France Boss Didier Deschamps Leaps to Paul Pogba's Defence Following Jeers From His Own Fans

France manager Didier Deschamps has jumped to the defence of Paul Pogba following the Manchester United midfielder's reception from home fans on Friday evening. The French ran out 3-1 winners over Italy, but Pogba was on the receiving end of some unfriendly jeers from his own supporters.

Goals from Samuel Umtiti, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele secured victory for the French, but the win didn't stop some unhappy fans. A misplaced pass in the second half began their taunting, and the whistles started once again when Pogba was replaced by Steven N'Zonzi towards the end of the game.

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But manager Deschamps has come to his defence, claiming that the bad reception wasn't solely for the midfielder.

"The whistles for Paul Pogba? It's not just for him, at one point we kept the ball and they whistled too," Deschamps told TF1 (via Sky Sports). "It had already happened.

"The public also prefers to score five, six goals but it's high level, there is a team in front of us. The players do the right thing.

"Are they affected or not, I do not know... I will not remember that, but if it maybe could not be the case, it would be better."

It wasn't only his manager who spoke on the subject, teammate Griezmann also came to back Pogba up:

"The whistles are part of football, you have to stay tough mentally. We're all playing for the same shirt. He plays his game, you're used to him scoring. We don't expect that from him, only that he rotates the ball and plays for the team.

"He has had a difficult season at Manchester United but he has a lot of confidence in himself."