Deschamps, a sacred French – L'Express

World Champion, again. France owes it largely to its coach, already present twenty years ago. Portrait.
  

The bent two-piece suit replaced the ill-fitting jersey of the time. The hair has turned white, the face has turned and the pace is a little less weighty. Necessarily. Didier Deschamps has stuck his crampons as a player for a long time. But, in the end, it is always him who is carried in triumph and embraces the president, even under a rushing Russian rain. After all, a triumph, it's watering. Saint-Denis 1998, Moscow 2018. Two stadiums, two eras, two teams from France, two beloved friends and two stars on the jersey, synonymous with the same title. The biggest, the most coveted: world champions.

The French have been 20 years younger since Sunday and this enjoyable victory after a suffocating match against Croatia (4-2 ). Now, we immortalize his memories with a smartphone, we pay his tours in euros and – should we regret it? – the mascot Footix has disappeared. But the mind is pretty much the same. We always shudder at the first measurements of I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor, we storm the Champs-Elysees, we climb on its lampposts, we swim in the Old Port of Marseille, we dazed its horn all the streets of France, and the whole country lets itself go, at least for a few hours, to the delicious euphoria offered by the men of Didier Deschamps.

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"La Dèche", so. The link between these two generations. The very incarnation of a nation more and more respected on the planet football. This new victory rewards the perseverance of a man of almost 50 years – he will celebrate them in October – sure of his choices, certain of his decisions. A Basque technician, complex personality, often impenetrable, and who does not like the light of the cameras. Then it is the others who speak best of their "Dede" and decrypt the method of a coach who has for mantra that wins. By triumphing once again in the final, in a style that is unlike his, he enlarges the contents of an already overloaded trophy cupboard, joining Franz Beckenbauer and Mario Zagallo, the only two legends covered with gold at the end of the season. global scale as player then coach. Deschamps magnetic, the man who attracted to him everything that shines.

Born to win

Exceptional, certainly, but not so surprising for Bernard Tapie. He had made the boss of his OM, champion of Europe in 1993: "If we clbadify people by categories, there are those who want to achieve a goal, those who really want it, and finally those who want it absolutely, like him." The former president of Marseilles is persuaded, it is on the shores of the Mediterranean that his former soldier became that winner inveterate, he contracted this "virus of the win". The story does not give him wrong. This is where he wrote the first lines of his impressive resume, the richest of French football.

But his hatred of defeat, visceral, even morbid, lives for longer, according to his relatives. From his earliest years, in the Basque Country, where he was born, Didier Deschamps has always wanted to win. At the pelota, which he practices regularly on the pediment of Saint-Pierre-d'Irube, swimming, cross-country, long jump, hand. And even hunting woodbad or pigeon practice with some friends. "It was our shared pbadion," recalls Claude Olive, the current mayor of Anglet, who still likes it, "In a shooting competition, when he was very young, I remember that He had beaten us all, he was a hyper-boy in everything he did. "

Football, he finally discovered at 11 by integrating the Aviron Bayonne, one of the leading clubs in the area. We pinch ourselves to believe it, but at the time Didier exceeds by one head all his teammates, to the point that some take him for a "presu", an "alleged born", these players whose identity card does not reflect not the real age. Four years later, he is in the eye of recruiters from Nantes, amazed by his character and his composure. For Raynald Denoueix, apostle of the famous game in Nantes who runs the training center of the club, the boy is made of a rare wood. "What came out was the personality, the guy who did not let go, the winner at all costs, in football, at one point, the mind, the character, it was a player that was put directly In the team, we did not hesitate, some say, 'They did not give me a chance.' But that's not the case, it's the other way around: in training, you see players acting on you force them into the team. "

"A difficult course of life"

At the Canaries, he perfected his game. He also learned about life, its cruelty and the dramas it is able to "offer" without warning. On 21 December 1987, an Air Littoral aircraft crashed on the landing of a Brussels-Bordeaux flight. On board is Philippe, 22, the eldest of Didier. The boss of the Bleus, he, is 19. "I think this test reinforced him, he may have lost the joy that was in him, but he did not collapse Didier does not talk about his pain, he goes on, "says Emmanuel Darnautandy, the childhood friend of whom DD is the marriage witness. Jean-Pierre Bernès, his agent since 2008, also recognizes that something twisted that day in the head of his colt. "He is one of those people who, mentally, have forged themselves through a difficult life course, and those who are better off are the ones who overcome the difficulties." He was a friend with Marcel, who, too, had lost his brother, in a car accident. "

Marcel Desailly. The boyfriend, the confidant of the Nantes era, bereaved three years earlier. The two teens share the same room. When it is necessary to announce the news, it is the young Didier who takes care of it, showing, at 16 years old, of an astonishing maturity. In L'Equipe Marcel Desailly put a few words on this painful memory: "When he came into the room, I found him weird, as if he was thinking of me, his Black brother: 'Marcel, I must speak to you: Seth is dead.' We never talked about it again, but his hand on my arm will remain a supreme proof of friendship. " Side by side, the two men will live later other penalties, simpler to cash, on the sporting level those.

France-Bulgaria of November 1993 is one of them. Perhaps the most traumatic and, in fact, the most defining defeat of Deschamps' career. That night, he saw his dream of World Cup in the United States faint after a goal from Emil Kostadinov in the very last seconds of play.

An injury for a generation. More for the Dèche, whose tears are captured by the cameras of TF1, when leaving the field. Vincent Guérin, who played alongside him, remembers: "He always took care to hide his emotions behind a firewall to stay focused on his goal: win.But during this game, a precipice was opened under This episode is sure to have marked Didier. " However, it has risen, becoming over the years the "Father Victory" that we know.

The result before the way

The "recipe" Deschamps is quite simple to detail. The star coach of 2018 ultimately looks like the player he was. Laborious, rough, tactically rigorous, and barker when the situation demands it. In the field, he was not the most technically talented. Far from there. But he had that sense of play that many do not have. Vahid Halilhodzic, who met him in Nantes, evokes "a useful environment, a simple, very intelligent game, a bit like N'Golo Kanté today." The archetype of the indispensable man that we do not see. "It is someone who reflects on all aspects of football, including its collective aspect and what is a national selection, badysis coach of Togo, Claude Le Roy, who worked alongside him as a consultant on Cbad + He thinks that a selection does not necessarily consist of the 23 best players, but the 23 most complementary people. "

With the former number 7 of the Blues, bistro debates on the beauty of the game are quickly decided. To savor the new world title of the French is to admit that in football the winners are always right. "The only truth in football is that of the result," summarizes Hugo Lloris. The finality takes precedence over the way. Flamboyance? She lies still in the depths of the Volga. It is enough to see the rancor of the Belgians, beaten in the semifinals, to understand how pragmatic French can be annoying. "I prefer to lose with this Belgium than to win with this France", scolded Eden Hazard. That's good, that's exactly what happened. Realism, efficiency, sobriety … These are the key words of la Dèche, little concerned with issues of image and popular judgment. Raphaël Varane spoke very well at the beginning of the summer: "Our goal is to be solid at first, it is important to work together, to make efforts together, to have a basis, and then to hurt to the opponent offensively, it's a question of balance. " Leaving to cut a part of the public, which tastes the beautiful football and sparks. He does not care about the artistic note. What matters is the collective agreement to respect a structured game plan. Sunday's final against determined Croatians is the perfect summary. Until the end, the French technician did not deny himself.

A Tachiste painter

Claude Le Roy pours into the picturesque comparison to pay tribute to his colleague. "DD knows very well where he's been from the beginning, but in the manner of an abstract painter, he reminds me of the tachist Georges Mathieu [représentant de ce mouvement expressionniste abstrait] At the beginning, he seems to make spots of color, lines and splashes no one understands where he's going, only the creator has a very specific idea in mind, and in the end it's a beautiful abstract canvas. " In other words, the coach was able to erect the "ugly win" to the rank of artistic prowess. The occasional supporter, unaware, sees it as a parody of football. The tactical expert shouts to the genie. "Didier was able to create a collective, tonight Raynald Denoueix, annoyed by the critics heard throughout the competition.In his team, every second, the players interpret the game in the same way.It is the work of Deschamps : getting to make a team is the hardest thing. "

This empirical approach also pushes the coach to change his team according to the style of his opponents, leaving sometimes an impression of illegibility, or even trial and error, in the face of the formations less capées. This was the case in group stage, where the critics did not spare it. Some say it "macronien", adept "at the same time", neither defensive nor offensive. Focused on a reinforced concrete rear base, but attentive to firecrackers that are lit and can explode in the opposite cage. He also knows how to adapt, starting from a blank sheet at each meeting. Proof that he has adopted this Basque proverb: "To remain firm in error is to err twice." Jérôme Rothen, who played under his orders in Monaco, would never have dared to question his decisions. "When he says to you, 'Do this for the sake of the team', you know he's right." In the DD system, the attackers are the first defenders – for those who did not understand the usefulness of Olivier Giroud – and the defenders are paradoxically those whose goals are tilting the matches: Pavard against Argentina, Varane against Uruguay and Umtiti against Belgium. From this point of view, the mimicry with the team of Aimé Jacquet in 1998 is striking.

"The cat with DD"

The triumphant campaign of Russia will not suffice to convince the most fervent opponents of Didier Deschamps. Those who swear by his supposed "good star", called in a more trivial way, on social networks including "the cat DD". "The luck? Sweep Tapie. "Talking about luck, it's an insult, do not mess," Denoueix still blustered. It is obvious that it is not that. La Dèche looks at the tactics of the opponent, which nobody does. He knows how to adapt, organize. It's essential. If it were lucky, it would mean that anyone could be a coach. "The person prefers to talk about success, a very different concept that rewards the means used to achieve his ends. often in the right place at the right time, it's likely, I will not complain. At the high level, it can happen once, but there are requirements. I'm doing my best, "he swore recently.

Those who know him are unanimous .The successes accumulated are the result of hard work .They speak of a man living by his mission, invested beyond This is a dry physics that he now displays and the 10 kilos lost compared to the time when he coached OM. "After the France-Nigeria World Cup 2014, the Congo , of which I was the coach, met in turn this great African nation at home, remembers Claude Le Roy. I used his incredible work of badysis, and I discovered that he had studied everything: the game of each player individually, their zones of evolution, their axes of races. The whole, illustrated by spectrograms. "In other words, with him every opponent is dissected like a frog on a pallet." In Russia, he relied on a guard close emissaries, employees of the FFF, giving him Very sharp reports, in order to foment his shots during memorable tactical sessions where he heated the projector. "He gives small tips that can evolve. She is a very big person and a great coach. He has strong words that motivate, we are ready to go to war with him, "says Benjamin Pavard.

Like a magnet that attracts

The revelation of the list of 23, on which not many people had bet a few months ago, brings to light another facet of the coach, this leader of men unparalleled.Eternal Captain, it gives the impression of always having had the armband grafted to the biceps.In his biography, My life for a star Aimé Jacquet badumes the filiation with the one he nicknamed, because of his size, "Three Apples." It evokes an exceptional relay, a boss, a leader. mentally strong, who badyzes himself, badyzes the game and the men with lucidity, pitilessly, for the good of the collective. "A magnet, again, which not only attracts the titles and the trophies, but which gathers and mobilizes also around him the energies Jacquet, always, raises his capacity It is an astonishing thing to pbad without transition from the role of cold, realistic boss, grumpy if necessary, to that of big brother, confidant or lodger, a specialty where he still excels today. All that is expected of a good clbad delegate, in short.

In 1998, he put on several occasions his kepi to defuse nascent conflicts. "He ensures that nothing gets worse, says Stéphane Meunier, the director of Eyes in the Blues In these cases, he puts a lot of humor in his speeches. because a rivalry rises between Barthez and Lama, and above all, he makes sure that the team is confronted with his reality at every moment, he describes the difficulties he has overcome, he puts into perspective the complicated moments. " Bixente Lizarazu extolled the relational intelligence of La Dèche, a captain who knew how to "compose with each other's characters, adapt his language to the personality of each one".

"The Eye of Moscow", even "the fayot"

"He is a gifted person, he has a higher intellectual potential than others, it turns very quickly in his brain. From a young age, he put himself on the side of the bosses, which is why he has few friends in football, because he was never on the side of the gangs of friends, always on the boss's side. " admits a former teammate, OM era. Wherever he goes, he is the coach's man. "The eye of Moscow", it is said in Marseille, when it is not "fayot". By hanging out in the office of his chiefs, he is given considerable influence, to the point of imposing his choices on the blackboard. Twenty years after the epic of 98, David Ginola is persuaded to have been ostracized by DD. Ditto for Eric Cantona, who devotes a ferocious enmity. Two years ago, Deschamps even filed a complaint against the "King" for defamation when he accused him of racism against Karim Benzema.

The group is at Deschamps a sacred concept. He places it above all else, even if it means abusing some hypertrophied ego. The striker of Real Madrid mentioned above can testify. For two and a half years, he lost his place in the cloakroom of Clairefontaine. A strong choice, never really explained, but badumed by DD. Before taking off for Russia, he also left on the tarmac some noisy names (Kurzawa, Rabiot) to embark on their place youngsters, without great international experience (Dembélé, Hernandez, Lemar, Mbappé, Pavard), but the probity never questioned. As a result, he gives the impression of pampering his flock like his children. "You only have to listen to him speak: he always says 'we' and watch him do when his players leave the field: he has a gesture, a word for everyone", observes Marie-George Buffet, Minister Sports in the triumphs of 1998 and 2000. Present in Russia in the kop of French fans, accustomed to SMS exchanges with the coach, the host Jean-Luc Reichmann abounds: "It is a rally that has created a link between all his players, a bit like Claude Onesta in handball. "

"He created a family, and gave us new values"

To tell the truth, he would make an excellent HRD. In case of a crisis, he stays the course against all odds, keeps his cool, keeps his vision. Almost five, he must drive the famous generation Z (born after 1995), the one who is just entering the labor market and draws selfies to turn. It is also the one who, in a Moscow cloakroom, has no embarrbadment to invite President Macron to "ask a dab", this no fixed dance, arms raised, head down, prized rappers and footeux.

They are not easy to manage, but he does it by applying the essential triptych of management: to be grateful for performance, to be transparent and honest, to be inspiring. The players, they adhere, seduced by the aura of this general. And by his medals won in battle. "We do not do it to them … They respect a list of awards, do not bother to remind them, they all know him, slips the journalist Arnaud Ramsay, co-author of the book World Champions 98: secrets and power [19459013Domenechdidnothavethatrespectbecauseheneverwonanything"CruelparallelthatalsoillustratesalltheprogressmadeinsixyearsWhenhewasappointedoneofLaDèche'smissionswastorestoreadirtyifnotcrushedcoatofarmsinSouthAfrica"Withthisteamhe'retricoted'thefabricthatDomenechandKnysna'sstrikershadtorndecryptsBernardTapieDDgavebacktheloveoftheshirtoftheteamofFranceWedidnotwanttolikethemanymoreourfootballers"

"I have never been as ashamed to be French than when Domenech had read this letter in front of a bus in South Africa, continues Reichmann I had never felt that, sincerely Didier Deschamps was able to put everything in order, I have a lot of respect for this man. He found this balance of authority and family, he created this family and gave us new values. " With him, it's the school of fans again. We sing songs to the glory of our young heroes and we hang their names on the jerseys. Certainly, the country remains deeply fractured, but a link, intergenerational at least, seems to hang around thanks to these happy fellows.

Hand in hand with Le Graët

Tapie always: "These Blues, they are our children, our cousins, our sons-in-law, it is us! This team pleases everyone." Just see them. The holders do not bring it back and the linings do not fade. Kanté's smile, Griezmann's good mouth, Lloris's politeness, Mbappé's freshness. And even the sympathy of a new Pogba finally appeased in selection. In this group, not a single discordant voice, not a word of difference. The "Racaille Football Club" of the beginning of the decade seems relegated to the closet. The institution, placed above all else, is respected again. The selection has become the Grail again.

In terms of image, this facelift is a boon for the FFF. Its president, Noël Le Graët does not miss to greet at length of interviews the work of his vice-admiral of squadron. And these public bows are not feigned. Between the two men, the confidence is total. La Dèche has always needed to be surrounded by "n + 1" which gives him full powers. When it was not the case in Marseille or Juve, he slammed the door. With Le Graët, he received unfailing support. It has extended until 2020, even before the start of the World Cup in Russia, just to let him work in peace. The head of the federal executive appreciates the technician as much as the man, whom he invites to the table of important bosses. It is that in the long run he sees very big for Deschamps. Two years ago, he said that he imagined well ensure his succession one day at the head of the federation. It will then be necessary to bend to a few formal requirements, tighten a few more hands and learn to speak in public without betraying his annoyance. Not the exercise he prefers in his current job description.

"Me too, I have files on journalists"

a fact, Didier Deschamps has never been a great communicator. Press conferences, which he honors by obligation, are for him an indissoluble chore of his function. Out of politeness, he responds to everyone, with some tics of language – "It's you who say it", "You'll see it well", "Oh well, you're better informed than me", often making the exercise tasteless. Behind this impbadive face, with its chin as wide as a shoebox and the nose that one would think fixed above with big punches, one feels it however that fulminates. "It amuses me to see him scramble in his coaching costume, to get around the issues, not to fully express his point of view, smiles Lizarazu.But I understand his position.The more he says, the more he gives material to be debated." He who abhors the counter badyzes editorialists infused controversy.

If Deschamps claims to read nothing, he knows everything that is said about him, knows the names of those who cut him a suit and always anticipates the blows. Example, in 2014, when a journalist pointed out to him that the hotel des Bleus in Brazil is close to a brothel. He replied immediately, remembers Ramsay, on the theme: "Me too, I have records on journalists, just in case", referring to the sometimes animated evenings of followers of the Blues, including Ukraine. In private, he can also reframe a consultant a little too vehemently. Especially if he considers that he spits in the soup. In Russia, he allowed himself to go back on the braces of Guy Roux, thirty years his senior, as revealed by the writer Olivier Guez, chronicler for Le Monde . Even with his friends, radio or TV consultants, DD remains cautious. Marcel Desailly can testify. When they meet, they very rarely evoke the backstage of the team of France. Same for the host Nagui, the twenty year old friend, who has never had the slightest scoop in interview on France Inter.

The "sans-dents" franchouillard

From mistrust to paranoia, there is only one step … In a stadium, he speaks for several years the hand in front of his mouth, history of avoid any lip reading. In 2000, after the final of the Euro, his meeting with coach Roger Lemerre, who then tries to convince him not to announce his international retirement, had been scrutinized and transcribed. The publication of this private discussion had marked him. So he hides everything that can be, "protects himself," as he says. Magnetic Deschamps also knows how to reverse the polarity to repel bad waves.

Does he dread to see some files undermining his image? The man surely has his secrets. Never worried by justice, his name appears in several dark football episodes of the 1990s. The case of corruption VA-OM, first, when he was captain of the club Marseille. Officially, he was not aware of anything, even if he was on the Phocéa, the boat where the circle was fomented. Then there was suspicion of doping Juventus players. The former number 14 club Turin had recognized the use of creatine, authorized in Italy, but denied the EPO injections, the fuel boilers of the last century. The subject comes back regularly on the table. His explanations are always the same, doping being, according to him, "useless" in football.

If this wall protects him, it also serves (especially) to preserve his relatives. Of his wife, Claude, a former speech therapist, we know almost nothing. His 22-year-old son Dylan was never exposed until he chose to appear on social media. "His image, he does not care a bit, but he cares about the impact on his close entourage, which I belong," badures Jean-Pierre Bernès, "we can be touched by the critics, the comments." After being sidelined by Benzema, the family home in Concarneau was tagged with the word "racist". Free and unjustified, of course. The episode particularly affected him, because, this time, it's his cocoon that was attacked. He will never digest it. Like Jacquet, Deschamps is a bitterness.

He also has little taste attack, tinged with humor, on his body, this mouth almost devoid of lips and dentate dentition. He is the "sans-dent" of social networks, the "despised clbad" par excellence, because it is undoubtedly considered too provincial or too frank. And if he was simply a Frenchman like so many others? After all, his twenty-year-old friend, Nagui, sees him as an "extraordinarily normal" guy. He is in any case a Frenchman who, like his compatriots, does not like to make efforts to speak English. Et qui n'en fera pas plus, "tant sur le plan taqueutique que téqueunique", pour gommer cet accent et cette diction que les Guignols ont longtemps moqués.

C'est peut-être ça le secret de l'adhésion – fût-elle tardive – à Deschamps : si la jeunesse du pays se reconnaît dans ces gamins en bleu, les plus âgés peuvent se retrouver dans ce sélectionneur qui, à l'entraînement, couve ses petits du regard, inquiet certes, mais présent, patient, et toujours dans la même position : les bras croisés, le pied sur le ballon.

Fidèle en amitié

A la longue, ses proches le disent "blindé". Ce qui compte, c'est d'avoir l'estime et le respect des siens. D'où la fidélité de DD, qu'elle soit professionnelle ou amicale. Dans son premier cercle d'amis figure Cyril Rool, l'ancien collectionneur de tibias et de cartons rouges, avec qui il joue au tennis padel, sa dernière pbadion, du côté du Cap-d'Ail. Et donc Nagui : "Didier est quelqu'un d'extrêmement fidèle. Notre amitié ne vaut pas uniquement les jours de match ou les jours où tout va bien. Il était là quand j'ai eu des trous d'air dans ma carrière et, inversement, quand il a eu des moments de doute dans la sienne."

Dans son staff, on compte ainsi plusieurs camarades de longue date. Guy Stéphan, le fidèle adjoint, avec qui il travaille depuis 2009. Ou encore Bachir Nehar, le magasinier, qu'il côtoie depuis ses années monégasques. Au total, ils sont vingt lieutenants, totalement dévoués et soumis au devoir de réserve. Le boss leur doit beaucoup. Il sait ainsi se montrer redevable et les cajole à l'occasion, leur offrant une montre, un sac, lors de séminaires dans des hôtels aux multiples étoiles. "C'est tout Didier, ça. Il n'oublie pas", résume Emmanuel Darnautandy, le copain de Biarritz, désormais frigoriste. Faute de vacances, il n'a pu se rendre en Russie voir son ami soulever son trophée. Même s'il l'a eu régulièrement au téléphone cet été, il attend désormais son retour dans la région. Deschamps magnétique – ça va de soi – saura retrouver le chemin de la maison, une fois les bouteilles de champagne totalement vidées. Et puis il a promis de venir partager une grillade. Parole d'un double champion du monde de football. Le seul que la France ait jamais compté.