Special envoy to Décines
To discover
The 2022 World Cup qualifying calendar
Qualifying rankings for the 2022 World Cup
Relief after the success of the Blues?
Not relieved, happy, happy for the players with the essential result for us. We got into it with a wonderful audience. Victory is essential for us tonight (Tuesday) in this race for qualification. We got it with some very nice things. Tonight, it's more in line with what we are capable of doing. Collectively, the performance is of a good standard. The players had this frustration of no longer having the taste of victory. They are competitors and on paper the quality is there. We had an encore.
Griezmann excellent in the axis
Today it worked well, his preferential position is in the axis. With Karim, it is two footballers who speak the same football. There are balances to be found, I don't want to forget Anthony Martial. We put what was needed to create a lot of opportunities. Antoine scored, Karim could have done it. The three offensive players have fulfilled their role.
If Mbappé's absence freed Benzema and Griezmann,
I would never go on that pitch.
If I could, I would have preferred to have Kylian (injured, he returned to Paris after the first match).
The presence of Kylian would not have prevented me from this positioning of the three attackers.
I chose to play with a trio and Kylian has his place in that trio.
These are repetitions, adjustments to be found in relation to the animation on the sides.
Kylian was not there, and I prefer him to be with us, there is no picture.
Read alsoThe notes of the Blues: stratospheric Griezmann, delicious Benzema
The objective of the defense with three
From the moment we have an opponent with two axial attackers, we should not stay at 4 for two. Our two lane players were very tall and had these instructions. In a second step, the attacking triangle had to put an important presence on their defense at 5. It may not work to play at three, but it is not because it did not work (at the Euro ) that I wouldn't do it again. This three-way defense can be a solution (in the long term) and having a close attacking trio is complicated for the opponent. I will continue to reflect on what we will have in a month against Belgium. It may and may not work. This doesis not doomed when it doesn't work and we shouldn't jump to the ceiling today.
The revelation Théo Hernandez
He is on his plate (when he occupies the entire hall) because he has this offensive capacity as in Milan, even if he plays more often with four than with five.
He has this ability to move forward.
He is there and fresh, he showed a lot of good things for a first selection.
The difference in level between the first two matches and the third
The quality is there, of course, but that is not enough.
You need the basic ingredients against opponents who play the France team.
It is always difficult.
Our three offensive players in the axis did their job.
I wanted to bring lane players accustomed to carrying danger in the opposing camp.
There were a lot of very good level sequences.
The Nations League semi-final against Belgium
I don't like that aspect of the rematch. We have this semi-final to play against Belgium (October 7) with a place in the final at the end. We're going to play it hard, it won't give us any points in our qualifications, but we know what to expect and we want to play it hard. We have to keep this competitive spirit with all our energy.