The Leadership of Didier Deschamps and France’s Return to Glory

Six years ago, the French soccer team left the World Cup in South Africa in shambles.  The team was disgraced after an epic meltdown in practice.  Their departing head coach, Raymond Domenech, was one of the most hated men in the country.  Their captain, Thierry Henry, already under heavy criticism after the shameful way France qualified for the World Cup in the first place,[1] had a meeting with French president Nicolas Sarkozy when the team returned.  Several prominent French players were suspended from international competition by the French Football Federation.

Now France is almost on top of the soccer world again.  They play host to the Euro Final later today, where their own national squad will face Portugal.  How did they turn things around?  They’ve always had talented players, but they needed proper leadership as well.

Laurent Blanc took over for Domenech and managed the team to a respectable finish at Euro 2012.  He did a decent job as a caretaker manager, but France needed something more.  They needed a manager who was well-respected throughout France.  They needed a tactically sound mind who also exhibited tremendous leadership skills, but most of all, they needed someone who could consistently bring out the players’ best efforts.  To do that, they turned to one of the most respected people in French soccer – Didier Deschamps.

Deschamps was an outstanding leader during his playing days.  In 1993 – when he was only 24 years old – he was the captain of the first (and, to date, the only) French team (Marseille) to ever win the European Champions League.  In 1996, he was named captain of the French national team.  In 1998, he captained the French team that won the country’s first-ever World Cup, and he captained the national team to glory again when they won Euro 2000.  Although he was never on anyone’s “best player ever” lists, he was known for his outstanding leadership skills.

He also had shown that he is an outstanding coach.  His first gig was at AS Monaco in Ligue 1, where he took them from the lower half of the league to the top, leading them to the Coupe de la Ligue in 2003 and the Champions League Final in 2004.  After perennial Italian powerhouse Juventus was relegated to the second tier of Italian soccer as punishment for a match-fixing scandal in 2006, Deschamps took over for one season, and they confidently steamrolled through the competition, getting promoted back to the top league.[2]  At Marseille, the team won its first league title in 18 years during his first season on the job.  He was known for reviving clubs as a coach – but he also did so as a player.

When he was named captain by new French manager Aimé Jacquet going into Euro ‘96, France had been through some of its darkest days ever.  Since finishing third in the 1986 World Cup, they had not qualified for the 1990 or 1994 World Cups.[3]  France ended up doing very well in the tournament, losing in the semifinals to the Czech Republic on penalty kicks.  It was safe to say that France had been revived, since they went on an amazing run after that, winning both the ’98 World Cup and Euro 2000.

When he was named manager of France, they had gone through another round of dark days.  He was their fifth manager in ten years.  Upon his arrival as manager in late 2012, he made it very clear that everyone on the French squad would be expected to give their absolute best efforts at all times.  He famously left the talented Dimitri Payet off of the World Cup squad in 2014.  I suggested in a previous post that Deschamps may have done that to inspire Payet to work harder and develop to his full potential.  Whether that was his plan or not, it sure lit a fire under Payet.

In this tournament, France has played inconsistently, but when they have clicked, they have looked unstoppable.  They famously started slowly in every group stage game, and did so again in the Round of 16 against the Republic of Ireland, but against Iceland they looked like the 1970 World Cup squad from Brazil.  Against Germany, they were outplayed in every aspect of the game, but they did just enough to win that game.  Through every game, Deschamps has remained calm and cool, getting his players to settle down and do what it took to win.

Whether France wins later today or not, it is safe to say that French soccer has been revived for a second time.  Deschamps is at the heart of it yet again, and to those who have followed his playing and coaching career, it is not a surprise at all.  Is it safe to say that he’s one of the best active coaches in soccer?  Absolutely.

[1] In the dying minutes of a playoff match against the Republic of Ireland, Henry handled the ball twice in rapid succession before passing the ball to teammate William Gallas, who headed the ball home and clinched France’s qualification to the 2010 World Cup.  The infractions went unseen by the referee and both assistants.

[2] Can you imagine the pressure he was under?  If Juventus did not gain promotion THAT SEASON he would have been a laughingstock throughout Italy for the rest of his life.

[3] In 1990, they missed qualification by one point.  Had they defeated fourth-place Norway and fifth-place Cyprus instead of tying them, they would have made it.  In 1994, they had home games against last-place Israel and the only team who could surpass them for World Cup qualification, Bulgaria.  A win against Israel would have clinched qualification, but they lost 3-2, blowing a 2-1 lead over the final ten minutes and giving up the winning goal in the 90th minute.  All they needed to do was tie Bulgaria to clinch, but they lost 2-1, again giving up the winning goal in the 90th minute.  As a Suns fan, I understand stomach-punch games like these all too well.