It is a moment that the French look forward to every four years. Last night in the TF1 television news, Didier Deschamps announced the list of players selected for the World Cup against Gilles Bouleau. The coach has decided to take 25 and if there are happy, there are necessarily disappointed, like Lucas Digne, who will stay at home, to the delight of his children. A list that holds several surprises and if we did not really expect to see Jordan Veretout go to Qatar, which surprised Daniel Riolo a lot, it is above all the composition of the group that questions.
In his list, Didier Deschamps has chosen to bring many central defenders and several specialists are wondering about this abundance of players for the same position. Among them are Jerome Rothen. The 44-year-old former footballer from Paris Saint-Germain has converted to the media and for several years now he has been hosting his own show on RMC, Rothen ignites. This morning, he was the guest of Apolline de Malherbe in Apollo morning where he was able to express his incomprehension of the coach’s choices. “I don’t necessarily like this list. I think it’s poorly balanced. We have a lot of defenders, especially central defenders, even to play on the sides”did he declare.
You are going to entrust the keys to the truck to Benzema and Mbappé and ‘get away with the ball’
Not at all seduced by the list of Didier Deschamps, the former footballer, who recently had a big clash with Karim Benzema, goes even further in his criticism of the list. “It bothers me, because for me, you need specialists in the position. It’s Didier Deschamps’ choice, you have to respect it”he launches, before adding: “You have the impression that with this list, you are going to entrust the keys to the truck to Benzema and Mbappé and ‘get away with the ball'”. Not tender with his former coach when he played in Monaco, Jérôme Rothen ends with a last small tackle: “I don’t see football like that”he concludes his little diatribe.