After making a successful start on the France bench with a 1-0 win in Turkey on Friday in the Nations League, Zinédine Zidane is planning changes against Belgium on Monday. The new coach has therefore matched his idol Aimé Jacquet by winning his first match in charge of Les Bleus.
Appointed on 28 July, the former Real Madrid man had already made notable choices against Turkey. He deployed a 4-3-3, started Adrien Truffert and Rayan Cherki, moved Kylian Mbappé to the left flank and placed Ousmane Dembélé up front.
Beyond the points at stake in this Nations League Group A, Zidane intends to test his entire squad and keep every option open. His staff have also decided that Mbappé will not be replaced for Les Bleus’ next three matches. On the other side, Mark van Bommel also began his tenure with a convincing 2-0 victory in Italy, in Rome, with goals from Dodi Lukebakio and new Parisian Mika Godts.
“Yes, there will be changes. There are eight or nine players who can come in at any time. That is precisely what I want: to be able to use them. My idea was clearly to do that over these four matches, to see everyone,” Zidane said on Sunday. “We will try to do things differently.”
France’s setup could therefore be altered in Brussels, where Esteban Lepaul, Lucas Da Cunha or Jérémy Jacquet could notably feature in the starting XI. After Rudi Garcia was dismissed this summer, the Belgian federation chose to appoint a national-team coach. Ousmane Dembélé and his team-mates will face Kevin De Bruyne’s side on Monday evening at 20:45, with top spot in their group at stake.
Source : RMC Sport
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