Nasri: It is stupid to not use Benzema

Posted Tuesday, October 10, 2017 by Marca.com

It has been one of the more controversial decisions of Didier Deschamps' spell as France coach, yet Karim Benzema continues to be frozen out of the international setup, a decision that Samir Nasri has labelled as stupid.

The former Manchester City midfielder has also been out of favour with the former Monaco coach since 2013 and he hasn't been shy in making public his criticism of the experienced coach.

"I feel sorry for Karim because he really wants to come back," he explained.

"It has been nine or 10 years that he has been starring in Madrid, there is a moment when you must recognise someone's talent.

"It is stupid to not use a player like Benzema, you could have an attack with Karim, Mbappe, Griezmann and Dembele, it would be fantastic."

France have a fantastic collection of attacking footballers at this present, yet following a narrow 1-0 victory over Bulgaria on Saturday, there have been calls for further reinforcements.

Former Paris Saint-Germain coach, Luis Fernandez, headed the calls for the Real Madrid striker's return on social media.

"Seeing France, despite them playing with a positive attitude, we lack somebody who can be more effective in attack, @Benzema."

One of the rather more ugly sides of the whole dispute has been the suggestion that Benzema's absence is a result of something other than the blackmail incident involving Mathieu Valbuena.

Nasri himself believes that it is Benzema's Algerian origin that has played a part.

"His origins? Yes I have lived through that, Ben Arfa too, with the season he had in Nice, he simply had to go to the Euros.

"Benzema made a few unfortunate statements in MARCA, but Deschamps accused him of being a racist and I do not forgive him, there is nothing sporting about this decision, it isn't possible."