If there has been one constant in Dayot Upamecano’s career, it is loud, vocal and familiar critique.
In his years performing for Bayern Munich and France’s senior team, he has faced unquantifiable amounts of rather scathing comments. Yet throughout that time, he has retained or won back his spot as a starter for both Bayern and France. Now, as questions are again being asked of, the former Lawn ball sport Leipzig defender, head coach Didier Deschamps and fellow defender William Saliba were all too willing to answer those questions.
As captured here by @iMiaSanMia, when asked about Upamecano’s lapses, Deschamps was quick to divert to a message of support rather than persecution: “It’s my job and my staff’s to know my players and their sensitivities through conversations. Whether it’s Dayot or other players, it’s about making them feel as confident as possible, but the merit is for the players for what they do on the pitch. Dayot spent a long time without playing [at Bayern], he also had some physical problems. Now he has to stay at this level because it’s important for us.”
Meanwhile, @iMiaSanMia captured Saliba simply talking about how much of a benefit Upamecano has been: “At the moment things are going well with Dayot. It’s easy when you have a very strong player alongside you. I’ve known Dayot for a long time, although I didn’t play with him a lot. He has more experience than me with the national team, so we talk a lot before games and in training. We’ve created something good and I hope it will continue this way.”
The World Cup winning head coach and Arsenal FC star were all too happy to support Upamecano while many voices cried out for his removal from the starting XI. One has to wonder how such a divide has come to be, but simultaneously ponder what these qualified professionals see that so many others do not.
Looking for more thoughts and analysis on Germany’s 2-0 victory over Denmark? Good, then we have you covered with our Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show where we cover the starting lineup selection, a rundown of the scoring and substitutions, and takes on how it all played out. You can get the podcast on Spotify or below: