Asked on Wednesday to react to the announcement of the future departure of Didier Deschamps after the 2026 World Cup, Rolland Courbis shared his doubts and his incomprehension. The RMC Sport consultant particularly regretted seeing the coach of the Blues present the president of the FFF with a fait accompli regarding the end of his adventure at the head of the France team.
A non-event for some, a small earthquake for others, Didier Deschamps announced on Wednesday his intention to leave his position as coach of the France team at the end of the 2026 World Cup. In the event of the Blues qualifying for the international tournament, the technician will therefore lead the partners of Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé during a fourth World Cup. Incredible longevity, the longest for a French coach, which is still accompanied by some criticism. After the surprise of such an announcement, on the sidelines of the launch of the Yellow Pieces operation with Brigitte Macron, the choice of Didier Dechamps questions its timing.
“For me I am surprised that we can, as a coach, announce that in a year and a half… Because it is not in a week or in a month and a half, it is in a year and a half “, insisted Rolland Courbis in the show l’After Foot on RMC. “In a year and a half. So, practically, we are not going to play with words, that means that in a year and a half he will resign. And they tell me that, no, he is not resigning because he is at the end of contract.”
>> All the information on the future of Didier Deschamps
Courbis “pleasantly surprised or unpleasantly surprised” by Deschamps
Extended in 2023 until 2026, Didier Deschamps therefore intends to complete his mandate but no more. Beyond this announcement made in a period where the France team has not played since November and will not play again before the quarter-final of the League of Nations against Croatia, next March, Rolland Courbis n did not like what he considers to be a new power move from the coach. And for good reason, by his own admission to RMC Sport, Philippe Diallo “took note” of Didier Deschamps’ decision without being able to influence it.
“But he announces in a year and a half that he is going to stop. And that shouldn’t be decided with a president? It shouldn’t be decided with a person who is above Didier Deschamps,” he said again. questioned Rolland Courbis during his intervention in theAfter Foot this Wednesday. “Without going that far (to say that it’s as if Deschamps was the president of the FFF) but I’m still pleasantly surprised or unpleasantly surprised.”
-“This decision, for me, is too important.”
“The comparison with Zizou will be made 24 hours a day”
Like several consultants and coaches, the option leading to Zinédine Zidane to succeed Didier Deschamps appears obvious for Rolland Courbis. But here again, as legitimate as it may seem to him, the former coach of OM and Bordeaux wonders about the transition between the current coach and his possible successor in 2026.
“A Didier Deschamps today who knows that when he prepares for his matches, qualifying or once you have qualified, in his team compositions he is still aware that the comparison with Zizou will be made 24 hours a day “, further underlined the consultant RMC Sport. “Zizou would not have done that or Zizou would have done this. And a boy like Didier Deschamps, will he be the same Didier Deschamps who will take the same risks in certain changes or in certain team compositions?”
Before concluding: “A Didier Deschamps who knows that he is going to stop at the end of the World Cup, is the same Didier Deschamps who can be worried about taking a kick in the ass? That’s totally for me different And that a president does not decide, after having discussed with his coach, what should happen in a year and a half… Well, that is beyond me.”
Jean-Guy Lebreton with RMC
