For 12 years, the Blues coach led his team to the top of the world. However, he was often criticized, insulted and even put in danger in France. Decryption.
July 2012. Didier Deschamps’ phone rings. On the line, a certain Noël Le Graët, then president of the French Football Federation. After the polite expressions and the news, the boss of French football asked him to succeed Laurent Blanc on the bench of the French team. For the native of the Basque Country, a distinguished midfielder, victorious in the Champions League with OM in 93 and the 98 World Cup with the Blues, the answer is obvious. No room for doubts or questions, it’s a yes!
On July 8, he took the reins of the French team and signed a two-year contract, renewable if his players qualified for the 2014 World Cup. But by signing his contract, Didier Deschamps became mired in a role of reconciler, mediator and even policeman. In the minds of French supporters, the wound of the Knysna scandal is still raw. The controversies during Euro 2012 only reinforced it. Inevitably, the divide deepens. Unthinkable for Deschamps, he is the man on the pitch, the type of player that coaches like to have at their disposal, the type of coach who appreciates when things go straight. He imposes his style, his outspokenness. In Clairefontaine, he and his staff put up posters, with a title: “Charter of good conduct”, whose motto is none other than “respect, humility, pleasure”.
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The greatest prize list in French football, and yet…
In 2013, his contract could have ended suddenly. His team does not advance, the Blues are mishandled during World Cup qualifying. In Ukraine, the French, for the first leg of the play-offs, lost 2-0. Everyone knows what happened next: a landmark, historic match, with two goals from Mamadou Sakho and one from Karim Benzema. Deschamps can wipe the drop of sweat running down his forehead, the Blues are going to Brazil. Despite a defeat in the quarter-finals, a group was born with its keystone, DD.
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For the following four years: Euro 2016 final, at home. Lost to Portugal. In France, the bitter defeat does not pass. But two years later, with a new generation of players, surrounded by executives, the Blues won the second World Cup in their history in Russia. Then after a failed Euro in 2020, the players won the first Nations League, created in 2018. In 2022, the French team touched a new world title, destroyed by Messi’s Argentina. With 105 victories for 34 draws and 26 defeats, Deschamps’ record at the head of the Blues is much more than honorable, it is stratospheric. And even if he leaves his post in 2026, as he announced this Wednesday, January 8, he still has two competitions to go for: the League of Nations, and the one he prefers, the World Cup.
However, in France, despite this record – the most impressive in the history of French football, player and coach combined – the Deschamps case has often divided supporters. Some have had and still have unparalleled admiration for him. Others strongly criticized him, calling for his resignation and not understanding his longevity – which lasted 14 years -.
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“In France, we ask for more than the result”
Given the figures, his “hate” seems inexplicable. How to explain and understand it? “In a country like Italy, where there is a real football culture and where people are very focused on winning, it would not have happened like that,” breathes Philippe Rodier, author of the book “The Deschamps Method” published by Marabout.
For those who spoke at length with Didier Deschamps, followed and analyzed his journey, French supporters are different. “Here, we ask for more than the result,” he analyzes. “But there is also the question of longevity, and that I can understand. »
Since 2012 and despite the victories, the finals and the good results, the French have felt a kind of boredom, a perpetual desire for new things. “There was a weariness. That doesn’t mean that the supporters didn’t like him, but they got tired of it over the years,” insists Philippe Rodier. For him, Deschamps should not have returned in 2022. “I think he should have left, that would have quickly resolved the debate. But he doesn’t care at all, what interests him is being in the action and the moment. There was a certain selfishness in this choice to stay,” admits the author.
The negative atmosphere around the coach’s name and the criticism that followed him throughout his mandate were also driven by certain observers. “I have never understood the virulence of the comments of certain journalists, consultants or others towards him,” says Philippe Rodier.
Management of the Benzema case
During the last 12 years, one case in particular has divided the world of French football, that of Karim Benzema. The French striker, crowned Ballon d’Or 2022, had a long career in blue. In all, he knows three coaches: Domenech, Blanc and Didier Deschamps. As soon as the last one arrives on the bench, he gives him all his confidence. “He really liked Benzema. He always protected him, even during his period when he did not score for 1222 minutes, he never let him go,” recalls Philippe Rodier, who discussed the subject with Deschamps during several interviews.
But on October 13, 2015, a case came to undermine the hegemony of the boss of the French attack: the affair of Mathieu Valbuena’s sex tape. Karim Benzema, indicted for “complicity in attempted blackmail and participation in a criminal association”, finds himself banned from the French team. Until the matter is resolved, Noël Le Graët and Didier Deschamps prefer to suspend the attacker for an indefinite period.
After a few months, the Real Madrid striker came out to tackle his coach, whom he accused of having “given in to a racist part of France”. Relations between the two become strained. They are also and above all tense between Didier Deschamps and hundreds of thousands of French pro-Benzema supporters. On social networks, everyone is targeting the coach, criticizing his choices to start Olivier Giroud – top scorer in the history of the Blues with 57 goals – and to muzzle Benzema. Booba, the famous French rapper and friend of KB9 also takes sides. In a publication, he directly criticizes Didier Deschamps. A post to which Karim Benzema will react with a “like”.
But it doesn’t stop there. “The Benzema case went much too far,” tackles Philippe Rodier. The insults and pressure are not limited to the Internet, but they directly affect the coach and his family. In 2016, his vacation home in Concarneau was vandalized and spray-painted with a “Racist” inscription. “Yes, I will never be able to forget that. We cross the white line, these are the consequences of other things. It’s violent and unacceptable,” said DD in an interview. “He knows how to protect himself, but when there was the tag on his house, it was the final straw,” recalls Philippe Rodier.
However, after five years of absence, the hatchet seems buried and Karim Benzema returns to the French team in 2021. A choice which this time will have earned the honors of the French public for Didier Deschamps.
Lacazette and the case of the captaincy given to Mbappé
The weariness mentioned a few lines above was also felt in the choice of players. Throughout his mandate, Didier Deschamps was criticized for having had “his preferences”. Often, according to supporters and observers, despite club performances. One case was particularly cited, that of Alexandre Lacazette, OL striker, formerly with Arsenal. “Lacazette, he deserved to be there. It’s a shame,” analyzes the author of “The Deschamps Method.”
In Deschamps’ head, what prevailed was the “logic of the group”. “I have been a coach, I see what it is to build groups. If we have a logic of creating a team of superstars, it doesn’t work,” admits Philippe Rodier.
The cohesion of the group is what Deschamps undoubtedly sought to preserve when he put the captain’s armband around the arm of Kylian Mbappé, rather than that of his “darling”, as he calls him, Antoine Griezmann . “Choosing Griezmann was a difficult choice. If he didn’t give it to Mbappé, he would undoubtedly have faced ego crises. Griezmann, at that time, was of a certain age and his career with the French team would soon end,” breathes the author.
What will the French remember from his reign?
From now on, the reign of Didier Deschamps has a deadline: 2026. As a Frenchman, it is difficult to imagine that the Blues do not qualify for the World Cup that year. The coach therefore has two years left to grow his record and find a coherent team, with a new generation of players.
But let’s look forward to 2026. When he will hand over the reins to a successor – Zinédine Zidane? – what trace will Deschamps leave? “People will remember him as someone extremely dedicated, who put France back where it should be,” thinks Philippe Rodier.
But he tempers it. “In another scenario, we won’t remember much about him, but rather notable actions: Pavard’s strike, Mbappé’s race against Argentina and the group he put together, players who live well together. »
What bothers those who have known the coach is what people will not remember. “We think that Deschamps is a coach focused on defense, who does not leave much freedom to his players, but that is completely false,” he gets annoyed. “This is what will pain me, because in reality, he gave his players offensive freedom and made some of them outperform. Like Pogba, who did not advance in club, but who in France, always responded. It was because of DD’s confidence. »
One thing will not change before the end of his adventure, and that is, despite the criticism, the respect that a majority of people have for him. Whether it’s his players, his former teammates, journalists or supporters. Deschamps will always be the one who brought back to France the most beautiful scenes of jubilation. When you look at the two stars embroidered on the jersey, it’s impossible not to remember his face.
