid, strong and well-prepared. There are no weak teams - but we have known that for six months.
"This will be a tough group right until the end and this match was just confirmation of that."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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