3 Things We Learned From Morocco's 0-0 Draw With Ukraine

In their first ever encounter on the international footballing stage, Morocco and Ukraine produced a feisty yet unspectacular goalless draw in Geneva. Herve Renard would have ended the game with food for thought ahead of the African sides' first World Cup campaign in 20 years.

Hakim Ziyech came closest to opening the scoring for the Atlas Lions. After brilliant work by Hamza Mendyl on the left, the Ajax playmaker struck a left-footed volley, which Ukrainian keeper Andriy Pyatov superbly pushed onto the post.

Overall, there were plenty of positives from a Moroccan perspective as well as areas which could be improved before their all-important opening World Cup group game against Iran on June 15th.

Here are 3 things we learned:

If it isn't broken, don't fix it

Last night's friendly saw Herve Renard start with a different formation to what was utilised so well in qualifying. Morocco set out with a 3-5-2 formation, with Nordin Amrabat and Hamza Mendyl operating as wing-backs, Mbark Bousouffa and Ahmed El Ahmadi protecting the back 3, leaving Hakim Ziyech and Younes Belhanda in more advanced roles behind Khalid Boutaib.

The advantages of a back 3 mean that it can be easier for the defence to play out from the back with the extra man. Amrabat and Mendyl were able to get into crossing positions several times as they were often in a lot of space out wide. It also allowed the front 3 to press high when Ukraine tried to play out from the back, resulting in the Atlas Lions regaining possession several times high up the pitch.

However, there were clear failings with this 3 back system. With the wing-backs pushing up, there was large spaces left in the defence, especially out wide, which Ukraine were able to exploit on the counter attack. With a more potent attack, the Europeans could easily have scored on these breakaways.

Renard did switch to the more familiar 4-2-3-1 in the second half which was far more solid in the defensive areas and will be so crucial in the tough group stage games against Portugal and Spain.

Give Bounou a chance

As relatively solid as Munir has been in the qualifiers, he just isn't as good as Yassine Bounou, at least going off this season. The Girona stopper has played a massive part in helping the Spanish underdogs achieve a fantastic top 10 finish in La Liga.

On the other hand, Munir has hardly started a game for La Liga 2 side Numancia this season, which says a lot about the difference in form and quality between the 2 keepers.

Renard has an obvious preference for Munir and maybe wants to keep a settled goalkeeper and defence who have been faultless in keeping 6 clean sheets out of 6 in the final round of qualifying.

He again started last night and played the full 90 minutes but it was far from an assured performance. The Numancia keeper didn't have a lot to do, tipping an effort from Konoplyanka around the post in the first half. He did, however, flap at a poor cross which could easily have resulted in a goal. These simple mistakes just can't happen at a World Cup as better teams with more quality will punish them.

Hopefully Renard gives Bounou a chance to shine in the upcoming friendlies.

The wing-back role suits Mendyl perfectly

The 20-year-old Lille full back has had a tough domestic season, making only 12 league appearances for the French club, which has been down to both injury and being out of favour. He has also been subject to some criticism from the Moroccan supporters and Real Madrid teenager Achraf Hakimi has seemingly overtaken Hamza Mendyl in the pecking order for the left back spot.

Last night in Geneva, Mendyl put in a brilliant performance at left-wing-back, using his great physical attributes to get up and down the wing throughout the first half in particular. He set up Morocco's best chance of the game by cutting a cross back for Ziyech's saved volley.

The full back also performed brilliantly in the defensive side of his game, something that has been lacking in past matches, blocking a goal-bound shot after Munir spilled a cross as well as making a last-ditch tackle on Marlos to stop a certain goal.

A negative for Mendyl will be that for how good he looked as a wing-back in a 3 back system, the whole team's performance looked disjointed in defence, especially when the wing backs were pushed up helping with the attack. It is yet to be seen whether Herve Renard sticks to the tried and trusted 4-2-3-1, which may suit Hakimi over the Lille defender.