In general, a press conference that brings together Didier Deschamps and Hugo Lloris provides enough lukewarm water to supply a dozen spa centers. This Saturday in Kiev, after another draw in Ukraine (1-1), the coach of the Blues again used words that poorly reflected the nervousness that his face could show. While his captain split the armor.
💬🇫🇷 “I think the post World Cup euphoria is over”
The strong words of Hugo Lloris after the draw in Ukraine.#UKRFRA pic.twitter.com/4bozMV7cZp
– THE TEAM (@the team) September 4, 2021
At the microphone of M6, after this fifth game in a row without a win (including an elimination from the round of 16 of the Euro), Deschamps wanted to retain “the reaction” of his team after a tasteless first period. He repeated his “confidence in [ses] players ”and mentioned a“ difficult sequence of matches ”even if“ this is not an excuse ”. Or even holders “who had not yet played together”. Without forgetting an adversary “very grouped, very dense”, who has the boldness not to offer spaces to take a beating.
“A slightly broken wave of success”
Change of tone a few minutes later with Lloris, on the L’Equipe channel. “It’s over the euphoria of the post-World Cup 2018, where at any time we felt that we could tip the results in our favor, released the Tottenham goalkeeper, decisive in Kiev against Yarmolenko ( 35th) but powerless on the jewel of Shaparenko (44th). We were on a wave of success and it broke a bit. “
“There are high level requirements and we must meet them” also slipped “captain” Hugo, regretting “the lack of commitment and aggressiveness” in the first period. Asked about the reasons for the bottom of the Blues, this close to Olivier Giroud, left out after the Euro, spoke of “a little lack of confidence and a lot of development in terms of players”. “It’s up to everyone to increase their level of play.” Whoever wants to understand.
“I don’t want to be scared”
“We must remain positive but be aware of the gaps” also dropped the goalkeeper of the world champions in Russia, hoping for a reaction from Tuesday against Finland at Parc OL. “I do not want us to scare each other,” thundered the Niçois again. In the event of a defeat against the gang in Pukki, that could be the case, despite the weakness of this qualifying group D, which should have turned the Blues’ path to the World Cup in Qatar into a highway.