Respectably FrenchAllez Les Bleus

Former Marseille manager Didier Deschamps has been handed the task of getting the France team back to its former glory days after it has suffered several embarrassing exits in recent major tournaments. There has also been a lot of scrutiny on the French players in these tournaments, and Deschamps has said that it is time the players started getting used to the scrutiny. The arrival of Bordeaux manager Laurent Blanc was expected to solve the problems at the national team level, but there has been no signs of the same.

This led to the sacking of Blanc after the Euro 2012 with Deschamps coming as his replacement. So far, the former Chelsea midfielder has done a great job with the national team, as he has been able to oversee impressive results against the likes of Spain. Franck Ribery, Florent Malouda, and Nicolas Anelka have been under the media spotlight in all the recent tournaments. Deschamps has recalled that the scrutiny from the media has not changed from his playing days, and it is time for players to learn that and get used to it.

Midfielder Yann M’Vila is the latest to be scrutinised by the media, and he has been banned from the national team until 2014.

“My playing career has helped me deal with a lot of different situations. I can call on that wealth of experience at any time. But I have to adapt too because it’s a different era. Mentalities have changed. Now the demands are different. In French football there is a before and an after 2010. Nowadays, there is no room for error for the France international player. What I tell them is that there is nothing more beautiful than the national team’s shirt,” said the 44-year-old in a recent interview. France recently lost 1-0 against world champions Spain.

France will be going into the World Cup qualifying match against Spain knowing that they will be able to almost seal a place in the 2014 FIFA World Cup if they are able to get three points from this match. This is because Spain come into the encounter after having drawn the recent match with Finland 1-1. France already have a two-point advantage over Spain in the table. Hence, there have been suggestions that France may look to defend this advantage and play for a draw. National team manager Didier Deschamps, though, rejected such speculation by saying that his team will not look to defend and will be attacking.

France’s preparations for this match began with a 3-1 win over Georgia. There will be extremely close to sealing the top spot in the group, which will provide automatic qualification, if they get three points against Spain. This will be the aim of the team according to the former Marseille manager. There is a lot of pressure on the French team to deliver the goods after two major tournaments of absolute failure. Since reaching the finals of the 2006 World Cup, France have been dismal in the two major tournaments that have followed it.

“We won’t play for a draw, but if finishes as a draw we’ll take that. I always prepare my team for a win. You must show your strengths. I don’t think there’s any point fighting for possession of the ball. But when we get it we’ll have to use it well and force them to defend. Respecting them doesn’t mean having fear. Franck is an important player for us. Of course we have a player who can make the difference on the left,” said Deschamps ahead of the match. France will have friendlies against Uruguay and Brazil after this encounter.

France were recently defeated on their home ground by archrivals Germany in a friendly match. After the match, the manager Didier Deschamps said that the lack of efficiency from his players was reason for this defeat. France came into the match on the back of an indifferent form, which has win just two matches in the last five encounters of all competitions. Yet, Deschamps would have been hoping to build on the impressive 2-1 win over Italy in the previous friendly match. However, they have unable to get past Germany team that had conceded a lot of goals prior to this match.

It was a masterclass performance from the Real Madrid midfielder Mesut Ozil, who dominated the midfield. He was creating chances for the German team at will and the French players were unable to stop him. France took the lead just before half-time through a goal from Valbuena. However, Germany showed their superior advantage in the match by equalising through a goal from the Bayern Munich striker Thomas Müller in the 51st minute. The Real Madrid midfielder Sami Khedira combined with his teammate Mesut Ozil to great effect in the 71st minute to hand Germany their lead in the match, which they held on to the final whistle to win the match.

“He needs to get back the confidence a striker needs, as well as a bit of luck. He is a player who has great technical qualities, it is hard to steal the ball from him, especially because of his positioning on the pitch. They (Germany) have more experience. I saw some interesting things. It was not all bad,” said the French manager, who will now have to wake of his players ahead of the World Cup qualifying campaign. France will be playing against Georgia and Spain in the month of March.

France will never be able to forgive the Manchester United defender Patrice Evra according to the manager Didier Deschamps. The 31-year-old was one of the important players who led the strike during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. This led to the team performing very poorly under the management of Raymond Domenech. Following the incident, the defender was given a five match ban by the French football Association. Even though it has been two years since the occurrence of the incident, the French fans will certainly remember the part played by Evra according to Deschamps.

Deschamps has the experience of managing Patrice Evra when he was a Monaco player before moving to Manchester United. He has said that even though many players might say that booing and insults do not hurt them, Deschamps disagrees with this statement by saying that nobody likes to be hurt. However, Patrice Evra has to finish the rest of this career with the acknowledgement that the French fans will never be able to forgive him and the other players involved in the scandal during the World Cup. The French national team has been performing very poorly in major tournaments over the last few years. Deschamps is looking to turn back the clock for the French.

“He’ll always have public opinion against him. He knows that, I told him that. He can’t do anything. He’ll go to the end of his career with that. Him and the others involved in South Africa. I told them not to fight it. I don’t want him and the others to waste their energy in a losing battle. How could he not suffer? You can’t insulate yourself from that. Who wants to be hated or insulted? Nobody, but he can’t turn the clock back,” said Deschamps in a recent interview.