The Betway ambassador discusses the Premier League title race Arsenal's Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City, and France's squad depth ahead of World Cup 2026.
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Arsenal were well-beaten by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final. What do you think of the squad’s mentality and their ability to bounce back from that defeat?
City had to show some answers based on what’s been happening in the Premier League, and they did that, unfortunately for us. Now, we’ll have to see if the result will have an impact on the title race or not.
It’s a competition that we lost, now go and try to win the league, and see what you can do in the Champions League and FA Cup.
I saw the players talking after the game and they were disappointed. It’s never easy to lose a final, but get on with it, and make sure that when you face City again at the Etihad you put things right.
During the Invincibles season your Arsenal side were knocked out of two cup competitions by Manchester United and Chelsea within a week. What is the key to responding to a setback like that?
I’ve been in that situation when we won the treble at Barcelona. We didn’t manage to do it with Arsenal, but the mentality was always ‘one game at a time’.
In eight days we played Chelsea twice, Manchester United and Liverpool, which was tough on the body. I didn’t play in the FA Cup semi-final against United, I stayed on the bench the whole game – I don’t know why – so it was tough. We had to rotate, but that’s what you have to deal with at the top, big games that come fast and furious.
Martin Zubimendi has been criticised by some Arsenal fans for his performances in big games. Do you think that’s fair?
People like to talk a lot about everything and everyone. First it was Bukayo Saka, then Odegaard, then Gyokeres, Chelsea, Cole Palmer, the referee etc.
You can always raise issues. Zubimendi just arrived in the league, and when Rodri first arrived I remember people weren’t sure about him.
People can say whatever they want, and rightly so. Everything is so analysed by everybody, including myself, but that’s how it is at the top.
If you’re not at the top or the bottom, I’m not sure people will talk about you. I’ve been there, so embrace being criticised, and make sure that at the end you can show something that might prove people wrong.
Rayan Cherki has been a hot topic since he did some keepy-uppies during the final and took a selfie in front of the Arsenal team. Did you find it disrespectful?
All I know is my team lost, he won, and he can take as many selfie as he wants. For me, it’s not even a discussion.
Rayan is a special player who will do special things. I had him as a player with the French Olympic team, and he will do things that are out of this world.
Do you think Cherki has secured the No. 10 shirt for France at the World Cup?
It’s tough to be a starter for France. All I can say about Rayan is he made sure that he’s going to be on the plane, and that’s already an achievement. To start for France is hard – have you seen the team?
But Rayan is outstanding, he’s a different player who thinks differently and will do special things for you. If he understands what he needs to do off the ball, then forget about it, it’s over.
Do you think France have the best squad in the world heading into the World Cup?
Having the best squad doesn’t give you any right to do anything, except it gives the coach a nice headache. It means you have the depth to go deep into a tournament, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to do it.
But yes, recently we’ve been fortunate in France to have players who can perform. If you look at the last two World Cup finals, we were there, and in the last seven World Cups we were in four finals.
You play your ‘A-team’ against Brazil and you beat them, you play your ‘B-team’ against Colombia and beat them easily. But those were friendly games, and we’re going to have to wait and see who will be ready at the World Cup.
In Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, France have two of the very best attacking players in the world. How do they best function together?
It’s easy, we saw it with the first goal against Brazil – you control the ball, you put the other guy in front of goal and he scores.
Joking aside, I always thought that if Dembele can finish what he starts, then he can be a problem. Now he has proven that.
Great players understand what they need to do to help the team perform. Ousmane is a great player, and he can play behind the No. 9, as a No. 9, on the left or the right. That gives you a lot of options. Then we have Michael Olise, who you can see at Bayern is becoming ‘that guy’.
It’s not only Dembele, Kylian and Olise, though. You look at Cherki, Desire Doue, Barcola, Ekitike and Thuram – it’s ridiculous, actually.
You’ve mentioned all the star players France have in attacking areas, but there are only four spots in the team. Is there room for a young player to come through and surprise people?
The guy did it already – it’s Ekitike. It happened earlier, and nobody saw it coming.
You have to give him a lot of credit for making the jump, doing what he did at Liverpool and breaking through into this squad. But it’s going to be a battle.
Nobody thought eight months ago that Ekitike would be in this squad, so there’s always a chance for someone to break in. Warren Zaire-Emery was with the Under-21s in November, and now he’s back in. There’s always a chance that someone can come through.
How big a boost can it be for the USA to be the host nation, as you experienced at France ’98?
It depends on how they bring people with them throughout the group stage. We saw how emotional the Brazilians were in Brazil.
If you manage to get the crowd with you and behind what you are about, then maybe you can do a South Korea.
There needs to be a preparation, and then you need to be good at the tournament. I was in the US when they lost to Belgium last week – not the result you want, but they need to be good at the World Cup, not now.
They need to convince the supporters, and if they come out of the group stage in a nice way, showing attitude and desire, then who knows what can happen?
Christian Pulisic is a huge star in the US. Do you think he’s perhaps underrated in Europe despite the three good seasons he’s now had with AC Milan?
Christian Pulisic knows what he needs to do. The World Cup is not on his shoulders. He has a team that needs to perform with him, and if it does then he can help the team win. But they have Weston McKennie, Timothy Weah, Folarin Balogun, guys who are performing in Europe.
People are going to obviously talk about Christian Pulisic, but you don’t win a World Cup alone. Your team-mates need to bring you to places where you can shine.
You managed in Canada with CF Montreal. What was the appetite like for soccer over there, and how important are their star players like Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David?
For a very long time, people were referring to Canada because it was the place where Alphonso Davies was from. Then Jonathan David arrived, and players like Stephen Eustaquio and Cyle Larin were playing in Europe.
I coached there, so I know the love they have for football or soccer. Hockey will always be hockey in Canada, and you can’t disrespect that, but being in Montreal, with the mix they have in that town, and their country, they do love their football. For the growth of football in their country, to have an impact, it’s about going to the World Cup more often than not, upsetting the countries in the area in the various competitions, World Cup qualifiers, Gold Cup and Nations League, and then it’s a different ball game.
It’s weird that so much of the focus is on whether the US can do well at the World Cup, when it’s also being played in Canada and Mexico. It will be the same pressure and expectation for Mexico, maybe a tiny bit less for Canada, but if you’re Canada then you can go out there and try to impress people.
