Zinedine Zidane set to give France’s Mbappe, Dembele and Olise new roles

Zinedine Zidane is expected to begin his reign as France manager with a tactical reshuffle when his side face Turkey in the opening round of the Nations League on Friday evening.

The former France and Real Madrid midfielder is likely to use a 4-3-3 formation, moving away from the system used by his predecessor Didier Deschamps during the final part of his tenure.

According to French newspaper L’Equipe, Zidane made his intentions clear during Tuesday evening’s work at France’s Clairefontaine training base. Wednesday’s session further indicated that Kylian Mbappe would operate from the left, Ousmane Dembele would play as the central striker and Michael Olise would be positioned on the right.

The proposed changes would represent a significant adjustment in the front three. Deschamps had generally used a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Mbappe and Dembele in wider roles and Olise deployed as the attacking midfielder behind the main striker.

In midfield, Manu Kone is expected to provide the defensive base, with Adrien Rabiot and Rayan Cherki playing as the two linking players ahead of him.

Mbappe was absent from France’s first almost-full team session on Tuesday after suffering from a cold. He did not take part in either lunch or training that day, but is expected to recover in time for the match against Turkey.

The captaincy arrangements are also set to remain unchanged. Zidane intends to keep the armband with Mbappe whenever he is involved, while naming three vice-captains based on the number of international appearances they have made among the players in the current squad.

Dembele, who has won 67 caps, is first in that order, followed by Rabiot on 66 and Jules Kounde on 56.

That structure mirrors the seniority-based approach Zidane previously used during his time in charge of Real Madrid.