The Blues arrived at Clairefontaine on Wednesday to start their preparation for Euro 2021. – CHRISTOPHE SAIDI / SIPA
- The Blues arrived at the castle on Wednesday to officially launch Euro 2021, which begins on June 11.
- Only four players were missing (Pogba, Kanté, Giroud and Zouma) since they play the final of the C3 for the first and the final of the C1 for the other three.
- With twenty short days of preparation and only two games, the Blues will quickly have to get in the bath to get to the cleat against Germany on June 15 in Munich.
DD has started the countdown. After the traditional fashion show of the players upon their arrival at the Château de Clairefontaine – with a spring-summer 2021 collection marked with the seal of sobriety we must admit, it is surely the age of reason – the team of France has just gone into “competition” mode with, as a result, a double 2018 World Cup – Euro 2021 which sharpens our taste buds in advance.
If the 22 players present on Wednesday (Pogba, Kanté, Giroud and Zouma have a word of apology for the final of C1 and C3) were entitled to a rather cushy day, with reunion, check my brother, relaxation and mountain bike outing at the program, in the head of the tricolor staff there is already no time to waste. “We have time but it has been reduced,” Didier Deschamps corrected in (visio) press conference on Wednesday. This is my fourth competition [en tant que sélectionneur des Bleus] and I remember that in 2014, it goes back a little, we had not far from thirty days of preparation. Today we are at twenty, it’s been ten days less… This is the case for everyone but, on arrival, it’s necessarily a period when we can work less. We have no choice, we will adapt. “
Two preparation matches only
Especially with only two preparation matches (against three before the World Cup in Russia), Wales in Nice on Tuesday and Bulgaria at the Stade de France on June 4, the Blues will have to quickly get in the bath for be fully prepared on June 15 for the first match against Germany in Munich. With the group raised which is his, no question for the coach to count on any increase in power over the group matches. “The teams that thought like that in 2018 quickly returned home,” he smiled Wednesday from his throne as world champion. So there, because of the quality of our opponents, we will have to be ready from the start ”.
But Deschamps knows his boys well and he didn’t seem to worry too much: “From the moment they set foot in the castle, we are in the competition phase. There are steps to follow but, in their heads, the players know very well why they are there ”. Even if he admits that he and his staff will “not be able to work miracles”, for Deschamps “the idea is to bring the 26 players to 100% of what they can give for the first match. After that, we will have to make sure to maintain this level as long as possible. “Until Sunday July 11, for example?