Last March, the French team played Germany in a friendly at the Groupama Stadium (losing 2-0). Six months later, Didier Deschamps’ men once again took up residence in the Lyon stadium. This time, Belgium was on the menu. After a rather complicated start to the match, the Tricolores finally won 2-0. But the crowd was not really there on Monday evening in Décines. Indeed, the stadium was not full. The lower parts of the stands were sparse. One of the upper tiers was completely empty.
Deschamps responds to his detractors
To make matters worse, some supporters whistled or booed certain players. Mattéo Guendouzi, former OM player, received a huge boo when his name was announced during the team presentation. Same treatment for Bradley Barcola, Kylian Mbappé and Didier Deschamps, at the center of criticism in recent months. He was invited to discuss the subject on the microphone of TF1 after the match. “Whistles? I didn’t hear them. You know, I’m not going to say that I was born with criticism… I’m immersed in what’s happening, with elements… If it goes well, everything’s fine, if it goes less well, that’s how it is, it has no influence on me. That people are unhappy, disappointed, and demonstrate, why not. But I don’t think it’s for the good of the French team.”
Then he added another layer at a press conference. “As for me, I have no problem with that, even if I knew that for various reasons, I didn’t have a lot of unconditional supporters in Lyon…” Regarding the treatment of Bradley Barcola, he said: “I’m not going to point the finger at one club over another, but that’s the only regret when you’re going to play in the provinces, this type of reaction.” Present in the mixed zone, Jules Koundé also mentioned the case of the Parisian, who was back home in Lyon. “Surprising, I don’t know. I think he didn’t pay too much attention to it. He played his football. It’s always a shame to be whistled. We wear the French team jersey. The clubs, the rivalries, I think it’s good to put that aside. But I don’t think it affected him that much.”
Surprised Blues
Also booed, Guendouzi responded to this subject. “Honestly, we’ve known for a while that, no matter what stadium you play for or what club you’ve been to, there are whistles. But on the pitch, you know, we ignore that. We don’t hear anything at all. As I say, the most important thing is the team. We all responded this evening, no matter the whistles or not…” Lucas Digne was shocked. “Yes, it surprises me. Nowadays in football, anything and everything happens. It’s a shame. When you’re in the French team, you shouldn’t hear a single whistle. But that’s part of football.”
To win back their supporters, the Blues will have to do better in terms of play and attitude. This is what the journalist from RMC SportDaniel Riolo, last night. “They embody this lack of love. Deschamps embodies the fact that we are bored when we watch the French team, and Mbappé embodies a little of the disillusionment with this player, his character, everything that has happened over the last year, everything he represents in this football that is going backwards and is no longer popular… The two are linked. Mbappé was constantly saving Deschamps’ behind since the 2022 World Cup. Today Mbappé is mediocre, the French team is not good, even if tonight, we will have to highlight at least his interesting reaction of pride given the context, and there is a Deschamps who finds himself with a team to rebuild.” The message has been received…
