It is not one to ignite. Even if his blues won without taking a goal on Friday against Ukraine (0-2) in Poland, his main opponent in this qualifying group for the 2026 World Cup, Didier Deschamps remains measured in victory, pointing in particular a first period with a single goal despite the wide tricolor domination. One of the downsides of an evening where Ousmane Dembélé, who came to the break, was injured.
What does this victory against Ukraine inspire you?
DIDIER DESCHAMPS. It was an important match given the number of reduced games (six). We could have taken shelter in the first period. We floated 4-5 minutes, but the main thing is there. This will require confirmation. We suffered in the second period because we made a lot of effort at first by going to get them high. We had a good balance. It is not decisive. We meet the group leader on Tuesday (Iceland at the Parc des Princes).
Could your team have had more consistency?
There is an opponent. It is very energy -consuming what we do, with attackers who do a lot of shopping. Ukraine has made less effort by being a low block. We can always improve, but our sequences in the first period were good. There was no relaxation on our part and we finished better. It is still a young team that must gain experience and lucidity.
Have you taken a risk by bringing Ousmane Dembélé into the break, injured then?
There was no risk, otherwise I would not have brought it into. It is the other thigh (that against Toulouse on Saturday). He didn’t feel a violent thing. He was in good dispositions. It can happen to someone who has nothing before. The medical situation, what he felt, there was not the slightest apprehension or anything.
How did you judge Michael Olise’s performance, author of the first goal?
It is radiant. The Koné-Tchouameni doublet was very efficient. This allowed us to have a good defensive balance. We had a lot of quality sequences.
Your players were able to make the pressing and the offensive efforts …
Yes, it’s not a blow like that. Most of them do it in a club, but it requires automatisms. You can’t do it all the time because it requires a lot of energy. We must not stay in an in-between. The intentions are there. We did it in March and June. We want to recover high, it’s interesting. But as the players are not at the top, which is quite normal is difficult to hold 90 minutes.
You could at the World Cup 2026 to compete in your third World Cup final as a coach …
Rest the question to me when we have achieved our goal. There are still games to play. It is not an engine for me to be the first coach to participate in three finals.
Is 4-2-3-1 a fragile system?
It is an option (to strengthen the environment). The 4-2-3-1 is possible. I’m not saying it’s simple. But we can play like that 60 or 70 minutes. It was to find balance that I brought Adrien (Rabiot), especially since we kept Kylian’s speed.
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