Ousmane Dembélé has drawn a blank in Les Bleus' first three matches of this international break, yet he retains strong backing from head coach Zinedine Zidane, who values what the player brings to the collective.
Dembélé is taking it all in his stride, convinced he can change the equation against Belgium on Monday in the fourth round of the UEFA Nations League, according to French network "RMC".
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"What does that mean? At Paris Saint-Germain he is better, and here what? ". That may be the first flash of irritation from Zidane since he took charge of the national team, and it came in reply to a journalist's question about the gap between Dembélé's level at Paris Saint-Germain and his level with France.
Zidane leapt to his player's defence. "I found him good in the three matches in which we saw him. Ousmane does what Ousmane does. I am satisfied with what he does on the pitch, because he moves a lot... that is what matters to us because he does it very well. I don't have much to blame him for".
Pressed on Dembélé's failure to beat Italy goalkeeper Donnarumma, Zidane dug in: "It is true that he did not score, but he had chances. And then we always think of the goal, and say that he must score, whereas I see things differently. And I am satisfied with what I saw from my players".
Dembélé, for his part, is unruffled. He has grown used to criticism across his career, whether at Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona or with France.
France beat Turkey and then Belgium by the same 1-0 scoreline before drawing 1-1 with Italy in the third round of the UEFA Nations League.