Shit, here we go again. Little riddle for you at home: what is the difference between school holidays and a period between two international breaks? None, both go by way too quickly. That's true, we've barely had time to throw our schoolbag (or the French team) into a cupboard when it's already time to find it (or it) by dragging our feet.
Because if Thursday's match against Israel in the League of Nations takes up a lot of space in the news, it is not so much for its sporting interest, nor for the joy of finding our Blues, as for the geopolitical context in the Middle East that the events in Amsterdam with the Maccabi Tel Aviv ultras did not help last weekend. The Stade de France is also preparing to ring hollow (we are talking about barely 20,000 spectators for 5,000 police officers), but we must again link that to the burning context of this match rather than to a sulk of the French supporters against their team.
Which does not mean, however, you will agree, and this is the case every year, that we would not have given much to do without the services of this final truce of the year. At the end of the phone, Régis Brouard gives us a virtual “high five”. “I had the same thought: “oh yeah, are the Blues already playing again?” This last international window is clearly one too many, whether for us, supporters, spectators, but also for the players,” confirms the former coach of Clermont and Bastia.
A widening gap between fans and their team
To make matters worse, it coincides with a somewhat moldy period in the history of the Blues. Not so much because of the results, since the DD team remains on three victories in four matches and nine goals scored, but rather from the point of view of the general atmosphere around this team, between the continuation of the adventure of Deschamps, whom many hoped to see pass after the Euro, the departure of Griezmann, which no one saw coming, and the permanent telenovela around Mbappé, which no one can see anymore.
The poor audience (just under four million viewers on TF1) during the match against Israel in October, the worst since France-Bolivia at La Beaujoire in June 2019, tells a little more than the story of an anonymous opponent that no one wants to watch. It translates into figures a diffuse feeling which has accompanied us for many months now around this French team.
“I don't know if we can go so far as to speak of disenchantment, but there is a gap widening between this team and its supporters, that's for sure, confirms coach Brouard, in training at Le Touquet with his new Rouen team. The explanation is twofold, in my opinion: too many extra-sporting stories around certain players, and communication which has not always been very good recently. Telling the audience that if they're not happy, they can just change the channel, I'm not sure that's the best thing to do. »
This exit from Deschamps, stung by the numerous criticisms heard at the Euro, is not likely to reconcile the public of his team and his coach. Just like the words of Mbappé, two months later, who assured before his return to France in the blue jersey that what the public thought of him was the “youngest of [ses] worries “.
Something broke
Expert in communication with football clubs, Florian Ridard sees in it “more clumsiness than disdain” but he readily admits that “the subject of the degraded image is real and [que] Didier Deschamps knows it.” The first affair Mbappé, not called up in October due to physical problems but who was happily frolicking on the field with Real two days later, did a lot of harm to the Blues and to Didier Deschamps, who went public for what he does not want to pass, namely a fool. Hence this takeover of the coach, who once again chose to do without his captain, without explaining the reason.
“In my opinion, we must operate a form of reset after several months of crisis, in quotes, judges the communications expert. It served Deschamps to send two messages: the first is that no one is untouchable and the second is that he is the boss. He even refused to explain himself. For you, journalists, it is incomprehensible, but it is not at all for him in his strategy of addressing above all the rest of the locker room. »
If this public disenchantment does not date from recent weeks, it is necessarily correlated and amplified by the setbacks of its captain. “In terms of his personal communication, Deschamps has an interest in distinguishing his image from that of Mbappé, so as not to be caught in the same spiral,” continues Florian Ridard.
To zap or not to zap, that is the question
But the popularity of the Blues had already taken a big hit this summer, during a Euro that was more than difficult for the French team from a playing point of view. And what kept us collectively ahead the Blues matches – the competition, the thirst for victory and collective fiesta – disappeared when it was time to dive back into this League of Nations without sporting interest. “I am convinced today that between a Blues match in the Nations League and a good film, people can hesitate, which would never have been the case in the past,” reflects Régis Brouard.
He himself admits to sometimes having trouble keeping it up to 90 minutes. “It's still the national team, I continue to watch the matches but I'm not as focused as usual, sometimes I get bored. We cannot deny it, what they present is not always very attractive. Sometimes I'll get up to get something to snack on, if someone calls me on the phone I'll answer, which I don't usually do when I'm watching a match. And I even found myself skipping.”
If the most fervent and committed supporters behind the Blues have too much gratitude towards the coach to shout their weariness loud and clear, “there are not many people at the moment who are having fun” we slip – we have the headset on their side. What should we do then to reignite the flame, knowing that it is not from the ground that the spark will come? The most stubborn will look for the answers this Thursday in front of TF1, the others will think about it in front of Back to the Future 2 on TMCdreaming of DeLoreans and time travel, to a time when the Blues still knew how to thrill us.
