After France had fluked their way into the quarter-finals of the Euro 2024 with a dreadfully dull 1-0 win over Belgium, William Saliba argued that Les Bleus "deserve some credit" for the way they play. They're not going to get any, though - not if they continue sending supporters to sleep with their boring brand of football.
There may be plenty to admire about the way in which Saliba & Co. contain opponents - they've kept more clean sheets than any other team in the tournament thus far - but the media's attention remains firmly fixed on France's malfunctioning forward line. And rightly so.
Didier Deschamps has a wonderful array of attacking talent and yet his team have scored only three goals in Germany - two own goals and a penalty. It's a shocking statistic, utterly embarrassing in fact. Deschamps doesn't care, though. He never has.