for the Blues, the final outing of a sad year 2024 which blurred their image

Rarely, in Didier Deschamps' twelve and a half years in office, have there been as little talk about the game as in 2024. After several months where extra-sporting fueled the headlines when the field failed to provide a diversion, the players of the French men's football team have the opportunity to end the year better than they started it, Sunday November 17, against Italy (9:10 p.m.). A success in Milan would not erase the last eleven months, but it would allow the Blues to approach their next gathering, in March 2025, more peacefully.

Qualified for the quarter-finals of the League of Nations, France can still finish first in its group, provided it wins by at least two goals against the Nazionale, which beat it in Paris, in September (1-3). And for once, this sporting issue occupied the space, Saturday at a press conference – apart from an Italian journalist, who mentioned the absence of Kylian Mbappé.

Because the year 2024 for the Blues has been sprinkled with extra-sporting elements. The dissolution of the National Assembly, announced on June 9 by Emmanuel Macron, a few minutes before a France-Canada match in Bordeaux (0-0), had thus led certain French players – Kylian Mbappé and Marcus Thuram in the lead – to take position on the legislative elections, as the Euro began.

Then the captain of the Blues became the center of attention. His broken nose during the European Championship, his casual and distant attitude during the September rally, his absence in October, his trip to Stockholm and, finally, his non-call-up for the two matches against Israel and Italy… “Mbappé crystallizes a lot of things, since we talk a lot about him, even when he is not there”observed Didier Deschamps in October.

Reoxygenation is not bearing fruit for the moment

The retention of the coach in his post at the end of the Euro, without any real debate, then the context of the high-tension match against Israel (0-0) on Thursday, in turn overshadowed the field. And only the knockout phase of the Euro allowed the French performances to take precedence: they painted the portrait of a team capable of reaching the semi-finals of a major international competition, but difficult to watch and unsafe to watch. of its offensive forces.

With only seven victories (in fifteen matches) this year, no match will be remembered. “It wasn’t easy, there were complications”admitted Deschamps on Thursday. Facing Israel – anything but a continental leader – France conceded a fourth 0-0 draw in 2024, which it had not done for twenty years.

Beyond the results, the overall impression left by the French leaves something to be desired. And Didier Deschamps undoubtedly had the most delicate year of his long mandate. Only 2013 could compete, but the Basque then saw the messy controversies offset by the joy of qualifying for the World Cup, against Ukraine (in November 2013).

In September, the French coach announced that he wanted to take advantage of the League of Nations, a secondary competition, to “reoxygenate” the French team with a view to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. With the incorporation of several novices at the international level, Deschamps expected that this process “harms collective expression”.

A lost credit, two years after the World Cup

An analysis which is necessary, as the last matches have seemed difficult. The young Bradley Barcola (PSG) and Michael Olise (Bayern Munich) are not yet established at this level, the French team lacks a very high level scorer and deplores a glaring lack of creativity in midfield. To the point that the coach seemed to backtrack in November, recalling the “former” Kingsley Coman and Benjamin Pavard, who provide more guarantees in selection.

Other upheavals in the news of the Blues have also maintained the vagueness around this team. The unexpected international retirement of Antoine Griezmann – which the latter has still not explained – and the lack of clarification on the non-call-up of captain Mbappé during the last two gatherings, have widened a gap between the selection and the general public, that the poor performance of the Tricolores has in no way made up for.

Because the Blues are no longer attractive. In October, less than four million French people followed the match against Israel (4-1) on television. The epic 2022 World Cup in Qatar had nevertheless created a buzz around the selection, which was maintained thanks to a successful year 2023, despite the departure of certain executives (Hugo Lloris, Steve Mandanda, Raphaël Varane).

The following year was painful to follow, but the French team could at least end it on a good note. But the Blues are far from having success in their pocket at San Siro on Sunday, because Italy no longer has anything to do with the team having missed their Euro by a wide margin. Winning on the other side of the Alps would allow the French to look forward to 2025 with a bit of serenity.