It’s a shame for Didier Deschamps, but there is no miracle recipe for composing a list of world champions. The coach knows the rules of the game, his cruelty and knows he has done “unhappy people” this Wednesday, November 9. In 1998, he had attended as an influential captain the flight by taxi of the six who had failed in the last hour by Aimé Jacquet, too bitter to spend one more night in Clairefontaine (Yvelines). It is always possible to quibble, to claim that the Anelka, Ba or Lamouchi deserved a second-class ticket even for History, the coach always decides in the end with his certainties and his doubts too.
What was the balance between the two feelings at Didier Deschamps when he announced on the TF1 8 p.m. set the 25 players selected to fly to Qatar and its controversial World Cup (November 20-December 18)? “In all honesty, it’s not the easiest, but circumstances mean that in this period, and my fellow coaches are facing the same difficulties, there are players in the recovery phase, some who were injured yesterday and others who might be tonight”conceded the coach.
A little margin
Between the injured, the batons and the convalescents, the Basque has put aside his preference for a group of 23. After ten years in the shop, he has mastered the subtleties of the FIFA regulations and knows that he can send his final list up to Monday, 7 p.m. Enough to leave him a little leeway to refine his workforce.
Olivier Giroud is one of them, like ten other reigning world champions. This is the story of his life and his career, the 36-year-old striker defies the odds, almost always against him. Since Euro 2021, Deschamps has only summoned the second top scorer in the history of the Blues in the event of the unavailability of Karim Benzema. At his age, the Chambérien was not going to start a career as a substitute without having some moods, he had to say to himself.
But things have changed in recent weeks, on and off the pitch. Giroud shines with AC Milan, Kylian Mbappé praises his complicity with him (which is not innocent after the falling out between the two men as the last Euro approaches) and no one offers the same guarantees as him like lining of a Benzema in delicacy with a thigh. To hear his coach, the situation is clear. “I have a position in relation to Olivier, he knows it through the discussions that we have had quite frequently. The situation has evolved of course, that’s why I think it’s better for the France team that he is with us. » A way of conceding that he couldn’t do without him.
“We have to defend better”
On the other hand, Didier Deschamps did without Jonathan Clauss (Marseille). During the day, the rumors prior to his absence gave the evening trend, that of a tactical shift. No more pistons on the sides like the former RC Lens (or Madrid’s Ferland Mendy), Deschamps turns the page on 3-4-3 and returns to a four-man defense, certainly less trendy but more in line with his deep tactical tastes . “We did some good things in this system, but we were also a lot out of balance. It’s not going to win us in a big competition. We need to defend better.” he warns.
He then comes to mind his words during the happy and carefree aftermath of the 2018 title. Deschamps announced that to continue winning, his team was condemned to change, to surprise. You never rob the same bank twice, at least not in the same way. So, the pragmatic innovated, won the League of Nations in October 2021 with this three-man defense but without forgetting that his team had failed to capsize at 2-0 against Belgium in the semi-finals before a rescue by his offensive talents (3 -2).
Traffic jam in the axis of defense
To form this four-man rearguard, the boss went wide with eight axial defenders. It’s a lot, but Raphaël Varane and Presnel Kimpembe are still recovering and offer Saliba, Upamecano and Konaté the hope of perhaps forcing their destiny as substitutes.
On the sides, Théo Hernandez is the only professional side on the list but will normally be the understudy of his brother Lucas (another convalescent) on the left. On the right, Benjamin Pavard leaves with a head start on Jules Koundé. Two “axial” again. Titillated on this subject at a press conference, Didier Deschamps pleaded versatility, cited the comparable case of Eder Militao with Brazil.
Another question put him in his little shoes. Is it possible to be world champion with a midfielder so inexperienced and in which Adrien Rabiot is a five-star general with his 29 selections? After a period of silence, the coach confessed “not having the answer” and clarified that this youth also owed a lot to the absences of N’Golo Kanté and Paul Pogba.
Alongside Rabiot and an Aurélien Tchouaméni propelled as an executive with a short year in the box, the third man (in the probable case of a return to 4-3-3) must be chosen among Youssouf Fofana, Mattéo Guendouzi, Jordan Veretout and Eduardo Camavinga: 17 games with the Blues between them.
Lightweight, but there is also no standard recipe for retaining a world champion title, an unprecedented performance since Brazil (1958, 1962). Nothing prevents you from believing that the feat is possible with these 25 players, especially when almost all of them play for the best European clubs and one of them (Karim Benzema) has a Ballon d’Or waiting for him. on his fireplace. The other reality is to remember that the Blues have won only three out of eight games in 2022. But this season like no other really begins on November 22 in Doha against Australia.
The list of twenty-five players summoned by Didier Deschamps
Guardians: Alphonse Areola (West Ham), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Steve Mandanda (Rennes)
Defenders: Lucas Hernandez (Bayern Munich), Théo Hernandez (AC Milan), Presnel Kimpembe (Paris Saint-Germain), Ibrahima Konaté (Liverpool), Jules Koundé (FC Barcelona), Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich), William Saliba (Arsenal), Raphaël Varane (Manchester United), Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich)
Environments : Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid), Youssouf Fofana (Monaco), Mattéo Guendouzi (Olympique de Marseille), Adrien Rabiot (Juventus), Aurélien Tchouaméni (Real Madrid), Jordan Veretout (Olympique de Marseille)
Forwards: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Kingsley Coman (Bayern Munich), Ousmane Dembélé (FC Barcelona), Olivier Giroud (AC Milan), Antoine Griezmann (Atlético de Madrid), Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig )