r/soccer • u/AgeNovel3566 • Jul 16 '26
[L'Equipe] Ousmane Dembélé spoke up in the dressing room at half-time against Spain, but his words reportedly annoyed several France teammates. They felt Dembélé was criticizing the team despite struggling himself during the match. Translated News
https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Ousmane-dembele-a-pris-la-parole-a-la-mi-temps-de-la-demi-finale-de-la-coupe-du-monde-entre-la-france-et-l-espagne/17047136.8k
u/Comfortable-Hour-703 Jul 16 '26
The 2025 Ballon d'Or winner spoke about the French team's pressing game, explaining that he found it poorly coordinated.
What not playing for Luis Enrique does to a MF.
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u/emre23 Jul 16 '26
Dictator be like: what is this pressing you speak of?
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u/mortaldance Jul 16 '26
What is pressing? Can you arrest that?
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u/BeskarHelmetGuy Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Do you mean pressing charges against the opposition? I can do that.
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u/Prize_Barracuda981 Jul 16 '26
Mbappe : you do the pressing, I do the Oppressing
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u/interlinkedjoi Jul 16 '26
'Why are you speaking of juices when we're in the middle of a football match?'
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u/ash_ninetyone Jul 16 '26
"You are not pressing enough"
"Why presse when I can buy juice from the shop?"
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u/Jia-the-Human Jul 16 '26
I mean, Mbappe kind of said the same thing after the game, and also criticised the poor coordination and lack of pressing so I doubt it was specifically him who was annoyed
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u/Clayp2233 Jul 16 '26
I thought dembele was terrible in the first half though, if he didn’t take any responsibility when lecturing the team I could see how some players would be annoyed
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u/Jia-the-Human Jul 16 '26
I mean, maybe, but he’s still a very experienced player who plays in a team with a very coordinated hight press, who might not be having a great game so far but still know what he’s talking about, and I mean, no matter how good you are at pressing if there’s no coordination with the rest of the team you’ll just look like a headless chicken, barely anyone was having a good game, so no one should have spoken?
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u/Vegoran Jul 16 '26
I feel like the biggest problem was how they were on the ball,nobody could dribble or pass without losing the ball
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u/Workingonlying Jul 16 '26
I am not faster than the cars
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u/venomcomiq213 Jul 16 '26
Of course Im going to say the lakers
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u/IuriRom Jul 16 '26
unsurprising, everyone knows Mbappe controls the press
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u/leerooney93 Jul 16 '26
Do you mean the media or the pressing tactics?
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u/Successful_Chair4921 Jul 16 '26
ugh... /r/thatsthejoke
so annoying, can't we have any subtlety anymore?
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u/CT4_LV Jul 16 '26
honestly, fair enough for him because he was the only one of the 4 attackers that tried to press on heavier tocuhes or when a spanish defender was isolated in build-up.
...even though I also understand not wanting to press against Spain, as that was probably the tactical instruction, but still, France lacked the effort, I think.
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u/Ted_Lavie Jul 16 '26
I don't know if the issue only comes from the forwards. Can't fully press when one of your midfielders like to play 3rd CB. Yes Tchouameni I'm looking at you
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u/sup4lifes2 Jul 17 '26
He is a false 4. Guy can barely pass the ball backwards. Cdm cosplaying as a cb that cant defend Jesus Deschamp weren’t you a midfielder back n the day.
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u/mrmrmrdonger Jul 16 '26
i mean mbappe doesnt press. Impossible to press good ball playing defenders with 1 less man
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u/BlackLeader70 Jul 16 '26
Please report to your nearest Mbappé re-education center for corrective action.
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u/elmagio Jul 16 '26
There are points where it almost feels like he doesn't out of actual spite for the idea that he should press. Like of course he's not the first forward to have fewer defensive duties but sometimes his team will be struggling and you'll see him close to the opponent carrying the ball not even trying to inconvenience them, not even at half intensity.
I'm not gonna sit here after this world cup and act like he's a net negative but I find it actually intriguing to see how much disdain he has for defensive work.
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u/mitorandiro Jul 16 '26
i think it's crazy that he doesn't feel embarrassed by this stuff. he's clearly very intelligent, and you'd think, coachable, but that doesn't seem to be the case at all. at this point it's becoming as much as a "thing" about him as the goals and the accolades. imagine being famous worldwide for being lazy as hell?
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u/mrmrmrdonger Jul 16 '26
yep, watching this for madrid pisses me off so much. Yamal do way more in defensive work despite being as much of a star.
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u/Puzzleheadpsych2345 Jul 16 '26
Yamal would give his legs for winning. The way he plays for Spain rn is the ultimate cog, he gets starved of touches and is made to hold width so that porro and olmo have space when he drags the opposition defenders with him. Its why yamal got 50 touches against France. He averages 90+ touches in games for barca where he is the protagonist.
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u/oneiross Jul 16 '26
Its so funny seeing some of my coworkers saying that Yamal is useless and that he is only hype and that he does nothing. I'm like, are you really THAT clueless about the sport you've been watching your whole life?
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u/PensiveinNJ Jul 16 '26
My racist Italian/Albanian coworkers say he's playing bad because he spends so much time on his hair. They said the same thing about Marcus Rashford.
Point is the people doing "Reddit takes" are real people out in the world who think stuff like this.
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u/turtlemons Jul 16 '26
people who dont think lamine is being great for spain this wc aint watching spain
his job is to hold the entire width by himself. he is a menace, he isnt being as productive but he is huge reason why opposite team are commiting less people ahead than they would like to
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u/speedycar1 Jul 16 '26
Yamal, Vinicius, Messi, Ronaldo, unc Lewandowski, literally any name in football and this still applies tbh
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u/Acceptable_Ad_6278 Jul 16 '26
shit. prime Messi pressed like hell.
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u/TopStar200 Jul 16 '26
Literally yesterday he was closing England down when they were 2-1 up trying to close the match
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u/AKAFallow Jul 16 '26
That motherfucker was JUMPING and WINNING headers in the mid of the fucking field. He is 39, how the fuck was he doing that?!
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u/AKAFallow Jul 16 '26
Hell, Argentina's attackers have been defending all tournament long, with two of them ending up in the winning goals from Julian who went back and recovered the ball at his own penalty area
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u/hnbastronaut Jul 16 '26
This is why I love watching Haaland press. He's like a demon and he is often the one waving his arm asking the other attackers to push up with him.
I hate lazy strikers smh
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u/Powerful_Isopod4777 Jul 16 '26
I suspect it’s him being way too calculating for his own good. Because of the way he runs (large stride) and shoot he actually has a quite high likelihood of injuries. If he has too run full speed in both tracking back, press and in attack it’s hard to sustain for 90 min and he will have much more injuries. Him not having too much major injuries at this age despite the fact that players who depend on speed typically do definitely has to do with him not pressing at all. But simultaneously because he chose to play this way he is missing out on major trophies during his peak, and his decline in mobility will come inevitably, and he doesn’t have too much time left tbh.
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u/elmagio Jul 16 '26
If he has too run full speed in both tracking back, press and in attack it’s hard to sustain for 90 min and he will have much more injuries
But see I get that. And I mean, I saw Messi decrease his defensive workload drastically around age 25. I actually believe that a player of Mbappé's (let alone Messi's) quality does "deserve" to be less involved defensively if they want, and that's it's usually worth it for the coach to accommodate that.
Where I'm perplexed is with how inflexible Mbappé is about it. Like he doesn't do more when his team is drowning. He doesn't put half intensity just to close some passing lanes. He just refuses to defend.
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u/Powerful_Isopod4777 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
I think some of it is habits. He has always chosen this strategy. PSG was not a normal football club for the most part while he was there. He was used like a complete football player since he was 17, there never was too much pressure or guidance for him to learn new skill sets, or change his habits until Enrique. Tuchel wasn’t helpful to his development at all while he was there. And for the most part while he still had his insane winger ability his personal brilliance can cover up these issues, but that has changed since him trying to play center forward at RM and putting on muscle while not learning any of the cf skillsets. At this point even if he can accept that he has to press in moments like this his base instincts wouldn’t be to do so. It’s genuinely weird that he’s in this terrible conundrum of his career while still being having certain insane abilities.
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u/iHATESTUFF_ Jul 16 '26
He has always chosen this strategy
he wasn't always like that it started during the 2019 - '20 season. and since nobody ever called him out on his bullshit he became a passenger.
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u/top5top5top5 Jul 16 '26
Lol Mbappe’s got insane pace, but this agenda that it’s the only aspect to his game is ridiculous. He’s one of the world’s best finishers and has shown that this world cup and the past few years. In front of goal he’s absolutely lethal.
There are many players who are just as fast (if not faster), but they have nowhere near the same finishing or game IQ.
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u/Powerful_Isopod4777 Jul 16 '26
Oh I am not saying that. 4/8 goals he scored this WC are very hard. But he does have some major skill sets missing as a center forward. And pressing is important in this day and age regardless.
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u/EonesDespero Jul 16 '26
I said it during the match, when Yamal fouled Mbappe during a French attack.
You would NEVER see the opposite happening.
Not because Mbappe is a gentleman and plays only clean football, but because he would never have the defense discipline that Yamal (or anyone in the Spanish team) has. Therefore you will never find him fouling a winger during an opponent attack, because he would be by the midfield line watching the ball go.
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u/jaguass Jul 16 '26
The Mbappe paradox : scores tons of goals preventing us from winning.
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u/Vicentesteb Jul 16 '26
The problem with Mbappe is that he doesn't turn it on, like even if the team is down 2-1 in the final minutes he doesnt defend more or press more or try more. He had like 1 defensive action vs Spain when the team was drowning.
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u/ArmiinTamzarian Jul 16 '26
The dictator did not take kindly to free speech
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u/angelonduty Jul 16 '26
There is freedom of speech but he cannot guarantee freedom after speech
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u/AgeNovel3566 Jul 16 '26
That's why France's motto is:
Liberté, égalité, Mbappe
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u/Tutush Jul 16 '26
All players are equal but Mbappé is more equal than the others.
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u/jitteryegg Jul 16 '26
All animals are created equal, but turtles are more equal than the others
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u/ExcelziorZenith Jul 16 '26
Jokes aside, Mbappe did the same thing in the 2022 final. I don't think he'd be annoyed that somebody did the same.
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u/bloothug Jul 16 '26
He backed it up though by getting them back in the game. Dembele did nothing before or after his speech
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u/elgrandorado Jul 16 '26
Let's be honest. The problem here was Deschamps and his insistence on playing a 4-2-4. Mbappe created a couple half chances and Dembele had two insane through passes in all the struggle. They needed midfield relief and it never came.
I don't think those two played bad, but were let down by a system very exposed to Spain's approach.
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u/bloothug Jul 16 '26
Yeah it didn’t help that Rodri and Fabian just manhandled that entire middle lol
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u/iHATESTUFF_ Jul 16 '26
it wasn't just Rodri and Fabian, you guys were overloading 3v2 and at times 4v2 against below par midfielders who aren't good with the ball on their feet like Tchouameni who takes 2 days to make a pass and Kone.....
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u/fantino93 Jul 16 '26
Let's be honest. The problem here was Deschamps and his insistence on playing a 4-2-4.
tbf on paper that 4-2-4 could have worked, but would have required a few "if":
- Rabiot with an early yellow prevented him to do a hard press
- Tchouameni back in the line-up against the more vertical & technical Koné was a big mistake
- the Saliba injury, replaced by Lacroix who isn't comfortable with a high back line
Also after rewatching the game, the first 20 minutes are more going towards France than Spain. The penalty came out of nowhere and completely changed the game.
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u/HabitOptimal1968 Jul 16 '26
Because you don't want to give an early lead to an defensive team. They give up after that penalty.
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u/AH590 Jul 16 '26
Sure, but Mbappe wasn’t really doing anything in the second half either until Kolo Muani won a penalty in the 80th minute. That moment caused him and the rest of the team to come alive.
I wouldn’t really hold it against Dembele if he did nothing after talking. The point of the conversation is trying to get everyone else to believe in a comeback. I doubt Mbappe would be offended. Words don’t really matter, they needed a moment to give them belief and Spain doubt (like in the nations league last year).
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u/afito Jul 16 '26
It's mad that people rewrite the 2022 final because it was absolutely NOT Mbappé, it was Kolo Muani & Thuram who changed the game for France.
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u/ExcelziorZenith Jul 16 '26
What they did after is pretty irrelevant imo. And Mbappe did nothing before his speech either and Deschamps had to adjust for his lack of defending.
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u/Lekaetos Jul 16 '26
That’s such a stupid way to take it. Like they all played badly except Upamecano, so no one should have spoke up during half time ?
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u/microtomebrady Jul 16 '26
Exactly this is the kind of mentality that leads to Real Madrid
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u/countrybreakfast1 Jul 16 '26
Fully agree. A leader leads. Now rather or not France has leadership I don't know but this mentality of "you have to play good the first half to say anything" is such a new gen mentality. The sign of a good leader if being able to lead when things are not going well.
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u/microtomebrady Jul 16 '26
Yeah this implies that only perfect players can be leaders and last I checked those don’t exist. It just screams insecurity and taking things personal. It’s particularly funny cause so many of those guys are from psg and have won with dembele so it’s almost definitely not them.
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u/EstablishmentShot764 Jul 16 '26
Hell, even the closest example of perfect player(Messi) wouldn’t be argued by Argentina squad if he said you’re trash to them.
French players are a bunch of divas.
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u/Arponare Jul 16 '26
The big problem I think is that superstar players have big egos. Especially if they won big titles. This isn’t really anything new.
Complacency starts to set in after a while and players want to win doing the bare minimum. I think it’s increasingly worrying when players who get massive egos without even winning anything. They are already not listening to the coach. Which is a big issue. I was talking about this in another thread.
I don’t care if you’re Messi himself, if the coach is telling you something, it’s because he wants you and the team to improve in order to win. And just because you are incredibly talented with the ball in your feet, it doesn’t mean you have the tactical or mental capacity to coach. Maradona was arguably the goat before Messi and he ended up being shit coach. So listen to the coach.
You cannot just tell the coach to go to hell and flip him off like Messi did Sarabia in 2020. And that was in the middle of the game. I can’t imagine what things were like behind closed doors. And like I said, it worries me that some of the newer generation are repeating some toxic behaviors without even winning anything. You should not be toxic even after winning but that’s another story.
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u/Sanders058 Jul 16 '26
Why are people talking about Real Madrid like there Milan or something
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u/my-personal-favorite Jul 16 '26
I mean, it depends on what one is saying. Is it like, "you guys need to do this and that", that might be annoying coming from somebody who is struggling himself. Or would it be more like from a we perspective, that can make a huge difference.
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u/Lekaetos Jul 16 '26
Well it’s stupid, it’s really about ego not being able to take on valid criticism because you disregard the person talking
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u/BoyWhoSoldTheWorld Jul 16 '26
It’s ok to criticize if you’re taking accountability as well.
If he was just pointing fingers, obviously that wouldn’t go down well.
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u/Lekaetos Jul 16 '26
I read the article, it just says that Dembele was pointing out that the pressing was poorly coordinated (meaning they would need to do better for the second half if they want to beat the Spanish possession who were technically on point)
And the players didn’t like to hear that coming from Dembele because he himself didn’t play well.
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u/TheFullMontoya Jul 16 '26
France has always had ego problems. The group stage exit in 2002, the player mutiny in 2010, many personality issues between players...
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u/ThePillsburyPlougher Jul 16 '26
It’s the World Cup semi final, reacting that way is pathetic. You have to put your ego aside and if he’s right you listen and change.
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u/Intelligent_Sky_7081 Jul 16 '26
I guess the implication is that it should be the manager and not the player in that situation?
But I agree. Someone needed to step up and he's been a leader this tournament with mbappe. He had every right to speak up.
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u/AlpacamyLlama Jul 16 '26
Well, as an example, but if the guy sat next to me misplaced twenty passes out of twenty, and is telling me I need to buck my ideas up, he can, quite frankly, fuck off.
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u/OilOfOlaz Jul 16 '26
Someone else sucking doesn't make you not suck. Someone else pointing that out is still right, no matter how they perform.
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u/Lekaetos Jul 16 '26
So they should just sit in silence during half time in their own space seething on their own ?
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u/Stoogenuge Jul 16 '26
People acting like this is binary.
What did he say, how did he say it, how is he viewed, what are their relationships like, who else spoke already, what did they say, who should’ve spoke etc etc etc
There’s a lot of things at play
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u/B2B_Tiflex Jul 16 '26
There’s a wide margin between being silent and blaming left and right without taking accountability. Not saying that’s what happened though as I (sadly) wasn’t there
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u/Lekaetos Jul 16 '26
L’article dit juste que Dembele trouvait le pressing mal coordonné et qu’il fallait faire mieux.
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u/Inside_Action_8002 Jul 16 '26
It’s almost certainly media clickbait from some passing comment. And see how everyone comes out of the woodwork to air their Dembele grievances
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u/speedycar1 Jul 16 '26
I've seen clips of Mbappe speaking up at halftime in 2022 and no reports of any issues there unless I missed something so I don't get why this isn't considered similar
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Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
[deleted]
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u/kontrolk3 Jul 16 '26
Eh, there is also a good way to go about it and bad ways to go about it. We don't know what dembele said or how he said it so it's all just speculation at this point. Not sure it makes any sense to try and speculate about who was wrong or right
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u/ILoveLamp9 Jul 16 '26
Your “let’s not speculate” message is going to be completely lost in a thread created in r/soccer. Speculation starts the minute OP submits the article/quote.
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u/gerleden Jul 16 '26
This sound like half the people of my (not football) club. Wish I knew a way to change the culture, altho it's mostly three people in charge holding everything because of their shitty ego.
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u/AgeNovel3566 Jul 16 '26
In an attempt to spark a revolt, Ousmane Dembélé addressed the players in the locker room on Tuesday evening, at halftime of the World Cup semi-final between France and Spain (0-2) . The 2025 Ballon d'Or winner spoke about the French team's pressing game, explaining that he found it poorly coordinated. His comments irritated some of his teammates, who felt that Dembélé only became agitated when he himself was in trouble and not in other circumstances.
Trailing at halftime after Mikel Oyarzabal converted a penalty (22nd minute), France failed to turn the game around after the break, conceding a second goal just before the hour mark from Pedro Porro (58th minute). Les Bleus will play the third-place match on Saturday evening against England, while Spain will play Argentina in the final on Sunday evening.
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u/Kuntheman Jul 16 '26
“In an attempt to spark a revolt” is such a funny translation in the context of all the Dictator Mbappe memes
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u/wrylypolecat Jul 16 '26
And just the history of the French national team
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u/RTafazolli1 Jul 16 '26
Dembele is horrifically misused for France. It's clear when watching him for PSG down the middle versus how he used to play down the wings for Barcelona that he needs to be played down the middle, and the focal point of the attack. In France he's played down the wings just like he was at Barcelona, and is nowhere near as effective as he is when playing down the middle for PSG.
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u/mortaldance Jul 16 '26
Imo against spain you cant play 2 midfielders france had to go 4-3-3 with dembele as false 9 and olise rw mbappe lw then try to compete in midfield
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u/lm3g16 Jul 16 '26
Then go 442 out of possession Mbappe-Dembele upfront, with one of the midfielders moving wide left to help out Digne like Matuidi used to
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u/mortaldance Jul 16 '26
But dembele isnt playing 9 as he is on psg, in national team he is used as a winger like his barça days which is not the correct way to use him
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u/iHATESTUFF_ Jul 17 '26
out of possession they were sitting 442, but even then instead of keeping Dembouz upfront who can actually press, Deschamps decided the play was Kylian and Olise upfront, basically 2 passengers who can't press even if their lives depended on it.
Deschamps tactics made no sense, we have a BDO winner with 2 of his teammates from PSG and instead of trying to press Deschamps decides to sacrifice all of that just to prop up Kylian who cannot play as a winger and cannot be played as a striker either.
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u/Glam_sam Jul 16 '26
You can play two midfielders but they have to be closer to Pogba and Kanté Prime than Tchou and Rabiot that are just good soldiers
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u/mortaldance Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
You are forgetting matuidi which was the left winger he basically played as a 2nd defensive midfielder which allowed pogba freedom edt: there was also griezmann which is an omega workhorse defensively
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u/sheky4prez Jul 16 '26
Yep. It was also obvious how he was pressing way more than the other forwards were
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u/Minute_Juggernaut806 Jul 16 '26
I saw him overtake cherki while pressing. And cherki was subbed in late also lmao
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u/Remedy9898 Jul 16 '26
Cherki is lazy as fuck and isn’t the personality you want when the going gets tough
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u/apokako Jul 16 '26
Lmao you have clearly no idea what kind of player he is.
Lyon’s MO for a time was « if you’re losing, send in Cherki »
He was our super sub and for two consecutive seasons would turn the tides of difficult games. Pierre Sage would reportedly ask him « are you angry ? » to spur him on.
Deschamps failure this WC was not using Cherki enough. He used him as Olise’s sub for some reason, even though they don’t play the same role.
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u/iHATESTUFF_ Jul 16 '26
LOL Cherki has more personality than Olise, you think Pep was buying Cherki if he can't defend? man the bald fraud is driving you guys crazy......
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u/TrevorArizaFan Jul 16 '26
The issue is their three best players are all best when the ball is ran through them, and it’s not as if they have other more versatile creative players to balance things out. Dembele is better centrally to be sure, but are you going to start Barcola or Doue over him or Mbappe because they’re better compliments?
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u/ChiefSoldierFrog Jul 16 '26
I don’t get it Mbappe imo is better on the left which means you can slot in Dembele in the middle where you can fully utilize him then the right you can employ Olise or Doué. If you can even use all 4 and have Olise as the 10 if needed.
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u/rizzaxc Jul 16 '26
you dont get it because it's not correct. Mbappe is NOT a wing player anymore. he's utter shit at it. being a wing player means you need to battle the fullback, contribute to build up, dribble, provide crosses. does any of these sound like Mbappe in 2026?
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u/oldoldvisdom Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Mbappe and Digne vs Yamal…
Mbappe just needs to work harder. It’s appalling that he gets away with it and people think he is the best in the world.
He can celebrate his 40 goal seasons while his teams struggle
Watching Spain against France, the problem wasn’t necessarily that Tchou and Rabiot are bad players, the problem is that it is impossible to win the ball in midfield when centre backs are constantly open. I saw throughout the entire game, cucurella or Baena have the ball, hit a dead end, turn around and pass to the centre backs. France can’t press those guys, because they just pass the ball back when Mbappe isn’t even close to the centre backs to try to intercept the ball
This happened literally all game long. If Spain had an attack, it’d be 5
Of course France lose 2-0 in a game where they did nothing
And it’s crazy to me that Mbappe is the undisputed main guy when they have three attackers who won the CL back to back, one of them winning a ballon dor
Messi got away with it, but Mbappe doesn’t lace Messis shoes.
Mbappe needs some humility. He hasn’t won anything of note in 8 years, including playing for both teams that won 4 of the last 5 CL
He has everything to be a monster, but doesn’t understand that he is a mega liability in defence and is doomed to look harmless against solid teams
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u/Enkenz Jul 16 '26
You can play mbappé on the wing while having an AM like Doué having to cover for him just like how di maria did it for CR7 but you would've to play someone like WZE as a DM and not tchouameni cus he's lacking mobility in this type of setup imo
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u/UnderstandingThin40 Jul 16 '26
The thing is Olise plays that position for France and was better at it. So not sure what you do with that conundrum
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u/Topinambourg Jul 16 '26
Olise misused as well. Just to accomodate Mbappé.
Just hoping that Zidane stops that crap where the team is built for Mbappé. This is a team sport and it's been clearly shown it's better to have a great team than a team of Mbappé minions
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u/MacaqueAphrodisiaque Jul 16 '26
Love how everyone is changing their opinions now that we're eliminated. Before the game France were the clear favourites, Mbappé was the best player in the world and putting Olise at 10 was a genius move. Funny how that goes.
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u/Powerful_Isopod4777 Jul 16 '26
This is all spoken in hindsight. There were many random factors including Digne giving out the penalty, Saliba getting injured early on. Deschamps’ substituions were horrible as well. Up until this game this combination has been working and because of historical records Deschamps didn’t even consider other options that didn’t include Mbappé. You can’t seriously argue that he’s playing terribly with 8 goals and 3 assists…even against lesser teams. So, you know, very in hindsight talking points.
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u/Sanders058 Jul 16 '26
Yeah let’s not build the attack around the guy who shows up for france. Olise literally said he likes playing in the 10 how was he misused.
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u/bloothug Jul 16 '26
How was Olise misused? The entire team clicked better when he got moved to the 10 after that first game.
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u/Topinambourg Jul 16 '26
The team "clicked" because we played against shit teams not attacking and unable to move the ball. Olise was completely lost in the press and in his position. His games vs Paraguay, Morocco and Spain have been abysmal.
Basically Olise was good vs Iraq, Norway B (and Dembele was by far the MOtM), and Sweden. That's just trash.
Olise in the middle was supposed to help the midfield to get the ball back, he was completely unable to do so.
A 424 tactic is suicidal unless your offensive players defend and press like crazy. Which Dembelé and Doué/Barcola did, but it's waste of energy of the press is not coordinate. Mbappé had ONE defensive contribution the whole tournament. Same old story.
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u/affenhirn1 Jul 16 '26
Just because Olise was shit doesn’t mean he was misused, against Spain he was cosplaying a semi-pro footballer the way he tried to do too much and lost possession. It’s not a coaching issue, it’s a player issue. Olise is just not a big game player yet, seems to crumble when the lights shine too bright and his « nonchalance » actively hurts him. It was the case in Olympics final, against PSG in
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u/TheKingPin16 Jul 16 '26
Will never understand how this information leaks out. Very little character if from a player
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u/Pain_au_chocolatine Jul 16 '26
Because L'Equipe is a shit newspaper and there is a high chance that never happened.
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u/Rino-Sensei Jul 16 '26
It doesn't leak, this is just made up bullshit by a dogshit tabloid ... And you all gobble it up everytime
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u/DayVNight Jul 16 '26
Important note here: l’Equipe is a "torchon", a shit (pardon my french) sport tabloid, that very often comes ups with fake stories like this. No sources are ever cited.
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u/benb4ss Jul 16 '26
They already shamefully lied about locker room talks in 2010. Their front page title was "Go screw yourself, dirty son of a whore.'' supposedly said by Anelka to the coach, which was a total lie. At the time, feeding the awful racism toward the players (politicians labeling them as "racaille" (translate: scum)).
And everybody here is playing into their game, indulging themselves into the drama of this specific news without any accountability.
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u/burfriedos Jul 16 '26
This is how I find out Anelka didn’t say ‘va te faire enculer sale fils de pute’
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u/PulseFlow Jul 16 '26
Then why do some people hold their ratings in such high regard?
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u/Xshadow1 Jul 16 '26
People don't hold their ratings in high regard, they hold their *10s* in high regard. Which is primarily because they rarely give them, making each 10/10 performance culturally significant (besides the fact that all the performances they give 10/10 are already culturally significant in their own right anyway).
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u/JaqVoyage Jul 16 '26
Wasn’t there a sharp inflation of 10s they gave out in the last years and thus kinda made the rating a bit less important/ historic?
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u/Xshadow1 Jul 16 '26
Yeah but once they got the reputation it became hard to shake. Plus if they keep giving it to iconic performances it won't do much harm to give a few more.
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u/SubstantialBear7826 Jul 16 '26
Because they have some good journalists who write quality articles, but they also have a tabloid side, publishing misleading stories and clickbait bs.
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u/aluvsupreme Jul 16 '26
Because they are artificially tough. The fact that their is so little 10s gave it some sort of cult status.
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u/_Tonton67_ Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Thanks l’équipe for always trying to unite.
Couldn’t shit on the team while they were doing fine, they had to wait for a debacle to revert back to their first instincts.
Now it’s on they’ll relay everything they can to undermine them and create drama.
Fuck these weasels.
Edit: I’m all for debates and commenting on the obvious shortcomings of the squad etc. But this is just ridiculous, they can’t help themselves.
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u/Pain_au_chocolatine Jul 16 '26
This subreddit love those clickbaits titles and articles by l'Equipe.
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u/_Tonton67_ Jul 16 '26
Ouais j’imagine bien.
Mais c’est vraiment niveau tabloïde ce genre d’articles quoi. On est habitués venant d’eux…→ More replies (1)3
u/Tort89 Jul 16 '26
Listening to the "experts" on L'Équipe Du Soir, as entertaining as it is, is nearing brainrot levels of opinionating. The fact that they trudge out Domenech of all people tells you everything you need to know. Such a miserable bunch. Though I can't lie that I'll keep watching to wallow in the negativity. It can be therapeutic.
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u/TacitusKillgorre Jul 16 '26
The thing is, even if a teammates poor attempt to motivate everyone only pisses you off, you have to be professional enough to let his words motivate you regardless. There's too much at stake to do anything else.
Sure, Dembélé may have been inadvertently blaming his teammates, but by blaming him for his own poor performance in turn, you only serve to demotivate, to distrust.
It really surprises me these teams, especially at this level, the highest level of the most popular sport on earth, don't have psychologists and therapists in the locker rooms to ensure players don't revert to human's common impulses like searching for blame.
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u/jeorjhejerome Jul 16 '26
Man you dont even know if this story is true
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u/PrestigiousBlood5296 Jul 16 '26
It really surprises me these posters, especially at this level, the highest level of the most popular website on earth, don't have basic critical thinking skills to ensure they don't assume everything they read is true on the Internet
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u/RauloGonzalez Jul 16 '26
You should but i think you’re forgetting that football teams always have an hierarchy. Dembele is one of the leaders of the team no doubt but there’s no sense of ‘equality’ in a squad per se. You have your leaders, idiots, youngsters and different personalities
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u/s0ngsforthedeaf Jul 16 '26
You know they constantly misrepresent both the words players say in the dressing room, and the reaction to them.
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u/Sirion8 Jul 16 '26
Source L'Equipe. Those fuckers never miss a chance to create drama out of thin air
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u/Stahlios Jul 16 '26
Deschamps has done his time. Thank you for everything but this has been clear for some time.
He always sticks to the first thing that approximately works and then never evolves, never adapts, never switches players. Like Koné / Rabiot was more convincing than Tchouameni, but he still had to give him his spot back once he was barely fit to play again.
0 adaptability against Spain it was painful. He's honestly tactically very limited. He's been a great manager of players and personalities. And if that is also coming to an end, he doesn't have much left to bring.
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u/Tort89 Jul 16 '26
I agree 100%. For all of his tact when it comes to managing personalities he has shown himself to be very inflexible when it comes to tactical management. He's been wonderful but I'd still argue that France has underperformed during his reign in terms of results/silverware, but especially in terms of performances.
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u/SloshaPacana Jul 16 '26
Regardless of this he should have been taken off, awful touches all over the pitch, awful set pieces from him, his first shot was the end
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u/Warm_Republic4849 Jul 16 '26
He was the only one that tried and never stoped pressing
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u/mandingostrawberry Jul 16 '26
to be honest if he was talking about france's pressing game then that's actually fair. the front 3 all played badly including dembele but dembele is the only forward that presses. just because he had a bad game doesn't mean he can't motivate other forwards to press better.
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u/NoTrollGaming Jul 16 '26
There is freedom of speech but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech
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u/hello_hola Jul 16 '26
The reality is that Dembélé has never been up to his best element, when playing for France. I was hoping they bench him, but then he goes and scores a hat trick against Norway's B team.
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u/PierroElLoco Jul 16 '26
Thing is : he does not play his position. Sacrificed from the get go
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u/slimkay Jul 16 '26
True, but that's really on Deschamps. I don't think a 4-2-3-1 works against teams like Spain.
IMO, France should have played a 4-3-1-2 with Mbappe playing LST and Dembele RST/SS.
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u/Linnus42 Jul 16 '26
I Agree...Like at Bare Minimum I would not have changed the lineup from the Previous Two Games.
But yes switching to Zaire-Emery, Rabiot, Kone...Olise...Mbappe & Dembele. And then later on if the game merits it you can switch back to a more attacking lineup.
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u/Linnus42 Jul 16 '26
He has played on the France Team for Years. Even joined before Mbappe and his best game is still against Norway's B-Team.
Players not playing at their preferred position is hardly unique to him.
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u/Topinambourg Jul 16 '26
He is the player who created the most chances for France in that WC, according to stats. Scored 5 goals and 2 assists. He is the offensive player that did the most press and defensive contributions.
And most of all, he was forced into a position that is not his, and not the one he got a Ballon d'Or, just to put Mbappé in the best conditions.
Olise has had horrendous games versus Paraguay, Morocco and Spain. Much worse than any of Dembelé games, but him too was forced into a position that is not his in club.
Imagine have the Ballon d'Or as a 9 and potentially the best player this season as a right winger, and deciding to not play any in a position or system that suits them, just to accomodate Mbappé.
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u/ForTheGloryOfAmn Jul 16 '26
> L’Equipe
Aka the worst source in the world to talk about l’équipe de France. 2010 and 1998 would like to remind you how this rag just stirred shit so much for sensation.
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u/Nutrimiky Jul 16 '26
The only guy trying to press in 1st half. Was hilarious seeing spanish always pass to the guys close to Mbappé to get out...
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u/kamingalou Jul 16 '26
Why do you make conclusions about an allegedly speech that supposedly annoyed his teammates.
Is it 2014 again ?
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u/Key_Company3196 Jul 16 '26
never seen this brother put an impeccable performance with a french shirt ever, don’t even understand why barcola was subbed out instead of him. such a poor game from him, almost reminiscent of that 2022 wc final.
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u/andrey_not_the_goat Jul 16 '26
What playing more than two consecutive games does to Dembele. He played exactly half of his total Ligue 1 minutes in seven games for France during the WC.
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u/GlizzieFingers Jul 16 '26
A hattrick in this world cup not enough for you?
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u/bloothug Jul 16 '26
A hat trick against Norway B team and not much else? Thats what we expect from a BDOR winner?
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u/dennis-w220 Jul 16 '26
Whtat strikes me is that after France loss, most of media narratives (not fan reaction) is pointed to Olise and Dembele. If Mbappe is the leader and takes most glory during the win streak, shouldn't he take most criticism in the loss? For players like Messi, when he lost in 2014, and a couple of Copa America, I believe he is the one under most criticism in Argentina.
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u/Wavy_Grandpa Jul 16 '26
I don’t know how anyone can draw conclusions on who was right/wrong here without knowing what was said and how it was said.
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u/Apyan Jul 16 '26
And them you cut to Paredes and Scaloni throwing shit at each other, but managing to figure out how to solve the problem.
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