“Signals the end of his France career” – Fans blast 23-year-old French player who ‘downed tools’ during 1-0 loss to Croatia
France continued their miserable run in this season's Nations League as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to Croatia on June 13 after a dire performance.
Didier Deschamps has faced plenty of criticism in recent weeks for this side's poor performances, as they remain winless in this year's competition.
A Luka Modric penalty in the fifth minute gave Croatia a victory at the Stade de France in a fixture that was a repeat of the 2018 World Cup final.
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A goal from the spot by Modric seals a victory for Croatia over the world champions! 🎯 🙌🏻
#Croatia #France #UEFANationsLeague https://t.co/xkqpGENJ6f
Despite Les Bleus taking 17 shots compared to the visitors' four, they failed to break down a solid Croatian side. The Croats had their first-choice midfield with Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic all in the starting XI.
Deschamps went with a relatively experimental lineup, despite the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema playing the full 90 minutes.
One area of concern on the pitch for French fans is the right-back position, with Chelsea target Jules Kounde given the opportunity to impress at full-back. The Sevilla man failed to make any sort of impact in the game and was hooked at half-time for Benjamin Pavard.
Despite Kounde being more accustumed to playing centre-half, supporters were unforgiving in their reviews for the 23-year-old, as they took to Twitter to voice their frustration:
Kounde doesn’t move me
Kounde has zero attacking ability
That Kounde halftime substitution signals the end of his France career. That boy is downed tools.
@433Gary He’s not France level
How can Pavard be worse than Kounde was in the first half
Deschamps is so incompetent why did he start Kounde again this was preventable
Didier Deschamps claims he is not concerned by France's dip in form
The French are heading into the Qatar World Cup later this year as defending champions, but are in dreadful form which is causing concern to many.
However, Deschamps has insisted that neither supporters nor the media should be panicking, as he told reporters after Les Bleus' previous game against Austria (as per GOAL):
"From what we were able to do, I am satisfied. The players should have been rewarded by the result. In the match, we have done very good things.
"Austria puts a lot of commitment, intensity. We had total control in the second half. We certainly lacked efficiency, it's a shame compared to what we did in the second half."
France have been drawn in Group D at the World Cup, alongside Australia, Tunisia and Denmark, whom they just lost to at home in their Nations League opener.
Deschamps will be hoping to atone for their miserable performance at last summer's European Championships, where they were knocked out in the second-round against Switzerland.
draws
wins
France in the Nations League:
2⃣ draws
2⃣ losses
0⃣ wins
Not the most ideal World Cup preparation... 😬 https://t.co/5Fa4d3EbJc