"Not in the best shape": France coach Deschamps banishes Pavard to the bench

Created: 02/12/2022 05:36

By: Antonio Jose Riether

After a weak game, Benjamin Pavard has apparently lost his place in the French national team.

National coach Deschamps even criticized him publicly.

Munich/Doha – For many FC Bayern pros things are not going well at the World Cup.

Alphonso Davies and his Canadians were eliminated after just two games, while Frenchman Lucas Hernández even tore his cruciate ligament.

His team-mate Benjamin Pavard was benched by his coach Didier Deschamps after the first round match of the Équipe Tricolore.

This justified the demotion of the defender with his current condition.

Benjamin Pavard banished to the substitutes' bench after the French team's first group game

Pavard started XI in France's 4-1 win against Australia in their first group game, but did not do their best and was criticized in the French press.

The daily sports newspaper

rated the performance of the FC Bayern pro as below average and gave him the worst grade of his team. Pavard was also the worst Frenchman for the German specialist magazine

with a grade of 4.5.

Both in the 2-1 win in the second group game against Denmark and in the 1-0 defeat against Tunisia, in which Deschamps made nine changes in his starting XI, Pavard did not play.

The 26-year-old has apparently already lost his regular place to Jules Koundé from FC Barcelona.

Wistful look at the pitch: Benjamin Pavard spent the French team's second and third World Cup game on the substitutes' bench.

© Frank Hoermann/imago

Bayern defender Pavard publicly criticized: "The first game against Australia didn't do him any good"

France coach Deschamps was asked about Pavard's absence after the defeat against Tunisia, after all, the 47-time international was one of the team's permanent fixtures up to that point.

He was one of the building blocks in the 2018 World Cup team and also won the Nations League last year.

"I've had several conversations with him and I don't think he's in the best shape," Deschamps said.

"Obviously the first game against Australia didn't do him any good," the national coach criticized his defender.

Deschamps explains Pavard demotion: "I won't go into detail,

Also for the forthcoming round of 16 against the Polish national team, which recently trembled in the knockout phase, Deschamps has probably only provided a bench place for the right-back.

"I won't go into details but I've made the decision that he won't play," said the 54-year-old.

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The drop in Pavard's form curve in the national team comes as a bit of a surprise, in the first half of the season he showed consistently good performances at Bayern.

Not only did he do a good job as a right-back for the Munich team, after failures in central defense he also showed appealing performances in the central defensive position.

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Driving under the influence of alcohol, thoughts of changing: Pavard did not make any friends at FC Bayern either

Despite good performances, Pavard, who switched from VfB Stuttgart to the Isar in summer 2019 for 35 million euros, is apparently not very satisfied with the German record champions.

After his last escapades on and off the training ground - Pavard was caught driving with alcohol in his blood and ignored his coach Julian Nagelsmann during a session - he expressed thoughts of changing despite his contract term until 2024.

He only hinted at a possible transfer in early November, telling

that he was

not averse to discovering a new project" and that "now is the right time" to do so.

Oliver Kahn reacted a little later to Pavard's statements and trimmed him down.

"With us, nobody can initiate their departure with statements, especially not in public," said the FCB boss on Sky.

Now Pavard should show his good side again both in the club and in the national team.