Deschamps and Griezmann’s heated talk: what they said to each other

Antoine Griezmann and Didier Deschamps were seen in a lengthy discussion during a training session over the weekend. Were there issues between the two? Not at all, according to Antoine Griezmann.

The animated discussion between Didier Deschamps and Antoine Griezmann during France’s victory over Ireland (2-0) has been explained in a press conference.

According to coach Didier Deschamps, the disagreement between him and Griezmann was about the forward’s positioning during that match. “My discussion with Griezmann? We had an exchange that lasted, I didn’t time it, at most 1 minute and 30 seconds, but well… (…) In our last match, we obviously used the left side more, even though we also managed to create danger on the right side,” Deschamps explained to the press on Monday.

Griezmann also commented on the incident. “My dad sent me a message to ask if something was going on,” said the Atletico Madrid player. “We were talking about the match. The coach asked me if I felt good in the first half. I told him I felt good but didn’t touch the ball. I tried to position myself well between the lines. I told him I saw that the play often went to the left, so I went to the left to bring the ball to the right and give it to Ousmane, as he was in good shape.”

“He could take players on one-on-one. It was a way to hurt the opponent. In the second half, Aurel (Tchouaméni) and Adri (Rabiot) played more like two number 6s, which made it easier for everyone. The ball reached Ousmane more easily. Ireland didn’t know where we would attack from, so it was easier for us to attack spaces,” explained Griezmann.