Yohan Cabaye tries solving England's Euro 2024 midfield conundrum

Yohan Cabaye tries solving England's midfield conundrum for Euro 2024 and reveals French players were treated like CHILDREN after 2010 World Cup disaster.

• "At Clairefontaine, the French national football centre, there were rules on the back of doors of each room, that we had to follow at all times. It was crazy; it was like we were children."
• "I'm not sure bringing Bellingham back is the most impactful move. Maybe the option is you play Rice in midfield, with Bellingham next to him, and Foden as well, Anthony Gordon on the left, Bukayo Saka or Cole Palmer on the right and Harry Kane up-front."
• "I would say N'Golo Kante has been the standout player in a France shirt, up to this point. I think a lot of people were surprised that he was called up for this tournament. But, clearly, the manager knew what he was doing with that decision."
• "I joined up with the national team for the first time in a really difficult moment in French football, immediately after the 2010 World Cup. Everyone had something to say about the national team, even the politicians. So, of course, that's a really difficult situation to be in, as a player."
• [On N'Golo Kante] "If you wanted to be extra critical of him, you'd maybe talk about his goal ratio, as that's not really something he's known for. But, apart from that, for me he's one of the best Premier League signings in history."
• "At Clairefontaine, the French national football centre, there were rules on the back of doors of each room, that we had to follow at all times. It was crazy; it was like we were children."
  

It's difficult because, for me, Phil Foden is an unbelievable player. He's fantastic, but we know he's not playing in a position where we're seeing him at his best. And so, to get him in his favoured position, it means you'd have to take out a Jude Bellingham, or maybe Bukayo Saka, on the right-hand side. But you just have to play Bellingham, and he's most impactful when he's close to the striker, and to the goal, as we've seen already.

It's so difficult for the manager to find the right balance for the team, and the balance is so important. Declan Rice is part of your midfield, for sure. The manager played Kobbie Mainoo in the last game, before that he played Conor Gallagher, and he started the tournament with Trent Alexander-Arnold in there... that shows us that he hasn't found the right formula yet. 

I'm not sure bringing Bellingham back is the most impactful move. Maybe the option is you play Rice in midfield, with Bellingham next to him, and Foden as well, Anthony Gordon on the left, Bukayo Saka or Cole Palmer on the right and Harry Kane up-front, and of those midfield three, you have Rice at the bottom, behind Bellingham and Foden, who are your two attacking midfielders. That's probably how you put the best players in their best positions but, again, it's such a difficult call to make. I wouldn't want to be in Gareth Southgate's shoes... I know that!

I would say N'Golo Kante has been the standout player in a France shirt, up to this point. You know, he's spent the whole season playing in Saudi Arabia and I think a lot of people were surprised that he was called up for this tournament. But, clearly, the manager knew what he was doing with that decision, and you can see on the pitch that he's one of the fittest players, and he's so important for the balance of this team.

We can also mention William Saliba at the back, his performances have been fantastic, and then you've got Mike Maignan in goal - he's shown great characteristics; leadership and charisma, and his performances have been very good.

Unfortunately, I can't mention any of the offensive players when it comes to standout players, because we haven't been good enough going forward. I can only hope we improve in that area on Friday night. 

I joined up with the national team for the first time in a really difficult moment in French football, immediately after the 2010 World Cup. Everyone had something to say about the national team, even the politicians. So, of course, that's a really difficult situation to be in, as a player. 

Because of what happened in the summer, out in South Africa, it meant the French Federation wanted to create an environment where the players had to follow certain rules. You know, there was a huge emphasis on respecting the fans, going and chatting to them, shaking hands, taking pictures. But there were other things, too; so we weren't allowed to leave the bus wearing our headphones, that kind of thing. 

 At Clairefontaine, the French national football centre, there were rules on the back of doors of each room, that we had to follow at all times. It was crazy; it was like we were children. That was how they decided we'd get through that difficult moment and get back to a position of success, putting our country on top again. 

I knew of N'Golo Kante before he signed for Leicester, because we played against each other in France. I knew he had great energy levels, he ran a lot, and he was so intelligent in his positioning and reading of the game. 

I was so curious when he signed for Leicester, because I just wanted to see how he'd adapt to the intensity of the England game. Obviously, it's something he managed to do very well, and we all know what happened next in his career... he showed everyone he was perfectly capable of adapting to the Premier League. 

You would have to say he will go down as one of the best Premier League signings of all-time, especially when you consider how much Leicester paid for him, and how little people in England perhaps knew about him before his arrival. He won the league in his first season in England, and then again in his second season, with Chelsea.  

If you wanted to be extra critical of him, you'd maybe talk about his goal ratio, as that's not really something he's known for. But, apart from that, for me he's one of the best Premier League signings in history.

I'm always happy when I see France progressing through a tournament - it's important for us as a country, that the team is performing well. But, this year, you can see, we've struggled to score from open-play and that's an issue. It's been more difficult than we perhaps expected before the tournament, but we're still there, we're still in it, and now we have a huge game coming up against Portugal.

We're in a place now where there are no big nations and small nations anymore; the smaller nations have improved so much and have closed the gap on the bigger sides, and we've seen that already on a few occasions in this tournament. Back in the day, with the greatest of respect, there were teams competing who simply weren't good enough for this type of tournament. But you can see now, these teams have improved so much, with good managers, good coaches and good players... it's a lot more difficult nowadays.  

There's a lot going on in France at the moment; we're happy to have won yesterday, and - while I don't want to talk too much about it - we have a political situation going on at the moment, which means the atmosphere in the country is strange. I hope that, by the national team going far in this tournament, our country can enjoy this summer. 

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