Jérémy Doku was quite unhappy with his strong defensive role against Italy. But Domenico Tedesco has already promised the Manchester City winger will get another job against France.
That was the big question after the match in Rome: what was Jérémy Doku so low on the pitch at kick-off? Domenico Tedesco explained it a little directly after the meeting, but had to return to the subject again this Sunday on the eve of Belgium-France.
“If I will use the same system? You mean: will Jérémy Doku be right back (laughs)? No, he will not play in this position”, smiled Tedesco at a press conference in Tubize. “But you know, my plan wasn’t to confine him to a right-back position. I’m not completely crazy.”
The game plan in Italy, according to the coach, was in reality “daring”: “Facing such a team, we wanted to have 70% possession of the ball. That was the case at the end, but we wanted that from the start. beginning”, assures Domenico Tedesco. “And in this case, of course, Doku would have been a pure right winger. If you have the ball, everyone plays higher.”
Doku vs Koundé, the duel of the match?
Things didn’t go as planned, however, and Tedesco admits that. “So we changed direction after half an hour, before their red card. Things were not going in the right direction, that happens in football.”
The duel between Jérémy Doku and Jules Koundé will be crucial this time, and Tedesco knows it. “We have already seen it, Koundé played very high and that forced Jerre to play low”, recalls the Devils coach. “He is a top defender, who as a central defender got used to defending in 1vs1. He would be a problem for any striker in the world.”
And this time, a priori, he will have a Doku 100% focused on his offensive tasks in front of him. “If a winger can pose a problem for Koundé, it’s Jeremy. But he can also play on the other wing and thus avoid facing Koundé,” concludes Tedesco.
