“Cultivating this winning culture”: Laurent Bonadei satisfied with the French team’s first two matches at the Euro

"You said you were going to rotate, and the players responded, with three goals scored by substitutes in the first match. What does that say about your squad? It's important to respect what we say. I told the girls that it was a whole group that's moving forward. Of the six goals scored, we have six different scorers, which is a good sign; it means that danger can come from anywhere. It also allowed us to give the young players some playing time so they can gain experience. It was a good match. It was also conditioned by the fact that we have three important matches in eight days, and the one against England (2-1 last Saturday) took its toll on the players. We have a final qualifying match against the Netherlands, which will be very important. It was essential to rotate the squad to allow some players to recover and be fresh for Sunday's match."

Can you tell us about the defensive line, very young? It's true, we finished the match with a very young defense. I found their behavior very appropriate, we were unfortunate on this goal in the first half, it was a bit of a snooker shot and we were caught in the deep. But I found their match consistent. (On the fact that the central players switched positions) At the start of the match, they had felt the need to balance themselves differently with Alice (Sombath) on the right and Thiniba (Samoura) on the left. We are there to support them, we give them instructions, they follow them to the letter. And then from time to time, it's also important to be able to give them autonomy, the power to make decisions, to dare. And when I saw that they had decided to change, I told myself that I was going to let them do it because, at that age, making those decisions is courageous and at the same time it shows their determination. It also shows their ability to analyze the game, their own play, but also perhaps the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents. And they certainly felt that this was the best way to counter this team.

Are you looking at the players' playing time in view of the quarter-finals? We are not in the calculations in relation to being in one side of the table or the other. We can see that in both groups C and D, there are five teams in the top 10 in the FIFA rankings and on the other side, there is Spain (reigning world champion) . So obviously there is one side that has its particularity, but the match between Spain and Italy (9 p.m. Friday) is not yet played. And then we still have a match between Germany and Sweden. So we are not in those calculations. In any case, we are going to play the match against the Netherlands to win it, we are on a series of ten victories (all competitions combined) , we must cultivate this culture of winning, that is what I try to tell them. We have to stay focused on the game and it's the game that will allow us to get the victories.

“Clara (Mateo), in her team game, has this ability to move in small spaces and in particular to press very well.”

Will you, in the rest of the tournament, practice a less important turnover? I have 23 players at my disposal, so depending on the state of form, and the observation that we will make tomorrow (Thursday) on the fatigue of the players... The goal was to give rhythm to players who had not had any in preparation like (Sandie) Toletti, (Kadidiatou) Diani, so that, in the matches to come, I have as many players as possible capable of holding out for a long time. I have so far made two five-player changes, it is not true. They know that I can make changes, rotations, but they also know that I can do without them.

Can you tell us about Clara Mateo (scorer against Wales)? Clara is interesting in her movements for pressing, but also in her runs. She brings us a different palette on the back of the attack, we have Marie (Katoto) who is capable of keeping the balls in the goal, of being a very good player in the finishing zone and also in the heading game. Clara, in her collective game, has this ability to move in small spaces and in particular to press very well. She had already caused problems for the Swiss goalkeeper (end of May, in the Nations League) . I had told Clara and Kadi, especially in the first half, that there were moves to be made in this area.

Didn't you find that the lines were stretched in the first half? I asked Grace (Geyoro) and Amel (Majri) to stay very high in the inter-lines, that's why, at times, we could have the impression that they weren't really in the preparation game. I asked them to be patient, to really stay behind the midfielders. There was no point in finding ourselves with six players in front of a block, and then passing each other five meters without causing problems for the opponent. So, indeed, when we lose the ball, it poses a problem of replacement, because we are a little off balance and as the opposing coach had put an ambitious project on a 4-4-2 which projected very quickly to make a 4-2-4, we had our defense which was a little in crisis. But it is also in these moments that we see how the young players can react, progress. And I told Grace and Amel to be able to come back on the second balls, but it's not always possible because the distance is long and when the Wales players played long balls, the returns were difficult.