Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery has claimed that critics in France have damaged his ability to perform for the national team.
The 28-year-old has admitted that he is unhappy when he joins up with the France squad, but has stated that he is having the 'time of his life' in Germany.
"In Munich everything is designed to make me feel good," Ribery told L'Equipe. "There is not a problem directly with the public [in France], it is with the people in the middle. They keep criticising me.
"It irritates me. It should not happen like that, they get carried away. It should be as it is in Munich. In Germany, I'm happy, I'm having the time of my life.
"In the France team, I'm completely different. I do not know if it is in the mind that this is happening, but it is. I do not want to explain to those who are always there to criticise. I prefer to forget about them."
Ribery, who has scored 11 goals in the Bundesliga this season, is preparing to face Marseille with Bayern for the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final tomorrow.
Danielle Joynson
