Denis, are you pleasantly surprised to see the France team finish first in their group?
Denis Lathoud: “Not surprised. Even though I didn’t expect much from this team at the start, I saw them and always see them in the last four. Given the quality of the players who make it up, we can’t aim less. But before talking about the Blues, let’s talk about this World Cup that I find really very poor in quality, regardless of the move to 32 teams. The level of play is low. Many players from the big nations are physically at their wit’s end, especially those who have played in the European Cups and Final 4 of the Champions League. And then the lack of preparation of the teams is glaring. It would have taken two weeks for everyone to work on the interlocking, the defensive system and the affinities. The game is not in place and the quality of the show suffers.
“We are there but we are afraid”
The France team is not immune to these observations. And in addition, it still drags its catastrophic Euro last year like a psychological burden. Between fatigue and psychological worries, we are not serene as we should be, it is obvious. To come back to Monday’s match, we saw the difference between a team like Switzerland, a last-minute guest, who played liberated to have fun and France who still plays too often with the trouillometer at zero to try to find its way back. yesteryear status. We are there, but we are afraid. Fear of doing wrong, of losing. It shows, it’s hesitant and we expect better from the Blues, obviously. “
There is still better after the two qualifying matches for Euro 2022 against Serbia, right?
DL: “Yes and no. Serbia are arguably the best team we have faced so far, along with Norway. And again against the latter, our goalkeeper made 20 saves so difficult to lose in these conditions! This French team reminds me of that of 1999, during the previous World Cup in Egypt. We have a group that is there to heal, reassure, rebuild with a few new players, even if I think it would have taken more. And all of this takes time, it doesn’t happen overnight. Okay, there was hardly any preparation but the Blues need to regain serenity, remove the doubt from their heads and convince themselves that they have the best team to go from there. before. The players are there, the talent is there. There is no reason to be afraid.“
“We will need a big guard to go to the end“
Does the injury of goalkeeper Wesley Pardin against Switzerland seem like a real blow for the Blues?
DL: “Of course, it’s never nice to see a player get injured. Afterwards, you still have to put things into perspective. Before the World Cup, Wesley was only the third goalkeeper and he was monstrous in one game, that doesn’t mean he would have been the whole competition. If he had made four matches like the one against Norway, yes it would have been a real blow. Well, there is one less rotation but there are three goalkeepers and Vincent Gérard is an experienced competitor. Its problem is its irregularity. He is able to do very well and completely miss it in the next game. And what we ask the guards at the highest level is to always be present with a minimum of union stoppages that he does not always display, unfortunately. And we will need a great keeper to go to the end.“
Among the satisfactions, there is Kentin Mahé on the position of half-center …
DL: “Yes for the moment he stands out but it also comes back to what I said at the beginning. At Veszprem, he doesn’t play a lot and there, obviously, he arrives cooler than guys who have a lot of playing time in the club and have done all the competitions since last summer. Some do not even know where they live by force! Ask Vincent Gérard, I don’t even know if he has had four days of vacation since July!“
Your position, left back, has become a bit of a weak link in this team. Do you also have this feeling?
DL: “Yes, since the dawn of time, all the great teams at the Worlds or at the Olympics have had a great left-back and the France team has still been very spoiled in this position for the past 25 years. After that, inevitably, when you lose Karabatic, Narcissus and Fernandez, it leaves an abyssal void. The Romain Lagarde of Nantes was extraordinary, that of Rhein-Neckar is in the closet. N’Guessan is irregular. Prandi is young and injured. Acquevillo lacks experience … Besides that, we have the strong link on the right side where we have never had as many good left-handers as today. So yes in comparison, it’s a bit to the left compared to the rest of the team, we have to face the facts and deal with it.“
The real start of the World Cup: the quarter-final
Do you feel the France team is on the right track to reach the last four? “
DL : “Yes because it’s always the same story with this formula, the most important thing was to beat Norway in the first match. By beating this team you put them in danger and afterwards, they have to win for you! We had the opposite scenario last year with France, which lost against Portugal and immediately got into trouble. There you beat Algeria and Iceland and you are in the quarterfinals without any problems, without putting yourself under stress for the last match against Portugal. The real start of the World Cup, for me, will be the quarter-final, where France could fall on a team that will undoubtedly have a lot more difficulty than it to qualify. And after in the semi-finals, we risk always finding a little the same: Denmark, Norway, Spain, France … There may be a surprise with Portugal or Croatia but little more.“
Interview by Manu Roux
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