Gusto's nightmare at San Siro, Dugarry puts Zidane under pressure before Turkey

France fell 3-1 to Italy on Thursday evening at San Siro in the Nations League, and Malo Gusto’s performance at right-back immediately crystallized criticism of manager Zinedine Zidane.

Deployed in the absence of regular starters Jules Koundé and Pierre Kalulu, the Chelsea full-back (23) endured a nightmarish evening. Overwhelmed in the 26th minute by Nicolo Cambiaghi on Italy’s equalizer, he conceded an avoidable penalty around the hour mark before being caught out of position again by Davide Frattesi (73rd). Substituted fifteen minutes from the end for Saël Kumbedi, Gusto leaves behind a renewed debate over the right-back position for the French national team.

In his post-match press conference, Zidane refused to single out individuals, attempting to protect his player. But criticism was not long in coming, including from his former teammate and friend Christophe Dugarry. The pundit was particularly harsh on the manager’s refusal to deploy Warren Zaïre-Emery on the right flank, a position the PSG midfielder regularly occupies successfully at club level. “It’s his choice but so far it hasn’t proven him right,” Dugarry said, before going further: “It’s strange that he’s not even trying Zaïre-Emery. He said in his press conference that he saw him in midfield but…”

Dugarry went so far as to rank the Parisian ahead of the position’s regular starter: “I prefer Zaïre-Emery to Koundé.” For the 1998 World Cup winner, Zidane now finds himself with his back against the wall ahead of facing Turkey on Sunday in Bordeaux. “Now, you’re going to be forced to make a change first. And if you don’t change, you’re going to have to explain yourself. When it’s that obvious, you have no choice.”

On Gusto’s immediate future in the starting lineup, Dugarry left no room for ambiguity: “How are you going to confirm that Gusto, you’re going to leave him there in the next match? In my opinion it will be difficult for him. He won’t play the next match.”