He arrived in great shape at a press conference this Monday in Clairefontaine. Little smirk, little jokes for certain journalists. Before facing Gibraltar and Greece, during the qualifying matches for Euro 2024, for which the Blues are already qualified, Didier Deschamps appeared in a dissertation (forty-five minutes of questions and answers), especially at the time of evoke the level of Ligue 1 which, this year, is struggling to move the crowds.
The double world champion (player and coach) tried a little pirouette, explaining that there were fewer teams and therefore fewer goals. Then detailed his thoughts a little: “Certainly the fact of having gone to 18 teams, with the number of descents, there are now a lot of teams concerned. An eighth or ninth team, we see that there is only one point ahead of the jump-off. It’s harder at the top, but the fear also comes from below. Does it condition [le niveau] ? One point more or less… For me, the L1 is at its level with its qualities and its faults. »
Never so many L1 players in the 23
Eleven goals on the eleventh day of L1, twelve goals (with one match in hand) on the twelfth day this weekend… We cannot say that football fans are having a great time in France. But, according to Didier Deschamps, this is not specific to Ligue 1. “With Guy [Stéphan, son adjoint], when we look at certain weekends, it is not only in L1 that there are soporific matches, indicated the coach. The sequence at the weekend, with the European Cup during the week… L1 is always difficult, because there is a physical predominance. It happens that there is not great quality. In other championships, it’s not always a pleasure to watch from start to finish. »
And Didier Deschamps found an incomparable argument for his demonstration: he has never selected so many players playing in the French elite (Mbappé, Dembélé, Kolo Muani, Zaire-Emery, Lucas Hernandez, Clauss, Samba, Fofana, Todibo) : “Would that mean I’m wrong? Nooo (smiles), even if there are five who are in the same club. L1 is competitive. »