Monday was the big start for the French team. And this year, the French players had a new main teacher, and not the least: Zinédine Zidane. The French football legend thus led his first session as coach, before the four Nations League matches that his flock will play. A highly anticipated and closely scrutinized debut. And it seems that the players appreciated this first, with very positive feedback delivered by those mainly concerned in the media after this first training.
“Above all, we had fun. Today it was more about adaptation, also to welcome the new ones. We had a very good training session. I am very happy. We were all fans of him when we were little. From Barthez too and it’s nice to learn from him. It’s hard to reproduce Zidane’s controls (laughs). His first words? It was about putting effort into the field and that’s what we tried to do.”explained Dayot Upamecano after the training session.
A very involved Zizou
It must be said that from the start, Zidane changed many things. There is the end of this famous parade when the players arrive, so appreciated by the fans, and already much commented on. But that’s not all. Injured players no longer need to report to Clairefontaine to have their injury noted by the selection staff, who communicate directly with the clubs, as indicated RMC Sport. Another big change compared to the DD era: the Blues used the pitch at the Michel Platini stadium in Clairefontaine, which was barely used under the orders of the former defender.
The media present on site were also able to note that Zizou is extremely involved in setting up the session, going so far as to place the cups and blocks for the exercises. He also took part in these exercises, not hesitating to serve as an example so that the players understood, and providing valuable technical advice to his troops. Overall, we saw a much more participatory Zidane than Didier Deschamps, as he already did at Real Madrid, where it was customary to see him go so far as to participate in oppositions at the end of training. We wish him the same success with France as with the Merengues!
