Zinédine Zidane has succeeded Didier Deschamps, who spent fourteen years in charge of the France team. His first visible decision concerns a carpet. The “blue carpet” that used to greet players on arrival at Clairefontaine, France’s national training centre, no longer exists.
Photographers and journalists can no longer attend that arrival. Only the French Football Federation films it now, and releases the footage afterwards. Individual player interviews during get-togethers have gone. At press conferences, Zidane now comes alone, without an international at his side. And players’ personal hairdressers are reportedly no longer allowed on the grounds.
The head coach does not call it austerity. “I’m not calling for austerity. Everyone can arrive here however they want,” he said, according to Sporza.
Silly question, but were they arriving on a carpet just to go training? I’ve opened a “carpet” tab in my notebook. In basketball, you arrive through the car park, I checked. What I still don’t understand: if the federation still films it, who was the carpet actually for? The players, or the camera that isn’t there any more? I checked, and actually nobody knows. Anyway, I still have a lot to learn.
On his first squad list, Zidane called Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé and Michael Olise “extraordinary players.” He wants to line them up together in attack: Mbappé on the left, Dembélé through the middle and Olise on the right.
On the pitch, France beat Turkey 0-1 on Friday, through a goal from Kylian Mbappé, who then left the squad. L’Équipe called it “a difficult start.” The Blues play their second match on the evening of 28 September, in Brussels.
It’s true, we checked: Sporza.
