This World Cup final should have been a classic of Deschamps.
After the team was 2-0 down, Deschamps turned the tide for France by replacing Koeman, Thuram Jr. and Muani... However, in the end, Deschamps still failed to lift the Hercules Cup for the third time.
Will Deschamps continue to coach France in the future? Will Zidane take over in the future? At least for now, Deschamps will remain the head coach of France at Euro 2024.
In 10 years, Deschamps led French football to achieve transformation.
Dare to self-deny
Apart from the group stage finale and the inconsequential match against Tunisia, France's World Cup has been largely smooth.
But that's not the case — just a month ago, there were concerns about whether France would fall under the spell of being out of the group stage for the defending champions. After all, the French team is facing a serious personnel injury crisis.
Although even the French three teams have a strong personnel combination on paper over the years, the World Cup is not a football manager game after all, and the pressure on Deschamps can be imagined when Pogba, N'Golo Kante, Kimpembe, Benzema, Lucas, the absolute mainstays of the last four years of preparation cycle, have fallen.
Coupled with France's crotch pulling throughout the UEFA Nations League - 2 draws and 2 defeats in the first four games, it was not until the 2-0 defeat of Austria in the fifth game that it stopped the decline, but was beaten 2-0 by Denmark in the final game, and finally saved Austria from bottom relegation because they were worse.
Deschamps and Scaloni shoot the final poster.
In fact, before and after the 2021 European Championship, the French team also encountered a trough, when from the second game of the European Cup group stage, the French team drew for three consecutive games in 90 minutes, and the last two World Preliminary Rounds of the European Championship were forced to draw by Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine, but then France beat Finland out of the trough, and then defeated Belgium and Spain to win the UEFA Nations League.
During this period, the team led by Deschamps showed quite strong error correction and rebound ability, starting from the group stage of the European Cup, Deschamps began to experiment with a three-centre-back formation, and used this as the main formation to win the UEFA Nations League championship and successfully qualified for this World Cup.
But after Pogba and N'Golo Kante were injured, Deschamps' answer was to return to the 4-2-3-1 system, and at a press conference unveiling the World Cup squad, Deschamps explained the reasons for the defeat of right-winger Klaus and made it clear that he would return to the back four system at the World Cup.
Four years ago in Russia, Deschamps played a 4-3-3 system, with Matuidi, N'Golo Kante and Pogba forming a three-way midfield that meets almost all the requirements of modern football for the entire midfield combination, with Griezmann on the left, Mbappe on the right and Olivier Giroud on the pile.
Deschamps and the teaching assistant team share the joy of victory.
Despite his strong deck strength, Deschamps is very pragmatic in adopting defensive counter-attacking tactics that are best suited for World Cup knockout rounds.
At least from the perspective of two World Cups, French players are still more suitable for the back four system, this World Cup Deschamps made fine adjustments to the lineup, Griezmann played the front play, strikers Mbappe, Dembele and Giroud three arrows in unison, the final result speaks for itself.
"After analysing everything we do, there is always a long thought process and a lot of reflection with the coaching staff and the players. We did some good things in the back three, but we also had a lot of trouble and lost our balance. ”
Speaking about the self-denial before the World Cup, Deschamps seemed very calm, "If we want to play big games, these things will not help us win, so we will have to put in the defense better. I believe the back four system will be better and more suitable for us. ”
In this final, when the starters Giroud, Dembele and others were not in form, it was Deschamps who decisively changed in the first half and broke his pre-match thinking, which led to Muani's wonderful performance and Mbappe's 97-second miracle.
Deschamps hugs Mbappe. Under him, "Director Mu" became a world superstar.
The biggest trait is stability
After Euro 2012, Blanco decided to resign and the French Football Federation chose Blanco's teammate Deschamps to take over. Counting this World Cup, Deschamps has led the team to 5 major tournaments, including 3 World Cups and 2 European Championships.
In recent decades, among more than a dozen big national team managers in Europe and the United States, only Löw's time and experience in leading the team to participate in major competitions can be better than Deschamps.
For the first-line national team, results are the only indicator, and Deschamps can lead the team for ten years, relying on performance and ability.
The 2014 World Cup was Deschamps' first major tournament, with France winning 2 and drawing 1 in the group stage, including a 5-2 defeat to Switzerland, which had always been known for its stability, beating Nigeria 2-0 in the first round of the knockout round, but unfortunately in the quarter-final match against Germany, France was the only goal of the game by Hummels from a set-piece.
Deschamps reborn the once lazy Dembele.
At the 2016 European Championship, Deschamps led the team to the final, but lost to Portugal in extra time; In the 2018 World Cup, Deschamps finally led the team to the right results, France beat Argentina, Uruguay and Belgium all the way to the knockout round, and finally defeated Croatia 4-2 in the final, and won the Hercules Cup again after 20 years.
In the last European Championship, France, who were in the group of death, ranked first in the group with 1 win and 2 draws without a home game, and the eighth final was that magical 3-3, and France lost to Switzerland on penalties.
It was a small Waterloo in Deschamps' coaching career – when Deschamps was out of class and Zidane was called for him to take over, but the French Football Association chose to trust Deschamps.
After the UEFA Nations League match, Deschamps led the team to defeat Belgium and Spain to win the championship, which turned the situation unfavorable in public opinion.
To paraphrase the popular phrase on today's social networking sites, Deschamps has a high minimum of results. What's more, Deschamps' ceiling is not low, two World Cups, one champion and one runner-up.
Under Deschamps, Griezmann became the absolute centerpiece.
Stifling the French team's tradition of infighting
Of course, for the previous managers of the French team, perhaps more important than technical and tactical is the management of the dressing room.
Le Maire's successor Santini lacked a resume and announced his move to Tottenham ahead of Euro 2004, leaving France in the end.
Domenek even staged a "mutiny" in South Africa, with players such as Anelka, Evra and Nasri in their own way, and Anelka was eventually expelled from the team...
Two years later, at the European Championship, the famous Blanco was still uneven, and the Gallic Roosters broke out in infighting again, and it was finally Deschamps' turn to clean up the pieces.
As a player, Deschamps was the leader of the French dressing room, and the players called him the commander. Since taking office, Deschamps has always stressed, "I may not pick the best 23, but I must pick the 23 who are the most united." I will never recruit people who could jeopardize the collective good and the value of the team. ”
Deschamps communicates with the players.
In fact, he has been facing many difficult problems over the years, including the blackmail turmoil between Benzema and Balbuena; After the last European Championship out, there was also a feud between Pogba, Pavard and Varane.
Before this World Cup, Pogba's curse incident made the national team uneasy, during which Mbappe also took the lead in conflict with the Football Association because of sponsorship issues...
But at least during the game, Deschamps' French team did not have a dressing room problem, after the last European Championship, after the outside world hyped the topic of Deschamps' departure, Griezmann firmly said, "He is a very influential person, he knows everything, he has won any honours, he knows how to manage the team." ”
"He gave me my first chance to play for the national team. He has trusted me from the beginning until now, both in 2014 and now. I have a lot of respect for him and I'm willing to give everything for him on the pitch. ”
Even Benzema, who had been left out of the national team list for a long time, never complained about Deschamps because the players knew it was all a decision of the French Football Federation.
Deschamps also dealt well with Benzema's return.
After Benzema's return, Deschamps also gave "Mr. Ballon d'Or" face, and Benzema equalized in the UEFA Nations League final to help France reverse Spain, Deschamps immediately praised, "Benzema is an essential player, he is not who he was in 2015, as a player he is sharper and more mature." ”
Of course, in the pre-final press conference, faced with media questions about whether Benzema would return, Deschamps sensibly skipped this slightly nonsensical question.
At this point, Deschamps must keep enough focus on the remaining players who reached the final together, and Deschamps has not made any mistakes in dealing with any issues related to the stability of the dressing room.
Perhaps, for the French team, stabilizing the dressing room is the most important battlefield.