France coach Didier Deschamps defends handling of Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue’s fitness
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France coach Didier Deschamps pushed back against suggestions of conflict between club and country.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PARIS – France coach Didier Deschamps defended his staff’s handling of Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue’s fitness after both Paris Saint-Germain players were injured on international duty, following criticism from the European champions.
“It’s sad for Ousmane and for Desire of course, because of their injuries, and we’re losing two important players for tomorrow’s match,” Deschamps said on Sept 8.
“But we did things in a professional and progressive way, as we always do with all the players, taking into account their own feelings.”
PSG reacted angrily after Dembele suffered a hamstring problem and Doue injured his calf during the 2-0 win over Ukraine in World Cup qualifying on Sept 5, accusing the French Football Federation (FFF) of ignoring medical warnings and describing the injuries as “serious and avoidable”.
The Ligue 1 champions said they had submitted medical information before the training camp and called for a more transparent FFF protocol to protect players in the future.
France host Iceland in Paris on Sept 9 in Group D of the qualifiers.
Deschamps also pushed back against suggestions of conflict between club and country.
“This concerns two PSG players,” he said. “But PSG are not our opponent – clubs have never been. I’ve been on the other side of that fence myself. Our only opponent is Iceland, and that’s tomorrow.”
This follows the France’s coach earlier defence of his decision to play the PSG attackers.
On Dembele, he said: “I was sure that he was capable of playing a high-level match, otherwise I would not have played him.
“This time, it’s the other thigh. He was fit. It is unfortunate for him but could have happened to another player.”
He added that Doue wanted to play and, while he understood PSG’s annoyance, the coach insisted: “The desire to play takes precedent over a lot of things.
“From the moment the player is on the pitch, there is no such thing as zero risk.”
Dembele is expected to be sidelined for around six weeks while Doue faces about four weeks out. Both will miss PSG’s Champions League opener against Atalanta later in September.
Meanwhile, England manager Thomas Tuchel has outlined plans to incorporate more long throw-ins and long balls into his side’s approach ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
England made it four wins from four in Group K on Sept 6 with a 2-0 win over Andorra, but they struggled to break down the world’s 174th-ranked team at Villa Park in an underwhelming performance.
They took the lead in the first half through an own goal and had to wait until the 67th minute to make it 2-0 through Declan Rice’s header.
Tuchel flagged the return of old-school methods when he named his squad last week.
“I told you: the long throw-in is back,” the German, who took over from Gareth Southgate last October, told reporters. “But we do not have a lot of time.
“But once we arrive at the World Cup, all these things matter, so we will also talk about long throw-ins, we will talk about long kicks from the goalkeeper and not only playing short.
“But we cannot put everything into four days of training. But these things will matter.”
England next face Serbia in Belgrade on Sept 9. REUTERS
