The Blues beat Italy this Sunday, Claude Puel warns against excessive optimism.
Disappointing against Israel (0-0) on Thursday, the France team won against Italy (3-1) at San Siro this Sunday in the Nations League. Thanks to this success, Didier Deschamps's gang regains the lead of their group and will avoid the big fish like Germany, Spain or Portugal in the quarter-final.
However, this last performance of the Blues in 2024 did not reassure Claude Puel. The former coach of AS Saint-Étienne notably pointed out the limits in the French game, believing that their performances were partly facilitated by an opponent who allowed them to take advantage of their strengths.
Puel dampens enthusiasm after victory
“We felt the players were more present and the fact of scoring from the start reassured them. This allowed them to play to their strengths, low or mid block, and to defend as a block. We know that this team does not have the players to play and combine in small spaces, so this tactical balance of power was perfect. Afterwards, I don't want to be rave about it either. It was a good match, everyone defended well, it was coherent and serious, but we didn't have many situations and we scored from three set pieces.” he declared for The Team.
Despite his reservations, the Castres technician praised the state of mind displayed by the 2022 world vice-champions:
“The exceptional state of mind, the cohesion, the sacrifice of each other. Good work on recovery, good ball retention too, at times. After (Mike) Maignan's last save and the final whistle, we saw the collective reaction, the guys were happy. The criticism had probably marked them. »
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