Rabiot infuriates Zidane’s staff: “He took too long to warm up.” The French press: “He is no longer a starter”

AC Milan midfielder Adrien Rabiot has angered Zinedine Zidane's staff. According to Jean-Louis Tourre, who was on commentary for the match for RMC, what happened before his 88th-minute introduction in place of Camavinga during the 4-1 comeback win over Belgium did not go down well with the national team's assistant coaches.

Too slow to warm up

"He warmed up at an incredibly slow pace, he did not have his boots ready. It infuriated the France national team staff, who could not understand why it was taking him so long to warm up", he said during the After Foot programme on RMC on Monday evening. The Milan player came on moments before France's third goal, scored by Michael Olise, and played a part in the move for the fourth. At the final whistle, Zidane was first to greet and thank Rabiot by the touchline. Still, his late cameo did not fully convince Daniel Riolo, a columnist on the "After" programme, who believes that the 2022 World Cup runner-up should no longer be a starter. "It is time to turn the page on Rabiot, bring in Da Cunha in front of the defence and Camavinga as a midfielder."

He is no longer a starter

A nailed-on starter under Didier Deschamps, Adrien Rabiot (31) featured only sporadically during Zinédine Zidane's first camp in charge. The midfielder started against Turkey (1-0) and Italy (1-1), but stayed on the bench for the win over Belgium (1-0) in Brussels. At the Stade de France yesterday, he came on late in the game against the Belgians (4-1), replacing Eduardo Camavinga in the 88th minute.