Jean-Michel Larqué reacted this Tuesday evening on RMC to the upcoming announcement of Didier Deschamps, who will leave the Blues bench after the 2026 World Cup. The former international believes that there is never a good time to announce such a decision.
End clap for Didier Deschamps. After 14 years at the head of the France team, the coach of the Blues will leave his post after the 2026 World Cup organized in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The end of a successful era (victory at the 2018 World Cup, final of Euro 2016 and the 2022 World Cup), but also marked by increasingly vocal criticism.
Convinced that there is “never a good time to extend a coach or say that he is stopping”, Jean-Michel Larqué believes that discussions will open for the future of the selection. “There are big debates, we have even seen coaches give up in the middle of the competition. Nobody can say if it is the right or the wrong time. What is certain is that it will open discussions for the “the future. It's much too long. The future coach will perhaps be Zidane, I don't know. I would almost bet that it won't be him”, reacted Captain Larqué in the After this Tuesday on RMC.
>> Follow the reactions after the announcement of Didier Deschamps' departure live
An announcement that can “disturb” the group
If the timing of the announcement of his departure raises questions, while the Blues are not yet even qualified for the 2026 World Cup, Jean-Michel Larqué thinks that it will be difficult to talk about football during the next gatherings, starting with that of month of March, where the France team faces Croatia in the quarter-final of the League of Nations. “We are going to talk incidentally about the team composition, the match. We are only going to talk about that. It risks disrupting the game, especially during the final phase. In the current context of French football, Deschamps will remain the coach with the best results, whatever the result in 2026.”
What about taking up the torch? Zidane? Another? Regardless of the candidate, “it's a gift that deserves reflection before receiving it”, recalls Captain Larqué, aware that the relationship between Didier Deschamps and his captain has fractured in recent months. “Whatever the decisions, there is no longer any relationship between Deschamps and Mbappé. During the last rally, he kicked him out of the France team. There will be professional relationships, period.”
Dugarry is eager for “things to move forward”
Former teammate of Didier Deschamps in the selection, 1998 world champion, Christophe Dugarry welcomes the “wise decision” of the 56-year-old technician. “Afterwards it means a lot of things and I think we must also thank him. While hoping that 2026 also goes well for this last competition. For France, for him, for the players. I can't wait for the things are progressing,” he confided in the After.
What made “DD” make this decision? “I don't know, I'm not in his head. (…) I want to say that it will allow him to work quietly for two years, to make his own decisions without being more heckled than he is. is already (…) Now we also have to know how to turn the page and I think that people also want to see something else since it's been so long. So I think that it gives itself a form of tranquility. to be able to work in a certain serenity. He will also be able to experience a kind of peace. lap of honor like that, finishing in the best way I think that's the idea, to have everyone behind him.”
