By his own admission, the victory won on Sunday in Italy gave him a few months of respite. Didier Deschamps has indeed had a very complicated autumn. And if the French team finally won first place in its Nations League group, the defeat conceded against Italy or the draw against Israel clearly tarnished its record.
Above all, the coach seems to have lost control of his group and the best illustration is obviously in the refusal of Kylian Mbappé to come to the October gathering then in his non-selection for the two November matches. The relationship between the former midfielder and the Bondynois inevitably comes out damaged and according to Jérôme Rothen, the Basque technician sees his status at the head of the Blues weakened.
“The return of Karim Benzema was very poorly managed”
“He let certain things slide, he gave weight to some who did not necessarily give him back the device well like recently Kylian Mbappé but even others who have since left. We are so used to seeing Didier Deschamps on the sidelines. Even he has gotten so used to it that sometimes I feel amorphous, I feel overwhelmed, tired.” said the former Parisian.
But for the finalist of the Champions League in 2004, Didier Deschamps also made an error in his management of Karim Benzema’s return to the French team in spring 2021. “I think people actually liked him. The reviews were more about the content. But today people like it less. The return of Karim Benzema was very poorly managed at the time, it created tensions in the group with Olivier Giroud, with Kylian Mbappé.., he explained. The tensions between the players, Paul Pogba, the problems in the stands with the families… It overwhelmed Didier Deschamps in terms of image, and it hurt him because in fact he was incapable of reverse things. Usually that was his strong point. »
