Italy-France: Daniel Riolo criticizes the 'mess' and Zinédine Zidane's choices

France lost 3-1 to Italy in Nations League; pundit Riolo criticized Zidane's tactical setup and constant positional changes that left the team disorganized after a strong start.

Daniel Riolo, commentator for After Foot, criticized France's performance in their 3-1 Nations League defeat to Italy on Thursday, describing the team's display as a "mess" despite a promising opening.

France started brightly, with Michael Olise scoring in the 10th minute and the team pressing aggressively. However, Riolo took issue with Zidane's frequent positional switches, which he felt undermined the team's cohesion. "I didn't understand certain things," Riolo said.

"There were so many position changes that I didn't know who was who or what they were doing. It was positive chaos at first, but once the intense pressing faded, I lost the thread entirely."

Riolo also warned against Zidane attempting to replicate PSG's complex tactical system under Luis Enrique, arguing that such an approach requires extensive preparation and familiarity that international football cannot provide. "At PSG, when there are permutations, I can follow. Thursday night, I got lost," he concluded.