Zidane: Mbappé's defensive effort criticism is pure nonsense

French national team coach Zidane held a press conference to announce his first squad list since taking the position and answered media questions on-site. This article is the fifth part of the press conference.

Recently in Spain, Mbappé and Konaté were involved in a public controversy over clothing with political content. Meanwhile, French Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner publicly expressed concerns about the current political climate, while Olympic swimming champion Léon Marchand chose to remain explicitly neutral on political issues and refused to comment. With the approaching 2027 French presidential elections, as a sports superstar with enormous social influence and coach of the national team, do you think you need to play a certain role and exercise influence on France's political or social landscape in 2027?

No, absolutely not. My sole mission is to dedicate myself body and soul to my role as head coach of the French national team, and that will never change one bit. Of course, as an ordinary French citizen, like everyone else, I have my own values and thoughts about society and the country. However, whether or not to publicly express personal political opinions is entirely a matter of personal freedom for each individual, and I have no intention to interfere or judge. As for me, I will focus all my energy on my position – leading the French national team well.

Zinedine, hello. As a player, you were one of the greatest masters of the number 10 shirt in football. How do you assess the technical characteristics of young talent Cherki? In the modern football system that emphasizes physicality and speed, traditional attacking midfielders are increasingly rare, yet he still has a place with his unique playing style...

It's wonderful that this type of player hasn't disappeared! Oh my goodness, that really is something to be grateful for. Yes, it's magnificent. As you said, Cherki is a pure, traditional number 10 player. He has the ability to receive the ball fluidly in the tight spaces between the opposing defense and midfield, and he also has excellent technique for turning with his back to goal and escaping pressure, with a highly agile and creative playing style. Overall, this is precisely the type of player I personally admire and love deeply. Now, we can only use this precious 15-day training camp window to properly integrate him and guide him on the field.

Zinedine, hello. I'd like to ask you about young talent Jérémie Jacquet. He's one of the most exciting newcomers in your first squad list since taking over the French national team. How do you assess his tactical attributes and his rapid recent development? It's clear to everyone that since joining Liverpool this season, his performances in the Premier League and various competitions have been extremely impressive, dazzling audiences several times...

Yes, to be honest, I personally appreciate and am very optimistic about his technical qualities. In fact, I've been following him for a long time, because he played with my son in the youth academy in his early years, so I know his growth trajectory at every stage like the back of my hand. With the solid foundation he built in the past and his brilliant current form at the club, calling him up to the French national team now is a natural and logical decision. Overall, he's an excellent young center-back with enormous potential.

A question from a journalist with Spain's COPE Radio: Hello, Zinedine. At Real Madrid, Mbappé has recently faced much public criticism, and it's widely believed that his defensive contribution is seriously insufficient. My question is: now that you've taken over the French national team, will you require him to put in maximum defensive effort like the other players? Are you confident you can persuade him to actively take on defensive responsibilities?

French Football Federation press officer: Please wait a moment. We'll first provide a French translation of this question for our French journalist colleagues who don't speak Spanish. Mr. Zidane, you speak two or even three languages. Could you please help repeat what he just asked?

Ah, he was actually asking... Sorry, I thought there would be dedicated simultaneous interpreters here to translate (audience laughter).

French Football Federation press officer: No, no, I can do the translation, but it might not be particularly professional...

That's fine. The gist of his question was: Does Kylian Mbappé need to take on corresponding defensive responsibilities within the overall defensive system of the national team? Because he's currently facing public criticism in Spain, and it's widely believed that his defensive involvement at Real Madrid isn't high enough. That's it.

But to be honest, this is a completely fabricated false premise. In my opinion, managing him is essentially the same as managing any other player on the team. A team's functioning involves two phases – with the ball and without the ball. When the team loses possession, everyone must work hard to run and defend, and fulfill their respective tactical responsibilities. And for Kylian Mbappé, actively participating in defense without the ball like everyone else won't be a problem. I've always considered this a false premise; our technical staff simply needs to clearly and precisely communicate our tactical intentions to him. In short, that's it.

Zinedine, hello. I'd like to ask about your philosophy for selecting the squad: Is your main objective to forge a highly cohesive and unified tactical unit, or do you prefer to gather highly talented players and then develop and refine them on the field?

No, the truth is certainly not a simple "either this or that." I have an excellent professional technical staff, and over the past two full months, my assistants and I have prepared and selected this squad list with extreme meticulousness. There are similarities and differences between building a national team and building a club team: at a club, you're sometimes limited by existing player contracts and have little room for adjustments; but in a national team, I have complete freedom in player selection.

Precisely for this reason, our selection process is absolutely not a blind accumulation of stars, but rather a very careful evaluation, focusing on the tactical balance of the formation and the reasonable complementarity of each position. This is an extremely rigorous, meticulous, and refined engineering project, and it's also work that my technical staff and I are deeply committed to. We have a large number of high-quality excellent players at our disposal, and our main mission is to integrate them perfectly and allow them to play together with the highest level of synergy on the field.

Traduzido por IA.

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