Finding balance will be the challenge in Deschamps' France swansong

Even with the young attacking gifts of Michael Olise, Bradley Barcola and Désiré Doué, the French focus will fall on Kylian Mbappé.

Kylian Mbappé captains his country at a World Cup for the first time and arrives under a degree of scrutiny he’s never experienced. Pic: FRANCK FIFE / AFP via Getty Images

Ever done the tourist thing here and grabbed some sports merch to prove to everyone at home you’d been to New York? It may be time to raid the attic or bottom drawer and find any T-shirts, hats or hoodies which feature the logo or likeness of the city’s Knickerbockers.

New York is not Knicks crazy. It’s demented. Any bit of thread or tat with even a passing reference to the city’s NBA team is so sought-after that there’s a secondary market to rival FIFA’s World Cup ticket resale platform. By Thursday afternoon, when they parade the NBA Championship trophy through the Canyon of Heroes, the Knickflation will have skyrocketed again. A 53-year title drought was ended in spectacular fashion on Saturday night and the city has barely slept since. Given the age and contract profile of this Knicks team, New York is already dreaming of a dynasty.

Into the mass hysteria rolls one of the few men in sport who could have a shot at sucking the life out of it. Every couple of years you sit in for the first France press conference of a major championship, fiddle with the translation app on the phone and quickly remember just how dour Didier Deschamps is. No matter which tongue you toggle to, the delivery and message is at best stoic, but more often stodgy.

If it feels like it has always been thus, then we’d highly, highly recommend the Netflix special on the nation’s 2010 vintage. The Bus: A French Football Mutinyis as good a sports documentary to emerge in a long time. Through every excruciating and eye-poppingly batshit contribution from Raymond Domenech, the film simultaneously does Deschamps plenty of favours. Dour, it turns out, ain’t so bad after all. Dependability too.

In a brilliantly detailed deep dive on their manager’s longevity this week titled ‘Deschamps: La Vie En Bleu’, L’Equipe crunched a whole lot of numbers. One stood out more than any other: France may have been playing international football for 121 years but, as a player and coach, Deschamps has been involved in 30% of matches they’ve ever played.

Amid the dynasty chatter in New York, it should also be remembered how bloody close Deschamps was to arriving here this summer chasing a three-peat. Emiliano Martínez’s left leg was about the only thing that stopped it, his 123rd-minute one-on-one denial of Randal Kolo-Muani in the final open play of Qatar 2022 not recalled half often enough.

Rather than retain, Deschamps will try to reclaim the World Cup he’s lifted twice in his life here. This next month is his last dance, Zinedine Zidane having reportedly reached agreement with the FFF to take the reins when the 14-year Deschamps era reaches its end. Will that be back in New York in five weeks’ time? The man himself, typically, tried to talk that down by talking another tournament tip up on Monday morning.

“If there is a favourite team, it is definitely Spain,” said the 57-year-old. "Even though [we] legitimately have the ambition to win this title…the road will be long. But the big favourite is Spain, I have no doubt.” 

A couple of hours later, when Pico Lopes and his heroic compatriots from Cape Verde produced 90 minutes of defiance to deny the Spanish, perhaps Deschamps would have had a doubt or two. The big guns have taken their time getting going in this World Cup but not too many have impressed in opening offerings. Brazil looked a work in significant progress here on Saturday. The Dutch were brittle against Japan. Spain’s lack of a striker was all too apparent in their Monday matinee stunner. Germany are the only side among the top five or six contenders to land and immediately hit their stride.

Over to France then. If Spanish struggles provided one warning about starting slow, the team which lines up opposite Les Bleus on Tuesday lunchtime are another. France’s defence of its crown in 2002 never recovered from Senegal shocking them in Seoul. Deschamps kept more of his cold water to pour over questions about this renewal offering a chance to set the record straight: “There is no revenge in football. Besides, it’s been 24 years.

Fair. Sadio Mané and the self-proclaimed legitimate champions of Africa are not the team of 2002 just as France are not. They’re not the France of four years ago either — just 11 of the 26 Deschamps brought across the Atlantic played in Qatar. Even with the young attacking gifts of Michael Olise, Bradley Barcola and Désiré Doué, the focus will fall on Kylian Mbappé. That’s just how things work here in a land which lionises the individual over the collective.

Mbappé captains his country at a World Cup for the first time and arrives under a degree of scrutiny he’s never experienced. His Real Madrid problems followed into national duty with poor performances against Ivory Coast and Northern Ireland in warm-up games. Deschamps said his skipper, one goal shy of France’s all-time record, was saving his best for the biggest stage.

Forecasting dynasties is a lot easier when you’re devoid of divas. What has surely made New York fall so madly in love with these Knicks is their likability and humility. Jalen Brunson, the team’s mercurial playmaker, may be the most humble superstar in American sports.

Deschamps’ greatest challenge in his swansong is finding balance with so much brilliance at hand. A humble, focused Mbappé would help.