The 1998 world champion spoke on Tuesday in L’Equipe on the various subjects around French football and the Blues.
Bixente Lizarazu, retired in his very dear Basque Country, had not yet commented on the news of the Blues and the FFF. Since this Tuesday, the consultant to the team, TF1 et Radio France gave his opinion, between tact, frankness and focus. “Liza” reviewed all the hot files like the withdrawal of Noël Le Graët in his position as president of the 3F (“ it was the minimum the Comex could do “), them about the latter on Zinedine Zidane (« Noël Le Graët’s release on “Zizou” was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I thought he freaked out. “) or the extension of the contract of Didier Deschamps until 2026.
On this last point, the former partner of “DD” at the Blues held a frank speech. Not always easy when you know the friendship that binds the two men, just like that of Lizarazu with Zidane, after their common years in Blues and with the Girondins de Bordeaux. Unlike Christophe Dugarry, close to ZZ and angry with Deschamps, the former left-back remained on good terms with most of his former selection partners. If the contract extension of his ex-captain in the France team does not surprise him (“ Clearly, he has earned the right to continue the adventure “), it is the duration, until 2026, which challenges him.
« Continuity, it should have been two more years and we see after the Euro. It seemed healthier to me, especially since Didier will already have had a twelve-year lease at the head of the Blues. It’s a lot for a locker room, especially since we have a possible successor »
Bixente Lizarazu
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« Continuity, it should have been two more years and we see after the Euro (2024 in Germany), he says in the Team. It seemed healthier to me, especially since Didier will already have had a twelve-year lease at the head of the Blues. It’s a lot for a locker room, especially since we have a possible successor. The fact that Noël Le Graët does not even broach the subject with his Comex, does not pose the question of the duration, of the possible candidates, that poses a problem. The French team does not belong to Noël Le Graët, nor to Didier Deschamps, nor to anyone else. She belongs to everyone. »
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For Lizarazu, Zidane “deserves as much attention and consideration as Didier”
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And Lizarazu to respond to the fact that he would have preferred a real discussion on this subject rather than a simple consultation between Le Graët and Deschamps. “Yes, and not just a debate for two, between Le Graët and Didier. In summary, what bothers me is that the subject of the future of the coach of the Blues has been treated with bias by Le Graët. “Zizou” deserves as much attention and consideration as Didier. It’s a story of balance and fairness. »
