William Saliba could be spending a lot of time on the bench for France’s Euro 2024 campaign (Getty)
Didier Deschamps has told Arsenal defender William Saliba that he will stick to one centre-back pairing for France’s Euro 2024 campaign this summer.
The 23-year-old has been a standout performer at the heart of Arsenal’s defence this season but at international level he has started just three of France’s last 19 games.
Deschamps, meanwhile, has not started with the same centre-back combination in France’s last 10 fixtures, but indicated after a training session last week that Ibrahima Konate and Dayot Upamecano could be his preferred defensive pairing for Euro 2024.
Saliba was handed a start alongside Konate for France’s 3-2 win over Chile in Marseille on Tuesday evening and produced an excellent last-man tackle to deny Ben Brereton Diaz late on, but Deschamps was not happy with France’s overall defensive display.
‘If we score three, that’s fine, but that wasn’t the case against Germany. We need to defend well and attack well,’ Deschamps told TF1 after France’s win over Chile.
‘It’s good to have won but we did some laborious things.
William Saliba started in France’s 3-2 win over Chile on Tuesday evening (AFP via Getty)
‘With the problems we can have, we have to manage so as not to take any risks. The two goals that we conceded were avoidable.’
When asked if he has an idea of his preferred centre-back pairing for Euro 2024, Deschamps replied: ‘It will take shape for the Euros but you never know what can happen.
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‘Unfortunately we’ve had problems with one or another so yes, hopefully everyone is fit.
‘I’m not going to change from one match to the next.’
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