I don’t really understand what happened to France versus Switzerland.
During the game we only played well for 20 minutes after Lloris stopped the penalty. After it, we looked confident and like a good team.
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But then there was one incident – Pogba lost the ball for the second Swiss goal – and France collapsed.
We lost everything. Concentration, team spirit, desire – and the tie.
Worst of all, we started fighting on the pitch between ourselves.
There was a big clash between Rabiot and Pogba, who lost the plot, after the second Swiss goal and from then on we had no control, no confidence.
We looked average – it’s hard to explain.
The Egos have landed – with a thud
When you look at 2018, we looked so strong defensively, how do we concede two goals in 15 minutes? It was our weak link throughout the tournament, we conceded too many goals too easily.
And the egos on the team got in the way too. I said before the tournament the biggest danger for the French team was the French team, and so it proved.
There were so many incidents off the pitch, all about ego – the team spirit was just gone.
Mbappe was asking for more responsibilities before the tournament, and there were stories about not passing the ball to Giroud.
There was even fighting in the stands between Rabiot, Mbappe and Pogba’s families after the second goal – Rabiot’s mother said Mbappe’s big head is spoiling the team.
Then Mbappe penalty is saved in the shootout.
We looked so far away from the World Cup-winning team.
It reminds me of our team in 2002, when we went out in the group stage of the World Cup. It’s a real shame because it doesn’t need to be like this.
Oui to Zizou?
A lot of people want to Zidane take over the team now. I don’t think Deschamps should go.
For sure he made mistakes, but even if he was good here, I don’t think we could’ve done anything in the tournament because of the spirit around the team and the egos clashing.
The World Cup is coming in 16 months, and a lot of people forget that Deschamps took over after the 2010 World Cup, the strike on the bus, all of that, and he built a great team spirit over the years.
I still think he’s the man to do that with this team too. After the next World Cup, maybe Zidane comes in then.
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