The year 2024 will not have been easy for Didier Deschamps, under the fire of criticism as rarely since he took office in 2012, but the coach of the French team was able to weather the storm and offered himself a little respite, at least until March.
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The relief was palpable in the French camp after the great success acquired in Milan against Italy (3-1), which assured the Blues first place in Group 2 in the League of Nations. The explosion of joy from the staff at the final whistle and Deschamps’ satisfied expression in front of the media clearly reflected the stakes of the match for the technician, even if qualification for the quarter-finals had already been achieved.
Three days after a pitiful draw at the Stade de France against very weak Israelis (0-0), in a security context that was certainly particularly tense and in an enclosure that was three-quarters empty, the world vice-champions and their boss were playing big. But the prestigious victory gleaned at San Siro has the merit of temporarily chasing away the big clouds that were hovering above their heads and allowing them to end the year on a positive note.
After a disappointing Euro-2024 despite reaching the semi-finals, Deschamps, who saw his tactical choices strongly contested, remained straight in his boots.
“ You can say and write whatever you want, it’s part of life, he declared to journalists at a press conference on Sunday evening. I have elements, I am internal, I set objectives. I know there are very high demands and expectations. The players respond with a younger group. These six matches (in the Nations League, editor’s note) were to be used for that”.
To ward off the specter of a decline in power after 12 years at the head of the Blues, the coach had immediately warned that this competition, which neither the players nor the supporters dream of, should above all serve to “oxygenate ” his group before switching in 2025 to the qualifications for the 2026 World Cup. Despite a catastrophic start at the Parc des Princes against Italy (3-1 defeat on September 6) which could have sunk him, Deschamps ultimately succeeded in opening the French team.
The attack, eternal construction site
Manu Koné and Matteo Guendouzi in the middle, Christopher Nkunku in attack, Lucas Digne in defense: several players took the opportunity to score serious points for the coming months.
“ This will complicate my choices for the future, but it’s a very good thing to play these very big matches like against an Italian team which has a lot of qualities “, explained the coach.
However, everything is not perfect and if Deschamps had the satisfaction of seeing his team reconnect with its DNA, with a big block in defense and in the middle, he has still not completed his main project, animation offensive.
The European Championship in Germany, where the French scored only one goal in the game, highlighted serious deficiencies in attack. The group stage of the League of Nations did not really help to resolve this major problem of creativity. Sunday in Milan, although the Blues finally showed their performance on set pieces, the offensive players created almost no chances.
Deficit without Mbappé
The setbacks of Kylian Mbappé (failed Euro-2024, financial conflict with PSG, laborious integration into Real Madrid, accusations of rape emanating from the Swedish press), absent from the last two gatherings, and the international retirement of Antoine Griezmann are necessarily very heavy handicaps and if France wants to continue its path beyond the quarter-finals in the League of Nations, scheduled for March 2025, and above all to shine at the next World Cup, it will have to make up for this deficit as quickly as possible. Which inevitably involves a return to the forefront of its superstar Mbappé.
“ Leave him alone. I am convinced that he will regain all his means », indicated Deschamps on Sunday. A way to put an end to worries and put off the big, annoying subject until later.