There were few reasons for satisfaction on Thursday during the first World Cup preparation match played by the Blues. Beyond the defeat conceded against Ivory Coast on the Beaujoire pitch (1-2), the shortcomings displayed by the defense, certainly deprived of William Saliba, and the sluggish performance of the players who entered for the second half are clearly not reassuring.
“It’s a defeat, it never feels good, even if we did good things especially in the first half, reacted Didier Deschamps at the microphone of TF1. It was more difficult in second. The many changes didn’t help, there were fewer automatisms than with the players who started. »
Among the “good things” highlighted by the French coach is obviously the performance of Rayan Cherki, very prominent in the first period and author of the opening score after a number in the Ivorian area. “On a personal level, it’s a normal performance, just to get in shape,” he said, adding: “We will not go to the World Cup as favorites, we will go to crush everyone. »
“For 20-25 years, we haven’t had a player like that”
The great performance of the former Lyonnais won over observers, notably Daniel Riolo. “We saw a Cherki festival but we have to see to what level we will give it the keys. He took the keys, he touched a lot of balls, we looked for him, he oriented the game and he showed his technical qualities of what we call “the little genius of the 10″ like him”, he enthused at the RMC microphone.
“And we weren’t used to that. For 20-25 years, we haven’t had a player like that to lead the Blues’ game,
he continued, referring to Zinedine Zidane. It was not the Deschamps tradition. Since Zidane, who have you given the keys to? We don’t have any other players. There, you put him 10 and all the balloons went through him. In addition, he delighted you with the little lob to cross, his goal… He dared things and took responsibility for having missed some. You have to accept it from a player like that. »
