France national team manager Didier Deschamps believes that his side’s attack is better off without Manchester United’s Anthony Martial and Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette, as both young Premier League forwards were omitted from the World Cup roster.
Deschamps, who announced the 23 man roster which will compete in Russia next month on Thursday night, decided that Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann, Paris Saint-Germain’s (loan- Monaco) Kylian Mbappe, Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele and Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud make for superior attacking options.
Lacazette, who broke the Arsenal club transfer fee record when he moved to north London last summer, has been slowed by injuries this season, and hasn’t lived up to expectations.
Martial, who got off to a very fine start this season at United, saw his playing time diminish, and with it his production. Since Alexis Sanchez moved to United from Arsenal in January, Martial saw significantly less playing time, and hasn’t scored. He was also scratched from the season finale due to an unspecific injury.
He’s also been consistently linked in transfer rumors away from the club. At least Martial and Lacazette were named to the 11 man standby list.
“It’s always difficult. I was confronted with choices between a lot of players with a lot of quality,” Deschamps said as he unveiled his roster during a television broadcast.
“I know I can’t make all the players happy,”
“Just as I did two and four years ago, I have made a list of 23 players for a major tournament to build a group that is best-suited to go as far as possible.”
Tottenham Hotspur #1 Hugo Lloris will serve as captain.
West Ham United midfielder Dimitri Payet is another notable snub from the France roster; which is listed out in entirety below:
Attack: Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Olivier Giroud (Chelsea), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona), Florian Thauvin (Marseille), Thomas Lemar (Monaco), Nabil Fekir (Lyon)
Midfield: Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Blaise Matuidi (Juventus), Corentin Tolisso (Bayern Munich), N’Golo Kante (Chelsea), Steven Nzonzi (Sevilla)
Defense: Djibril Sidibe (Monaco), Benjamin Pavard (Stuttgart), Adil Rami (Marseille), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid), Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Saint-Germain), Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City), Lucas Hernandez (Atletico Madrid)
Goalkeeping: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Alphonse Areola (Paris Saint-Germain)
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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