Didier Deschamps takes the credit for some of the key decisions as France conquered Italy 3-1 and topped the Nations League group, but joked criticism remains inevitable. ‘People are tired of seeing my face!’
The former Juventus midfielder and coach still speaks excellent Italian and spoke to RAI Sport following the victory at San Siro this evening, where Adrien Rabiot nodded in two set plays and a Lucas Digne free kick ricocheted in off both the crossbar and Guglielmo Vicario’s back.
A victory by one clear goal was not going to be enough for France, so the late Mike Maignan save on Moise Kean proved decisive.
Deschamps and France learned valuable lessons
“We knew that even a win was going to be complicated, because Italy were in great shape. Coming here with a 3-1 victory allows us to take back first place and I think it is deserved, because we did some very good things,” Deschamps told RAI Sport.
France had also taken an early lead in Paris back in September, going on to lose 3-1, but this time they held on for victory.
“I’d say we learned a very valuable lesson from the first meeting so that we didn’t make the same mistakes again. My team is young and has little experience, but it has quality and we proved that tonight,” continued Deschamps.
The coach shifted his tactics from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 and it helped balance them out against Italy’s 3-5-1-1, but he also made the most of Italy’s serious problem on dead ball situations, as all three goals came from those scenarios.
“It needed a bit of everything to win tonight. I think using three strikers was decisive to help also defend well and create problems for Italy. On a technical level, my team had a great performance and I made decisions on set plays studying Italy’s defensive positions that paid off too,” continued Deschamps.
“Of course, Italy proved they had a lot of quality too. France needed these six games to get a bit of oxygen, to allow young players the time to grow and show what they could do. This victory is therefore a great moment for my players.”
Despite his success at the helm, Deschamps is still regularly torn to shreds by the French media, especially after Thursday’s 0-0 home draw against Israel.
“Nobody can make me lose my calm or focus. It’s true, we did not beat Israel, even if they managed to beat Belgium this evening. France have been up there near the top for many years.
“I also realise that I have been coach for 12 years, it is somewhat inevitable that people are tired of seeing my face! I have to lock out everything coming from outside and focus only on the players in the locker room. They have the quality it takes and that is what matters.”
