Being France, there is still time for a crisis to develop, for a rotten egg to slip into the souffle mixture, or a contretemps to blow up into full-blown guerre civile.
But for now, after dismissing Italy in brutal fashion in their Women's Euro 2022 opener, Les Bleues are looking simply magnifique.
When coach Corinne Diacre left Amandine Henry and Eugenie Le Sommer out of her Euros squad, deciding France could cope without the Champions League final player of the match and the national team's record goalscorer, it was a calculated act of coaching courage that had the potential to backfire spectacularly.
And it still might, because Sunday evening's 5-1 drubbing in Rotherham taught us only so much: on the front foot, against opponents whose defending leaves a lot to be desired, they can fill their boots.
Diacre felt Henry and Le Sommer were not ideal fits for this team, and the coach whose controversy-packed five-year reign makes her a divisive figure staked her reputation on it.
France, like this tournament's hosts, England, have yet to win a major tournament, but they have been fancied more often than the Lionesses to come away with a trophy and repeatedly failed to deliver on expectations.
They have typically run into strong opposition and not had quite enough. Italy have a long way to come before they fall into the 'strong opposition' category, with the Azzurre recklessly obliging in this Group D landslide at the New York Stadium.
France had set two Women's Euros records by half-time, becoming the first team to score five goals before the break, with Grace Geyoro the first player to hit a first-half hat-trick.
Italy had won their opening match at just two of their previous 11 Women's Euros (D4 L5). Hopes of a third such victory were already over as they retreated for dressing-room respite. They have now lost 11 of their past 16 games at the Euros (W4 D1).
It might have been a different story if Barbara Bonansea buried an early chance, but she was denied by the legs of France goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, and a rout ensued.
Kadidiatou Diani, a menace on the right, sent over a low centre that was feebly dealt with by Italy, allowing Geyoro a ninth-minute tap-in, and the second French goal was also about threat from the flanks, with Sakina Karchaoui racing down the left before her deflected cross was palmed into the path of a grateful Marie-Antoinette Katoto by Italy goalkeeper Laura Giuliani.
Twelve minutes in, France were 2-0 up and rampant. Delphine Cascarino hit a delightful third from the edge of the box, Geyoro rounded Giuliani for a fourth and added number five in the 45th minute, disrupting Italian possession herself before taking a return ball from Sandie Toletti and smashing home.
Unable to halt Geyoro by fair means, Italy elected for another approach after the break as captain Sara Gama hacked down the forward with a messy challenge on the left. Shown a red card initially, it was reduced to yellow after a VAR check, which probably saved Italy from greater humiliation.
They got a goal back through Martina Piemonte's neat header, too, France becoming briefly ragged. The French might need to win this tournament, or at least reach the July 31 final at Wembley, for Diacre's big decisions to be justified, so here was a just a glimpse of fragility. A fifth successive win in European Championship openers was never in doubt.
One more number felt significant on this warm Yorkshire night. The crowd of 8,541 drew warm applause around this tidy lower-league ground, and rightly so. When these teams met in the group stage of Euro 2005, also hosted by England, only 957 turned out at Preston's Deepdale ground to witness the occasion.
The women's game is changing, and perhaps the same might be said for France.
Luis Enrique does not expect PSG-Lyon league game to have a bearing on cup final
Paris St Germain head coach Luis Enrique believes his side’s Ligue 1 meeting against Lyon this weekend will have no bearing on next month’s Coupe de France final.
PSG host Lyon at the Parc de Princes in the league on Sunday and the two sides will clash again in the cup final on May 25 in Lille.
Enrique’s believes this meeting will be a good test for his side, fresh from their Champions League quarter-final success in midweek, but does not see it as a dress rehearsal for next month.
He told a press conference: “Tomorrow’s game will be completely different to the final in the Coupe de France based on the importance.
“But as a game that comes above others, given the context, it is a really good test for us to see how we are doing against the best team in Lyon.
“They have put in the best results and they have got to the final, so that shows they are working very hard and it will be a real test for us, but I don’t know if there will be any similarities between tomorrow’s game and the final. Finals are different.”
PSG go into Sunday’s clash 10 points clear of Brest at the top of the Ligue 1 table while Lyon sit in seventh and are aiming to clinch a European spot.
Only six league matches remain for the Parisians, who are on track for a 12th league title, but Enrique is in no rush to wrap up first place so they can focus on the Champions League and the cup.
He said: “There is no urgency of any sort. The aim is the same as always, which is to win the league sooner or later.
“But what matters is being competitive in any match and representing this club in the best way and we want to be competitive whether we win it sooner or later because with the competitions that we are in we need to be competitive in every game, whether we win Ligue 1 in two or three weeks.”
Having already clinched the French Super Cup in January, PSG remain on course for four trophies after their midweek European success.
They completed a 6-4 aggregate success against Barcelona on Tuesday to reach the last four of the Champions League and Enrique praised the impact of all of his players.
“In order to be able to compete for every trophy as I have said, you need a really big squad of at least 23 players,” he added.
“That is what we need here and as the season has progressed we have seen the importance of those players. As for who is important in the last month and a half we have seen the players need to be ready and work hard when we need them.
“I think the team is continuing to progress and I am happy to see the players’ attitude in training.”
Aldershot miss out on play-off place after draw at Dagenham
Aldershot rescued a point in a 3-3 draw at Dagenham but missed out on a National League play-off spot.
Daggers striker Inih Effiong opened the scoring in the 34th minute, slamming home his 16th league goal of the season from Josh Hare’s cutback.
Aldershot were awarded a penalty at the start of the second half when Elliott Johnson brought down Kwame Thomas.
The Shots forward looked to be in an offside position and both managers were booked as tempers flared, but Cian Harries kept his cool to convert the spot-kick.
Dagenham boss Ben Strevens was then shown a red card before Lorent Tolaj headed the visitors in front in the 72nd minute.
Ryan Hill finished off a swift counter-attack to pull the home side level with eight minutes left and after Effiong was denied by the woodwork, the Daggers thought they had won it through Dion Pereira’s strike.
There was still time for Aldershot to level, though, as Josh Barrett found the top corner with a free-kick.
Ollie Banks fires late winner for NL Champions Chesterfield against Maidenhead
Ollie Banks scored a late winner as champions Chesterfield ended their time in the National League with a 3-2 victory over Maidenhead in front of a sell-out crowd of 10,108 at the SMH Group Stadium.
The Spireites, having lost four consecutive games since sealing promotion back to the English Football League last month, were 2-0 ahead after half an hour.
Joe Quigley’s fine work helped Liam Mandeville poke in from close range in the 28th minute before the forward got on the scoresheet himself shortly after, firing home after a goal-mouth scramble.
However, Maidenhead came out firing after the interval and were level courtesy of two goals in three minutes, with Tristan Abrahams slotting into an empty net after Harry Tyrer parried Reece Smith’s shot and then Kevin Lokko heading in.
But after Tom Naylor had a goal disallowed and Armando Dobra hit the post, Chesterfield finally found a winner at the death when Banks hammered in.
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