Didier Deschamps in dressing room rant over Jules Koundé’s gold chain in Poland game | OneFootball

L’Équipe report today that although the atmosphere in the France camp is upbeat and Didier Deschamps is enjoying a renewed relationship with his players, Les Bleus’ manager is still capable of raising his voice when needs be.

One example of this was when defender Jules Koundé played most of the first half of the last 16 win against Poland wearing a gold chain, despite players being banned from sporting the accessory on the pitch.

Having publicly criticised his right-back after the game, Deschamps also went on a rant in the dressing room. Koundé’s mishap could well have cost France dearly, given that the Barcelona man risked picking up a yellow card – in the end, the referee was lenient and let the issue slide – which would have put him out of action for the quarter-final given he had already picked up a booking previously.

With France struggling at right-back without a specialist in the position, Koundé has been the best out of the three centre-backs deployed in the role in Qatar  – Benjamin Pavard and Axel Disasi being the others – and his absence would have likely been sorely felt.