Zidane says former boss 'not a coach'

GROUP A:FORMER FRANCE captain Zinedine Zidane has said national team manager Raymond Domenech "is not a coach" and criticised the lack of teamwork in the side's scoreless draw with Uruguay on Friday.

The squad and their manager have long been scorned in France, but the lacklustre performance in their opening match has caused a new bout of recrimination.

“The hardest thing is that there is no teamwork,” Zidane said. “They didn’t play together and it was more a case of individual efforts. The players must take responsibility for themselves, get themselves going. You have to be straight with each other.”

In unusually blunt language for a man who played under Domenech at the 2006 World Cup, Zidane also took aim at the manager. “He’s not a coach, he’s a selector. He picked his squad and he has to make them play together,” he said. “You must put your ego to one side and work together. Teamwork is the most important thing, and that’s not what we saw during the match.”

The French squad travelled to South Africa to general derision back home, their public image having not recovered since the dubious win against Ireland. A poll after Friday’s game found 81 per cent were “not convinced” by Les Bleus’ performance, with 70 per cent criticising Domenech’s selection and 79 per cent not feeling “close” to the team.

“Never has a French side advanced towards a World Cup amid so much scepticism and defiance,” said France Football magazine recently.

The squad’s image was badly damaged before the tournament when reports emerged that a number of players were assisting police with an investigation into underage prostitution. The inquiry has been suspended for the duration of the tournament.

It has already been confirmed that former captain Laurent Blanc will replace Domenech as manager after the World Cup, and hardly a day goes by without further public criticism being heaped upon the team. The latest row was sparked by sports minister Rama Yade, who complained the squad’s five-star hotel in South Africa was too luxurious for these straitened times – feeding a popular perception of the millionaire stars as pampered and cut off from the lives of ordinary people.

One of the most prominent critics has been Yannick Noah, a singer and former tennis star, who said: “This team does not love the public. You can’t ask people to love a team when it gives nothing.”

But among the few public figures to have offered support for the embattled manager is French president Nicolas Sarkozy – who is familiar with poor ratings.

Sarkozy reportedly called the manager on the eve of departure for South Africa to tell him not to take the criticism to heart.