French media make feelings clear on Zinedine Zidane after shock Italy defeat in Nations League

French media have made their feelings clear on Zinedine Zidane's management after France lost 3-1 to Italy in the Nations League on Thursday night.

Zidane's side went 1-0 up at the San Siro through Michael Olise and dominated large parts of the first half before going into the break at 1-1 through Pio Esposito's equaliser.

But they fell apart in the second half, conceding two penalties - one of which was missed - either side of ex-Nottingham Forest midfielder Davide Frattesi's 63rd-minute goal to make it 2-1 to Italy. And there has been a significant introspection to the result, Zidane's first in five matches in charge of the national team - back in France.

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French outlet L'Equipe covered the defeat by criticising both the defence and midfield, but also focused on Zidane's pressing tactics, writing that the midfield 'did little to protect its area and bears some responsibility for the fragility of a team which, without pressing, is still not very comfortable defending'.

Foot Mercato, meanwhile, focused their attention on the individual defensive performances rather than Zidane, with the back line having been made up of Malo Gusto, Jeremy Jacquet, Dayot Upamecano and Adrien Truffert.

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"The French defence crumbled in Italy, symbolised by Malo Gusto's disastrous performance," they wrote. "But he wasn't the only one to blame, as the entire defensive quartet was guilty of major errors."

Journalist Daniel Riolo, though, questioned Zidane's set-up at the San Siro during his appearance on RMC Sport, and says there were parts of France's performance that he 'didn't understand'.

"Zidane's choices in certain positions are highly questionable," he said on-air. "I'm calling it a mess because we're going to hear a lot of people saying, 'We had a great first 25 minutes'. We'll agree on that. It was almost 25 minutes to send a message: 'You're going to get hammered'.

"That was the impression we got: pressing, counter-pressing, collective movements, players changing positions... I was overwhelmed, to the point where I didn't know who was who, who was doing what. It was good, but in the end, we lost our way. I wondered what minute Olise had come off. But no, he was still there. And Cherki, did he come off? Oh no, he's still there, but we can't see him anymore. And Doue, where is he? Ah he's a left-back, then a winger, but I don't know when he played as a false nine in the match."

Le Parisien, meanwhile, described the defeat as 'the first hiccup of the Zidane era', writing: "Despite a convincing first half, the French team collapsed on Thursday night at San Siro. Defeated for the first time under Zinedine Zidane, Les Bleus displayed significant weaknesses in their defence, particularly off the ball."