Kylian Mbappe has expressed his reservations over the tactics deployed by France coach Didier Deschamps after his side lost 2-0 to Spain in the semi-final of the ongoing World Cup in North America, Yankee Scores reports.
France failed to reach their third consecutive World Cup final, with the France captain firing blanks but finishing the tournament with 8 goals—joint leading scorer with Lionel Messi, per ESPN.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri was the enforcer for Spain and ensured La Roja defeated France for the third consecutive time. France, who have been dominant since the start of the tournament, struggled to create a plethora of chances as the Spanish wall proved unbreakable for them.
“We were three against two in midfield and against Spain, that’s hard,” Mbappé said after the game. “Fabian [Ruiz] and Rodri had plenty of time to play. There was a lack of communication on the press. I think we should have done man-to-man press and force them to run with us.”
“We didn’t play the game we wanted, technically, tactically,” Mbappé said. “When you don’t do what you have to do in a World Cup semifinal, you don’t win. Spain respected their game plan and what the team usually does. They like to control the ball and the tempo. Our plan was to press them high so they could not install their rhythm.
“Because they are better than us at controlling a game. We didn’t manage to do it. We were too sloppy technically. We could not hurt them when we could have.”
“Even when we recovered the ball, our first touches were not good enough. That gives a defeat. It is a huge disappointment. But if we are objective, we didn’t put all the ingredients to go to the final,” Mbappé said.
France boss Deschamps made some changes with the introduction of Desire Doue and Rayan Cherki in the second half, but the substitutes failed to inject the needed spark Les Bleus needed.
“I don’t know what to say. They were better than us in every part of the game, and they were hungrier than us I think,” Cherki said after the game. “It is sad because I still believe that we are a better team than them, but this afternoon Spain has been better than us. Even in an off day, we have to be a bit better technically, tactically, in the desire.
“In so many ways, France was missing everything today. Truly, everything was missing today. We’ll be back in four years, and we won’t make the same mistakes.” France will face the loser between Argentina and England in second semi-final in Miami Gardens, Florida on Saturday.
