“There were players who weren’t in their usual positions” – Saliba blames Deschamps’ decisions after Tunisia loss

William Saliba believes France boss manager Didier Deschamps made some wrong calls in the wake of his side’s defeat to Tunisia.

THE LOWDOWN: SURPRISE DEFEAT

France went into their final Group D game having already sealed a ticket to the knockout rounds, thanks to two wins from two. Deschamps, whose squad has been depleted severely due to injury and fitness problems, chose a second-string side to face the Africans.

That decision turned out to be a miss from the tactician as Tunisia were able to hold them off and grab a goal to win the game. Deschamps threw in some of his main men to try and salvage the game, but France would end up ruining what could have been a perfect group outing for them.

Saliba, who was one of the substitutes in the game, believes that the manager made some wrong calls with his changes. The Arsenal man hinted at some players fielded in unusual positions in his post-match comments.

THE LATEST: SLIGHT DIG

“It definitely wasn’t an easy game today,” Saliba told beIN SPORTS after the game.

“The team was changed, there were a lot of players who had never played together, so it was a bit difficult.

“It was a bit better in the second half at the start, but then we conceded that goal. We were pushing at the end to try and score but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

“I wouldn’t say there was a sense of fear, but we were shaken up a bit at the start of the match. But there were players who weren’t in their usual position, so they weren’t used to it.”

Deschamps himself admitted that his changes did not help but is happier that he will have no more fitness issues to deal with after the game as the knockout stages approach.

“We had some difficulties through the choices that I made,” the France boss admitted in his post-match comments. “[But] it should help us in four days.

“Some players were at risk [of injury] and we had just played two high-intensity matches. It allowed the substitutes to see the difference [in quality] in a World Cup match. We’ve reached the objective, we’re going to recover, now begins a second competition.”

THE VERDICT: FAIR POINT

While Saliba does have a point, the reality is that France were expected to beat Tunisia, even with a second-string side. Deschamps probably made that many changes because his side were already guaranteed a spot regardless of whatever the outcome of that game was.

With the World Cup now approaching the business end, there will be no room for unnecessary changes anymore, meaning managers will now solely stick to their best starting lineup.

On the path of Saliba, this could mean little to no chance for him for France until their competition comes to an end but we’ll have to wait and see how that goes.