Julien Laurens praises ‘best manager’ Didier Deschamps for ‘ruthlessness to win big trophies’ with France

Julien Laurens proclaimed Didier Deschamps as the best manager France has ever had as he looked ahead to UEFA Euro 2024 taking place in Germany this summer.

Deschamps is one of only three men - alongside Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer - to win the World Cup as a player and manager, after tasting success as Les Bleus skipper in 1998 and following that up 20 years later with victory in Russia.

However, despite 12 largely successful years in charge which includes a UEFA Nations League triumph and reaching the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2016 finals, there has been criticism over his defensive style of play.

“I think Deschamps is already the best manager the French national team has ever had,” Laurens told TNT Sports.

“Not that the ones before him weren't good, but you can't really beat two World Cup finals, one Euro final and one World Cup win.

“He also won the Nations League; okay, Euro 2020 was a disappointment and the way they were knocked out by Switzerland on penalties after they went 3-1 up with 10 minutes to go in normal time, was just not good.

“If you look at the time that he's had since 2012 until now - which is a very long time - that first World Cup [in 2014], he was rebuilding that team which lost to Germany [in the quarter-finals].

“Then there was Euro 2016 in France on home soil that they were really close to winning - he did amazingly well there.

“In 2018 was his triumph by winning the World Cup with not the best football, but the team unity, the mindset of those players and the talent of [Antoine] Griezmann, [Paul] Pogba and [N’Golo] Kante was outstanding.”

Laurens went into more detail regarding what he believes caused a disappointing showing at Euro 2020 - delayed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic - and explained how taking a "step back" proved costly.

He said: “The Euros after that is the one tournament you'd have something to say about, because he took a little bit of a step back after winning the World Cup thinking that the squad could manage itself, and the dressing room could deal with all the issues that you could have in a big competition.

“But they couldn't. I think he very quickly realised that he made a mistake there at the Euros and he rectified at the 2022 World Cup, which was outstanding from a French point of view up to the penalty shootout [lost to Argentina in the final] and then that was unlucky."

Laurens elaborated more on the criticism which Deschamps has faced and cites how a defence-first approach has been a source of frustration.

“There are a lot of critics that come back out regularly about his style of football,” he added.

“He would say himself he is quite a conservative manager and a cautious guy. He would always say he won the World Cup as a player in 1998, defensively, first and foremost.

“They were the best defence in the world and that's how they won the World Cup. That has always been him.

“He's an Italian coach very much so by formation really. Defensively, that will always be his style, he would never be the one that throws everybody forward and wants his team to do 800 passes per game; that's not him.

“When you see them play on the back foot at times with players like [Kylian] Mbappe, [Ousmane] Dembele, [Kingsley] Coman and [Antoine] Griezmann, it’s a bit hard to agree with him.

“Not that he cares because he's the best communicant and is so smart with the way he deals with the media.

“It's never bothered him. But the critics are there and if he doesn't do well at this Euros in Germany, the critics will be out for him again.

"I personally feel France should have played better football in the Deschamps era than what they have, but in terms of the results and the ruthlessness to win big trophies, he's delivered."

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