Full-back shortage puts France in danger before Italy in Milan
The injuries to Jules Koundé and Pierre Kalulu have highlighted the very thin pool of full‑backs in France. France is set to face Italy on Thursday at 20 h 45 in Milan in the Nations League. The manager will only be able to rely on a right‑back, Malo Gusto, who has logged just half an hour of league play in the past month. As a replacement, the rookie Saël Kumbedi, coming from the German second division, has been called up.
Jules Koundé's withdrawal combined with Pierre Kalulu's injury underscored the very poor French reservoir at the full‑back positions. This shortage is not new and Zinédine Zidane had identified it as soon as he took charge. The manager asked the youth teams to place players there to familiarize them with the role, such as Ismaëlo Ganiou of Lens with the Espoirs.
Origins of the deficit and reactions
‘Young players don’t necessarily want to be defenders, especially full‑backs,’ says Jocelyn Angloma, former right‑back of the French team. ‘It’s a huge project. From a very young age, you have to try to instill in players the benefits of the position. Because every youngster wants to play midfield or attack, that shapes the imagination of the young player.’ The lack of interest stems from a training system dating back to the 1990s that favored technique at the expense of defensive profiles.
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Christian Damiano, then a coach at INF Clairefontaine, now acknowledges the perverse effect of this overhaul that was heavily focused on technical level. By keeping the most skillful players, the French Football Federation has thus produced very great future stars like Thierry Henry but also eliminated less brilliant and often defensive profiles. ‘A defender who is a bit rough, stiff and somewhat struggling technically was unfortunately cut,’ confirms the former assistant of Claudio Ranieri at AS Roma. ‘We based our selection on those criteria, but at some point we needed to accept taking a few players with the ruggedness of a defender who are nevertheless necessary and indispensable. Today, we realize that we have practically no full‑backs. They are midfielders who have been converted.’
Consequences and recognition
Saël Kumbedi has been called up to the French team. For Walid, this means that Zidane is condemning the thirty‑year‑olds. Daniel would not understand why Zaïre‑Emery is not being tested at right‑back.
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Christian Damiano lamented that the federal centres have not evolved into a defensive line after working with the same methodology. He added that recruitment has not taken into account players who may be technically average but are defenders at heart, creating an unaddressed gap. The lack of recognition of the position is illustrated by Achraf Hakimi's sixth place in the 2025 Ballon d’Or despite a sensational season with PSG. The role of the full‑back demands covering many kilometres, chaining high‑intensity runs, being defensively reliable and offensively dangerous, while enduring harsh criticism in case of a poor defensive recovery.