The Blues coach had difficulty understanding the nightmarish evening against Germany (0-2) on Saturday evening.
Special correspondent to Décines
His opinion on the Blues’ non-match
“We were not able to rise to the level proposed by the opponent. There is the start of the match (goal conceded after 7 seconds), but we were also below in terms of aggressiveness and determination. Germany showed more quality. Would we have been able to do better? I can ask myself the question. The international level is ruthless. We can talk about technique, accuracy, but the Germans gave us a match with high intensity. We reacted too much intermittently. You have to accept it, it doesn’t feel good. It’s a reminder, I would have done without it. I don’t blame the players, the first person responsible is me. »
Positive or worrying slap three months before the Euro?
“It’s always good to have difficulties. There, we had quite a few. Too much and too much. This will have to serve us, even if in three days (Chile in Marseille) it will be another opponent. That there is fatigue for different reasons, yes, but that is not an excuse either. We were in physical deficit, collectively and individually. In intentions, we were less determined than usual. You have to accept it. »
The failing state of mind of the Blues
“We lacked aggression, determination, we failed. There is the merit of the opponent, even if on the opponent’s first goal, we are very passive. Generally speaking, there was no response. »
Griezmann’s orphan selection
“I didn’t need this match to know the importance of Antoine. Honestly, if he had been here today (Saturday), given our shortcomings in many areas, it would have been complicated too. We were lacking in areas other than the technical aspect. From there, the high level is very difficult to exist against a Germany which had a very big match. »
If there are lessons to be learned from this defeat
” Yes always. From the moment when collectively we are below what we are capable of doing, that is one of the difficult matches. It’s not running away from what happened, it’s already happened to us and we know what we have to do to ensure that it doesn’t happen to us in three days and at the Euro. We are going to meet teams who have the ability to destabilize us. Beyond the fact that we didn’t do it, maybe we weren’t capable for different reasons. We could do a little less this evening compared to what we could usually do. »
His view of Zaire-Emery
“He’s a young player, he didn’t have his best game with us. It depends on him but also on the players around him. Having playing time is important, even if I know that by making these choices, it can harm collective performance. The state of fatigue (general) is important, but it can also happen to relax psychologically. Getting the machine back on takes time. Whether it is Warren or someone else, we have not managed to rise to the level of Germany. »
