At the head of the Blues from 2004 to 2010, Raymond Domenech left the image of a divisive coach. If he reached the final of the 2006 World Cup, partly thanks to the returns of executives like Zinedine Zidane, Lilian Thuram and Claude Makelele, he also drags a few problems, like his marriage proposal to Estelle Denis live on television, after the elimination of the French team in the first round of Euro 2008, or his management of the Nicolas Anelka affair and the strike at Knysna, when of the 2010 World Cup.
Having worked with him from the Espoirs, then at the A, Philippe Mexès confirms the somewhat particular temperament of the French coach, today a consultant on the L'Equipe channel.
“I couldn’t see the coach. Raymond, I never loved himhe blurted out in the podcast Kampoin passing tackling his ex-coach for his pronounced taste for astrology. Aries does not play with Scorpio; Scorpio doesn't play with Taurus. For me, it's not football. Maybe he believes it, but it's weird. »
And the former central defender (43 years old), who played for Auxerre, AS Roma and AC Milan, affirms that Raymond Domenech
“had his heads”. “I felt like he was taking me for the sake of taking me. I think he couldn't see me either, even though he gave me a chance and I thank him for that.”continues Philippe Mexès, who never really knew how to find his place with the Blues, even though he was presented as the future “Laurent Blanc” in his early days. A mess for which he takes responsibility, even if he hasn't always been helped.
Raymond Domenech? “I couldn’t see it”
“I have experienced the best. I started with Roger Lemerre (after the 2002 World Cup, editor's note), then there was Jacques Santini. There were people there so I couldn't start, I made a lot of selections on the bench. I really started to be a starter when Laurent Blanc came along, ten years later, he said. When I came to the French team, I wanted to come home. I didn't want to go there. Already, in Espoirs, I didn't want to go there when there was Raymond. I didn't feel good in this team. »
“I didn’t have my place. I had the impression that he took me because he had to take me, because people said 'he's the future Laurent Blanc', but he didn't want to take mehe continues. I felt like that, I wasn't comfortable. But there was never any conflict. It was more the outside world that denigrated our group a little. We all got along well, but you get attacked because you're from the next generation, because before there was a crazy generation all the same: Zidane, Henry, Trezeguet, Anelka. »
“I didn’t feel well”
To avoid certain gatherings, the ex-Auxerrois sometimes simulated physical problems. “I was acting injured. I said I had pain here or there. I wasn't well”he remembers. So much so that his non-selection for the 2006 World Cup came as a relief. “When there was this story in Tignes, with the six leaving and he was knocking in the rooms, my door was openhe says.
Normally, this must traumatize you but I was happy, I had nothing to do there. »
“Raymond was passing through the rooms. Lilian (Thuram) said to me: 'Why did you leave it open?' The others were stressed but I knew he was coming, I wanted him to come, he admits. There was someone better than me, I had nothing to do there. I had a child at home, we leave often and I don't know why but I didn't feel good, I didn't believe it… I was ready for that, I had other priorities, I also had to earn my place in the club. » He then played at Roma, in a locker room also made up of legends.
