‘Benzema’s return caused an imbalance in France squad’ - Giroud
AC Milan striker Olivier Giroud believes Karim Benzema’s return to the France national team at Euro 2020 caused a ‘tactical imbalance’ to the Les Bleus.
With the return of
Karim
Benzema
to Didier Deschamps’ squad for the Euro 2020, the reigning world champions were expected to win the competition.
But things did not go well for
Real Madrid’s striker as he failed to score in the first two group stage games, and although he managed to score twice in his side’s next two games, he could not save France from an early exit.
In an interview with
L’Equipe
, Giroud, who lost his spot in the starting line-up after Benzema's return, stressed that Les Blues were forced to change their playing style and as a result, it took them several games to adapt to the changes.
"His return created a tactical imbalance in terms of the team and our style of play,"
Giroud
confessed to
L'Equipe.
"I say that honestly and with nothing against Karim.
"Many things happened despite him. We saw it well in certain games. The French team was able to make up for the tactical adaptation problem well afterwards. We saw that especially during the Nations League. But it needed time.
"[Euro 2020 was] frustrating. The objective was to go all the way, at least to the semi-finals. Personally, I knew what was awaiting me. But even if we know, it remains frustrating. I tried to keep that frustration to myself, inside, and turn it into positive energy like I always have."
The Real Madrid forward once compared himself to a Formula One car and Giroud to a go-kart, but the AC Milan striker insists there are no problems between them.
"There were never any issues," he stressed. "Karim has also changed, matured and developed well. Everything went well during the tournament. In fact, we ate at the same table together every day.
"Karim unintendedly disrupted our style of play which was established with specific attacking profiles for the last five years. Things couldn’t gel together from one day to the next, especially before a competition like the Euros.
"There are affinities and tactical reference points to find. We don’t have the same profile either."
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