The Blues midfielder spoke at a press conference, two days before France-England in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
Special Envoy to Doha
group mood : «I feel the group as at the start of the competition, determined as the matches approach but making allowances, with this little carefree side, messing around when it’s time but always ready to prepare for the match.»
The group lives well : «I remind you that the atmosphere in a competition like this is very important. I’m quite surprised you’re still on it actually, that should be normal. What struck me ? Lots of things, I couldn’t pull one out that made me cry with laughter… Yes indeed. Yesterday (Wednesday), we were playing a game in training and the coach couldn’t decide the winning team, so we all took the picture (smile). (…) The most experienced give us freedom of expression, freedom to fail, they are not on our backs 24/24 and that arouses respect. When they say “A”, everyone says “A”. But they won’t fall on us right away if we do “B”. We walk in the same step. We make them laugh, move a little, get out of their daily lives and it shouldn’t be easy (smile). Integration? We have frameworks that really liberate us. We stay a little behind in the locker room because it’s their job, it’s part of their role to speak. Afterwards, off the field, there is no constraint or complex, everyone can talk, laugh, that’s what makes the beauty of our group.»
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France-England : «It’s a geographical rivalry, they are our neighbours, we are very close culturally and otherwise. It’s a great team, incredible individuals. We see them from the Euro, they are progressing. It will be a great game to play.»
The Walker/Mbappé duel : «He said he knew how to stop it? It’s to his credit if he knows how to stop Kylian, but there are 19 Ligue 1 teams waiting to find the solution, and in C1 too (smile). The truth is on the ground. As French people, we all trust Kylian…»
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The death of a migrant worker on the sidelines of the World Cup: «My condolences to the family, it’s a tragedy, it’s unfortunate… We didn’t know. Personally, I’m focused on what I have to do, but again, my condolences to the family.»
Bellingham/Tchouameni? It will be a good duel.
Youssouf Fofana
Jude Bellingham : «Unfortunately, I often watch it on TV because I don’t have the chance to play in the Champions League (Monaco was eliminated in the preliminary round, editor’s note). He has been progressing since the start of the season, he has passed a milestone in the club. It will be a good duel with a young man who has also passed a milestone (Tchouameni). It will be a good battle. It’s an interesting profile.»
The English bench stronger than the French : «Those who say that? They have the right to give their opinion, it is not forbidden. It’s up to us to prove otherwise. Rain or shine, there will always be things to say…»
Kylian Mbappé and his state of mind before England : «He’s a person who doesn’t watch the press, not what you say about him. Sorry for you (smile). He concentrates on his game. In preparing for the match, he will focus on what the team needs to do more than the player he is going to face. I feel very calm and very determined.»
Before leaving the locker room, we become one.
Youssouf Fofana
Changing room before a match : «The atmosphere ? Tense, tense, tense. No I’m kidding. A little music for those who want it, we are entitled to our headphones so we can put it on if we don’t like collective music. There is the activation room, 30 or 40 minutes after arriving at the stadium and there everyone has their personal touch, touching the ball, pedaling, waking up the muscles, doing mobility… At the whim of each. Before leaving the locker room, we become one.»
Atmosphere in the stands : «The French ? I did not expect so many supporters. We hear them since the beginning of the competition. We need them at certain key moments and that helps us. No disrespect to my club (Monaco), there aren’t many supporters in Monaco and that doesn’t bother anyone. Either you perform well and you win, or you don’t and you lose. Fans are good, but if there aren’t enough of them, that’s no excuse.»
Tunisia : «Inevitably, we take this match as a poor performance, it was our match (that of the substitutes, editor’s note) and we did not know how to perform… We are not staying on it, the qualification was already recorded. We didn’t score any points but getting in 10 minutes can make up for 90 easily. Beneficial? It was a first tenure for many of us in the World Cup. The result was not there but we left the field with a lot in our backpack, we learned a lot and that will allow us to move forward in the future. The Ball burns the feet? There was a lot of intensity. Afterwards, we will look for an excuse for the 11 starters: we had almost nothing to play for, except the spirit of competition when they had the qualification to look for. The ball burns the feet? Not necessarily. We had a hard time finding each other but it’s still facts of the game, it’s also formative. Executives ? They didn’t wait until the next day to speak to us, individually, to say that now we knew what a World Cup match is and that we could prepare properly for the future because we will be needed. . In the bag ? Many things. Preparing for a CM match is not the same as an L1 match knowing that you will play again the following weekend and the one after… There, it’s only three group matches, and one more each time up to 7. You always want to taste it. It goes faster in the field. It’s little details like that. And the national anthem is not bad (smile).»
Guardian of Morocco : «Hats off to you, extraordinary penal session, he held the barracks for 120 minutes.»
Midfield Tchouameni / Rabiot / Griezmann : «It’s a very solid environment. In three players, everything is grouped together, the depth, asking for the ball, making the others play, compensating… We have everything with these three players, it’s a complete midfielder I hope they will make us go all the way and on the bench, we are just waiting to get home to finish the job.»
Doubts after having to work in a pizzeria when leaving Clairefontaine : «When you leave Clairefontaine, there are doubts, but the pizza company… You have to think about doing other things, move forward, you need money, you had to make some and it was the best way, while trying to pursue my dreams.»
Set pieces : «We work pretty well. We come up against not bad teams either. I hope it will smile on us on Saturday. We do all possible set pieces… I wouldn’t say shooters, we have snipers. Leading players, we have some, with size or very good timing like Koundé. It only lacks the luck factor for it to fit.»
Tchouameni does monumental shadow work that is not highlighted enough.
Youssouf Fofana
Aurelien Tchouameni : «It’s show football, so when a player doesn’t put on a show, he’s just there on the pitch to show off his numbers, while he’s doing monumental work behind the scenes. He runs a lot. It allows the other two environments to project themselves without asking questions. His work is not valued enough. He has been very consistent since the start of the competition.»
Statements taken at a press conference
