At the headquarters of the FFF,
After three weeks of waiting, following the dismissal of Corinne Deacon at the head of the Blue, we were no longer within fifteen minutes. It is therefore with a good quarter of an hour behind the schedule initially planned that the French women’s team officially entered a new era, that of the Renard, Hervé Renard, on Friday, at the headquarters of the 3F. Even where, a few weeks earlier, funeral mugs were drawn to settle the Le Graët affair, at the very end of March, smiles had finally returned to the faces of Philippe Diallo, Jean-Michel Aulas and Aline Riera, all three came to accompany the new coach of Les Bleues on the stage of the press room at 87 boulevard de Grenelle.
A press room that we had never seen so packed for a press conference around the women’s team, proof that, on this point at least, that of the media appeal around Les Bleues, the thinking heads of the FFF have already won their bet. After briefly presenting his new foal, a man “who has high-level experience, a successful coach and a charismatic character”, Philippe Diallo slipped a little for Corinne Deacon – without naming her, of course – and her old-fashioned way of working, its minimalist staff and its propensity not to share power too much.
Finally a real staff for the Blue
“Our collective ambition goes beyond the name change, it is part of a broader desire to take women’s football and its selection an additional step,” said the new president of the FFF. With a more expanded, reinforced staff, which corresponds to the standard of the best European clubs and which was to be found at the level of the national selection. “For his part, Jean-Michel Aulas praised Philippe Diallo’s desire to make this choice of coach be collegial and no longer the sole fact of the prince, just to recall in passing that the era of Father Le Graët was, it also, well and truly over. Without forgetting, as a good financier that he is, to salute without saying so the financial sacrifice of the former Saudi coach, who sat on his 300,000 euros monthly on the side of Riyadh. “He did what was necessary for him to be here today, and that must be emphasized,” welcomed JMA.
Finally came the time for Hervé Renard to speak, all in sobriety, like this black shirt he wore instead of his legendary white shirt of handsome. Or when the Bernard Henry-Lévy style on the Syrian front gives way to George Clooney-style elegance in Nespresso pubs. “It is a pride to be seated in front of you. I thank all the people who trusted me. And now get to work and head for this 2023 World Cup which will happen very quickly, ”he said simply before letting the journalists bombard him with questions.
The return slingers
Why did you accept this challenge when everything was going well in Saudi Arabia? “I had told my relatives that one day I would like to head this France team, he replied. I’m not going to hide from you that it surprised more than one. But nothing replaces major competitions, and there, with the World Cup this summer and the 2024 Olympics in Paris, we are served! There is no better explanation than this to understand my choice. And I also think that there is a quality group and that all together we are capable of doing great things”.
Refuting the idea of having revenge to take in his country after his failure during his time on the Losc bench in 2015, the double winner of the CAN with Zambia and the Ivory Coast quickly switched to the pane sportsman of his mission, not without fiddling to avoid THE annoying subject in this team, namely the sling of the players who had the head of Corrinne Deacon. “The Federation gave me an expanded list of selectable players [comprendre : avec les frondeuses], so I could choose the ones I wanted. »
And so here is the captain and leader of the March Revolution, Wendie Renard, back in Blue, accompanied by 25 other players, including Eugénie Le Sommer, cold with Deacon and whom we had seen more in the France team for almost two years, the day after the elimination in the quarter-finals against the United States at the 2019 World Cup.
“Speed, high pressing”
Hervé Renard also hinted that he could well call on Amandine Henry, another target of the former coach, once she returns from injury. The idea being to rely on their great experience of the selection to support a rather young workforce. Finally, it will not have escaped anyone the absence of Kheira Hamraoui, cold with two of the leaders of the tricolor locker room today injured, Kadidiatou Diani and Marie-Antoinette Katoto, after the affair of his attack at Paris Saint-Germain . For Renard, this choice is purely “sporting”, which we are entitled to believe or not.
As for the style of this new team, at least on paper, here it is: “Speed, a midfield with young players to bring dynamism and be conquerors, high pressing, constant pressure and efficiency before. “And this nice program begins on Monday, on the occasion of the first gathering of the Bleues at Clairefontaine before the last two preparation matches against Colombia (April 7 in Clermont) and Canada (April 11 at Le Mans) before the Global. “I can’t wait to take the pulse of this group, concluded the new king of town. We are very motivated with my staff, we can achieve great things in football if we are united and have a remarkable state of mind. “We will quickly see if the message has passed.