France coach Didier Deschamps knows there is still a long way to go for his side, as he conceded the atmosphere around the camp has not been the best.
Les Bleus hammered Israel 4-1 in the Nations League on Thursday, with Deschamps fielding a youthful side.
With Antoine Griezmann having retired and Kylian Mbappe out injured, Eduardo Camavinga, Christopher Nkunku, Mattéo Guendouzi and Bradley Barcola were on target in Budapest.
Mbappe s absence has caused a stir in the French press, with the 25-year-old having pulled out of contention for the national team despite returning to fitness to feature in Real Madrid s two matches before the international window.
Referring to that media frenzy, Deschamps said: It s always good to win. The atmosphere around the squad is not exactly pleasant.
It s not perfect, we re in a transition period but there are some good things, with players who have qualities and now need to confirm.
This Nations League should help us with that. We failed against Italy [in a 3-1 defeat], but we played a very good match against Belgium [a 2-0 win].
CAMA
— Equipe de France (@equipedefrance)
Camavinga turned in an impressive performance in the heart of France s midfield, though he was left frustrated with how many times he gave the ball away.
The 21-year-old lost possession nine times, which was fewer than four of his team-mates.
I had a good performance. I can do better, I lost a lot of balls, he said.
It s still a good performance. It bodes well for the future.
To impose myself in the national team? Of course. It was everyone s goal to impose ourselves. We have to play good matches.
France face Belgium in their next Nations League encounter on Monday.
