Three days after being outclassed by Italy at the Parc des Princes (1-3), the French team will have to raise its head against Belgium, this Monday in Lyon (8:45 p.m.), during the second day of the League of Nations. But when it comes time to meet the Red Devils, whom they beat this summer in the round of 16 of Euro 2024 (1-0), the Blues no longer seem in phase with Didier Deschamps. In any case, this is the observation made by Jérôme Rothen, who believes that the coach’s speech has “no positive effect on the field.”
“On the contrary, players often take the opposite view of this discourse. It bothers me,” explained our consultant in Rothen s’enflamme on RMC. “I tell myself that Deschamps has lost control of this group, that all the signals sent are really negative and that we had to move on. I’m talking about the behavior, already, on the field. I hurt myself but I rewatched the match against Italy because I heard a lot of criticism about certain players. (…) Before talking about the performance of certain players, were these players focused on the collective?”
“Griezmann doesn’t even hide anymore”
Jérôme Rothen points out in particular “a team cut in two”, with “four attacking players who make almost no effort to win the ball back”. But also the composition of the group: “It reminds us of old players – Digne, Guendouzi – and three youngsters who shone at the Olympics a month ago. In fact, you didn’t anticipate anything. Hop, here Olise, we’ll take him because he signed for Bayern…”
“The most serious thing, in my opinion, is the players’ statements now. The players are not hiding. Have you heard Griezmann?”, continued Rothen. In an interview with Téléfoot on TF1 on Sunday, the Atlético Madrid striker felt that his poor performances and his lack of confidence in the national team were linked to the incessant changes of position. “There is a gap. We felt it in his match, Griezmann is no longer making an effort, he is not even hiding anymore. And at the end, he is the only one who does the lap of honour to thank everyone,” noted Rothen. “Giroud stopped but he had put Deschamps’ back up. Lloris and Varane stopped so he lost his relays on the field. Today, the other relays are another generation, another approach. There is only one who gives off that, it is Maignan.”
- RMC Sport
