Marcel Desailly, the former Chelsea and France defender who won the World Cup in 1998, has identified left-back as a critical weakness that could prevent Les Bleus from lifting the trophy again.
Desailly points to left-back as France's Achilles' heel
Speaking to sportscasting.com, Desailly expressed concern over France's options at left-back, singling out Lucas Hernandez for criticism. 'The only weakness comes at left back. Kounde is not really a problem, because if he's not capable of producing in the attacking third, at least he knows how to defend and he's smart enough,' Desailly said. 'Lucas Hernandez goes both ways—his defensive skills are not up to what we are expecting, and his delivery is also not quite up to what we really want.'
Desailly suggested that manager Didier Deschamps may turn to Lucas Digne instead. 'That's why Deschamps will go for Digne, who is not a better player than Hernandez overall, but at least he is capable of being very strong on the defensive side,' he added.
France's form and attacking stars
France have lived up to their billing as pre-tournament favourites with a series of impressive performances, showcasing their formidable attacking talent. Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise, in particular, have staked claims to win the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. However, Deschamps' side were forced to show different qualities in their last-16 tie against Paraguay, who had knocked out Germany in the previous round.
Morocco, semi-finalists four years ago, pose France's sternest test yet. Desailly fears the Atlas Lions will look to exploit the left-back position.
Ballon d'Or race heats up
Should France overcome Morocco and win the tournament, it seems inevitable that either Mbappe or Ousmane Dembele will win the Ballon d'Or. Desailly weighed in on the debate. 'You know, it really depends. If you ask me today, in our minds, we always think about the last one who has performed. And the last one who did perform is Dembele,' he said.
'Your mind straight away talks about the French national team and goes, "Oh, Dembele will get it." So it depends on the way all of them perform and the stats that will come out of it.'
Desailly praised Mbappe's remarkable achievements despite a poor club season. 'Mbappe has managed to become the best striker ever in the French national team, he broke that record at this World Cup, which is an astonishing achievement after a poor club season. Can you imagine having a poor season where you don't lift a trophy, but you still manage to score 40 odd goals? That is really something.'
He added: 'I think it's amazing that people still want to criticise him, but he's showing great leadership. Let's see if he will win the Ballon d'Or. It's not just about the stats; the goals, it's about the type of goals and the overall performance of the French team that will determine who is going to win the Ballon d'Or. But both Mbappe and Dembele have the advantage, and then you have Cristiano and Messi looking on at them.'
Regarding Olise, Desailly was more cautious. 'As for Olise, I'm not sure the focus should be there yet. I'm not sure he is at the same level as Mbappe and Dembele. He still has to grow in the system. He has great potential and ability, but he's not yet fully pretending to be a Ballon d'Or contender when you know the names that are a little bit more advanced than him.'
