Lizarazu praises Zidane's tactical gamble at the helm of the Bleus

In the Téléfoot studio, the cameras capture the excitement of Friday night as France face Turkey in the Nations League, under the watchful eye of Zinedine Zidane.

Zidane's tactical choices

Zidane opened his tenure as head of the French national team with a narrow 1‑0 victory over Turkey on Friday in the Nations League. The French manager opted for several bold choices from the first match.

Among those decisions, Kylian Mbappé was placed on the left side of the attack, while Ousmane Dembélé occupied the central channel, providing a new offensive dynamic.

Rayan Cherki, usually a playmaker, was instead lined up deeper, as part of a three‑man midfield with Adrien Rabiot and Manu Koné. The Manchester City player thus discovered a different role, closer to the link to the attack.

Zidane wants Cherki as France's offensive pivot

On the Téléfoot set, Bixente Lizarazu highlighted the interest of this positioning. “In any case, he brings more creativity to the midfield in this linking role. He isn’t really a number 10, but what’s interesting about him is his link with the attack, his ability to provide good balls, his creativity. He can also score. He just needs to be more precise at times, because he tries a lot, he can produce waste. And at the very highest level, we want the perfect gesture all the time,” Lizarazu told TF1.

Zidane returned on Sunday to explain the reasons that led him to use Cherki in this position with the Blues, emphasizing the need to add fresh blood to the midfield.

The early feedback shows that Zidane’s gamble, validated by Lizarazu, could bring additional creativity to France in the upcoming Nations League fixtures.