“ Don’t panic. » This is the watchword displayed by Evan Fournier the day after a World Cup which saw the French team finish in a sad 18th place. The tricolor rear is convinced that, rather than “ se reinvent “, to proceed to ” several small adjustments » will allow the Blues to aim for the heights at the Paris Olympic Games.
By expressing this way, he dismisses the idea of a change of coach, which would be anything but a “small adjustment”. SO Vincent Collet, whose future will be studied by the Federation, is he still the man for the job? “ Yes, yes, yes, I think we shouldn’t question everything, especially one year before the Games. To me it doesn’t make sense. Vincent, especially since 2019, has done a very good job with his staff », assures the Knicks player, passing on RTL.
The latter notes, however, that changes are necessary. Notably ” on how we must ‘scout’ the young people who we can bring into the French team earlier and earlier. I find that it’s a problem we have with how we organize ourselves. 2016 was a very good example where you really keep your old ones until the end, until the end, there is no renewal… »
Beyond integration, the top French scorer of this World Cup regrets not “ not even » see them at work. He therefore suggests inviting “ all our young potentials over a week, ten days just before preparation to see what they are worth. It’s worth seeing, having a sort of mini-camp with a larger group. This is part of the solutions. » Which would allow a better transition with the upcoming international retirements of executives like Nicolas Batum and Nando de Colo.
The preparation ? “We have always done things differently”
What about a review of the preparation, considered too weak by some? “ In the French team, we never do extremely hard preparations. Spain, Slovenia, the Serbs… They always do a lot of preparation. It’s a way of seeing things, we’ve always done things differently and that hasn’t stopped us from getting results. », recalls Fournier who nevertheless agrees that the match against Tunisia was of no use “ to nothing “.
Good results which should not make us forget that nothing is ” never perfect in the French team. I think back in particular to the Euro last summer, where there were a lot of things on which we weren’t that strong, but we managed to hang on. In the end, we got a nice silver medal. This group has always had the resources to produce results. »
Evan Fournier wants a “more balanced selection”
Not this time in Asia where, after the slap received at the opening against Canada, the Blues of Vincent Collet conceded a setback by a hair against the future 5th best nation in the tournament, Latvia. If France had won that day, a completely different tournament would have been played out for them, undoubtedly without going through the “ punishment » represented by these ranking matches without any stakes.
For the Paris Olympics, Evan Fournier is waiting “ a more balanced selection where the players will really all have the opportunity to find themselves in their role “. He finishes : ” I don’t know what the outcome will be, but it will go much better. With the beating we’ve had this year, if we’re not starving to death, I don’t know what we deserve! It would be cataclysmic not to make it through the quarters. »
