FNH

Didier Deschamps is reinventing the meaning of French football

21-Jun-2021 16:33:05 | The Guardian

Having watched France teams of the past flatter then deceive, the manager is wedding his pragmatism to players’ panache

By Adam White for Get French Football News

Although style, tactics and philosophies undulate and evolve, a nation’s broad footballing identity is always there, quietly influencing changing generations of coaches and players. Dutch football is inextricably linked to Total Football; Spain has tiki-taka (even if the style’s main proponent, Pep Guardiola, dislikes the term), and Italian teams have often looked to Catenaccio. French football’s personality is a little more nebulous but, as his team’s frustrating draw with Hungary again underlined, Didier Deschamps is its modern embodiment.

The broad principles of the French game can be traced back to Champagne Football: a graceful free-flowing style popularised by legendary French coach Albert Batteux and his freewheeling Stade de Reims side of the 1950s, who valiantly lost the inaugural European Cup final to Real Madrid. “We were the disciples of beautiful football,” explained former Reims midfielder and Euro 84 winning France coach Michel Hidalgo in World Soccer. “A short game, played with vivacity and technique. It was sparkling football. Everything was done with quality of play in mind, for the sake of having the ball at your feet and attacking.”