Zinedine Zidane has defended Malo Gusto following the Chelsea defender's difficult performance during France's 3-1 defeat to Italy on Thursday night.
Michael Olise gave France an early lead in Milan, but a double from Pio Esposito and a goal from Davide Frattesi handed Zidane his first loss since taking over from Didier Deschamps in July.
Gusto's tough night
Gusto, who has started just three Premier League games for Chelsea this season, was selected at right-back but struggled against Nicolo Cambiaghi and gave away the foul which led to Italy's penalty in the second half.
French media described Gusto's performance as a 'nightmare', while RMC Sport host Daniel Riolo criticised the Chelsea defender after France's defeat.
'Malo Gusto, who never plays for his club, I don't even know what he's doing there,' Riolo said. 'He was toyed with by Bologna's winger… I don't understand why Zaire-Emery isn't playing. We don't have any full-backs, so you play with the wingers tucked in.'
Zidane's response
When asked about Gusto's performance after France's defeat, Zidane replied: 'He was called up, he played his part, he conceded the penalty, these things happen.'
'I don't think we can say that he had a bad game.'
'So there you have it, now I'm doing the analysis as a whole anyway, I'm not talking about individuals.'
France, who sit second in their Nations League Group A behind Italy, will now play Turkey in their final group game on Sunday night.
No panic despite defeat
Despite the scoreline against Italy, Zidane has urged his players not to panic.
'There were some good things, especially in the first half where we should have focused on what we did well. After that, we did some less good things,' Zidane told TF1.
'We lost the match, so naturally there were some more complicated situations, particularly in duels and one-on-one situations, we weren't quite as good. It's all part of the learning process.
'When we were in difficulty, we didn't know how to react and stay within the game plan we had put in place. We did it in the first half, but when they took the lead, we became a little scattered, especially defensively.
'Tonight wasn't a bad game. There's room for improvement. I told the players we shouldn't panic. We became more fragile as the match went on. What I told them is that it was a defeat, but not entirely deserved.
'We did some good things and some not-so-good things. We'll analyse it when we're in Bordeaux to prepare for our match. We just need to rest and focus on the game we have left.'
