The France national team have strongly denied claims there was some form of training ground bust-up just days before their World Cup quarter final clash against England.
Les Bleus take on the Three Lions on Saturday night with a place in the last four at stake, though if certain reports are to be believed, France's preparations have been less than ideal. The rumoured bust-up is alleged to have come between struggling right-back Benjamin Pavard and manager Didier Deschamps.
After Pavard was at fault for Australia's opening goal during the 4-1 win over the Socceroos in France's first game of the competition. He was was swiftly dropped against Denmark on match-day two. Many, potentially including the defender himself, expected Pavard to come back into the starting line-up for the final group game against Tunisia, but that was not the case.
In the aftermath of that contest, Deschamps explained his decision to bench Pavard by saying: "I took the decision not to play him. I won’t go into the details.
"I’ve had several conversations with him. I don’t consider him to be in the right disposition. So you’ll ask me, Is it physical, is it in his head?'. The first match didn’t help, of course. That’s why I made a different choice."
The comments from the France boss then prompted speculation over whether there had been some kind of falling-out between Pavard and Deschamps after the Australia game. However, French publication RTL has since claimed that there is no issue between the pair of them.
The outlet reports that the decision to take Pavard out of the side is one that is purely a footballing decision rather than the by-product of any rift. In fact, the Bayern Munich defender has not let his omission from recent starting line-ups - including the one which defeated Poland in the last 16 - get him down and he remains a positive figure within the camp.
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France may be slight favourites coming into their last-eight meeting with England purely down to the fact they boast someone with the astonishing ability of Kylian Mbappe. However, there are slight concerns over the in-form forward's fitness. The 23-year-old is thought to have been told by national team medics to train away from the rest of the group on Tuesday and instead take on some individual recovery work, suggesting he could be carrying some kind of light knock.
His potential absence would be a huge positive from an England perspective, with Gareth Southgate already mulling over how he can thwart the former Golden Boy's influence on proceedings. The most likely game plan from England's perspective is to deploy Kyle Walker at right-back, given he is the well-suited to deal with the Mbappe's lightening-quick pace.
