At the time of the assessment of this World Cup, it will be necessary to pay tribute to Walid Regragui, perhaps the personality who will have marked the competition the most. The Morocco coach always answers questions, without hiding or apologizing for being there, with the added bonus of a completely bluffing lucidity. His post-match interviews exude pride, his press conferences are moments not to be missed.
The Blues “have it all figured out”
This Tuesday morning again, on the eve of the semi-final against the Blues, he took advantage of a banal question on the style to adopt against the France team (no more keeping the ball to break the French game and create more chances, or stay on a system of collective defense based on counter-attacks?) to say all the bad things he thought about the place taken by the statistics and what we want them to say. Without ever getting upset, but with strength, in a monologue of almost three minutes of which here are the main punchlines:
Possession is everyone’s dream. You have 60, 70% possession of the ball but you made two shots in the match. The xGs [les expected goals, une stat qui permet de mesure la “qualité” d’une occasion à partir de multiples facteurs d’analyse] it is the best invention for coaches and players. We could have won because we have 4 xG, but you have a wooden striker who missed four chances and you have 4 xG for nothing. We are here to win. »
“I’ve been there too, possession… At one point Guardiola drove me crazy. Tiki taka, of course, when you have De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva, possession is good. What matters to me today is winning. I have heard many European journalists in particular criticize our game. I think that it bothers them above all to see an African team play like a European team. To hear “Ah, these Africans were nice, there was a lot of dancing, it’s nice, Boufal he put two little bridges on, it’s magnificent, but they’re coming home”. No, that’s over. We moved on. We want to win, for Africa, for developing countries, so that they learn that today we can win with a minimum. »
“There’s not just one way to play. And I take the example of France. There is a coach in front of me, who is the best in the world in my opinion, and who has understood this very well for a long time. [Les Bleus] made me dream in 2018. They understood everything, and they blew everyone away. Against England, they didn’t have 40 chances. It’s the best team. »
Didier Deschamps approves this message. Luis Enrique surely a little less. In any case, here is some material for the next Twitch of the former Spanish coach.