Lizarazu defends Zidane and hails Olise and Doué as standout performers from France gathering

Bixente Lizarazu spoke forcefully on Sunday on Téléfoot l’After, responding to criticism of the euphoria surrounding Zinedine Zidane’s start as head coach of the French team. The 1998 World Cup winner defended the popular enthusiasm and identified two players as the standout revelations of the gathering: Michael Olise and Désiré Doué.

After a first squad gathering that yielded three wins and a draw, some voices — including that of Jérôme Rothen — criticized observers for a lack of objectivity, speaking of “Zizoumania” or “hysteria”. Lizarazu did not mince words: “There has been a lot of joy, and joy is lacking right now, isn’t it? I want to talk about the killjoys, those who speak of Zizou mania, of hysteria… But stop! You have to know how to appreciate that too.”

The former defender then offered his analysis of the gathering by highlighting two wingers. On Michael Olise, he made no secret of his admiration: “I don’t know what else to say about this guy, he’s a different generation of winger. He does things that others don’t really know how to do. There’s so much variety in his game, with dribbles, a style, an elegance. He can alternate an individual action just as he can an collective action. He is extremely difficult to read for a defender.”

Lizarazu was equally enthusiastic about Désiré Doué, while stressing that the best is yet to come: “He has colossal potential. He’s very strong in his dribbles, very strong physically, but also mentally. We haven’t yet seen the highest level of Désiré Doué. He can go even further.”

Zidane’s early days on the France bench have thus sparked as much support as debate, and the tone of the 1998 World Cup winner suggests that the controversy over media coverage of the coach is far from over.