Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines (France) (AFP)

"Quality rather than quantity", this is the credo of the coach Didier Deschamps, star chef of a tight technical framework where competence and loyalty serve as cement, before the Euro (June 11-July 11) than the Blues approach among the favorites.

Since 2012, the France team has been running "with a coach, an assistant, a goalkeeper coach - always the same from the start - and a physical trainer; Cyril Moine is the third after Eric Bedouet and Grégory Dupont", summarizes Guy Stéphan.

Why should we change a winning formula?

"Didier believes that the technical staff works well like that. The results attest to it", slips to AFP the deputy, former accomplice of coach Deschamps at OM (2009-2012) before following him to the Blues.

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The two men have known each other since 2000 at a time when Stéphan was already occupying the position of N.2 with Roger Lemerre, coach of a France team of which "DD" was the emblematic captain.

- Trust -

Now at the helm of the Blues, the Basque technician has bet on a small team in which he has complete confidence and where everyone knows their role perfectly, as the limits not to be crossed.

The Germany of Joachim Löw, world champion in 2014, has "a staff that is more than double ours", notes Deschamps.

"If everyone has their place and it works like that, why not", but "I prefer to opt for quality rather than quantity", he told AFP in early May.

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For the boss of the Blues, this hard core offers the necessary security and requirements at the highest level.

"With more people, that makes more eyes and ears. And maybe a little less accountability," he said on this occasion.

Long injured in the spring, the midfielder of the Blues Corentin Tolisso appreciated this operation: "In a club, for the information to arrive, it may take time. Here, it goes faster. When the physiotherapist is aware, there is the doctor then directly the coach. It's an advantage, "he said in an interview with AFP.

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Within the management, the responsibilities are well shared, but each one delivers his point of view.

"+ Ultimately +, it is he who makes the decision. But what I appreciate is that he listens to my arguments and that he takes them into account", explained Stéphan at the end of 2019 in an interview with AFP .

- "Good in his sneakers" -

Around this pair have been grafted two "historical": Franck Raviot, the goalkeeper coach who arrived at the start of the Laurent Blanc era, in August 2010, and the doctor Franck Le Gall, present from the start of Deschamps' mandate .

Cyril Moine, former physical trainer from Algeria (2011-2014) and Japan (2015-2018), joined the team in 2019.

"We know how to operate. We do not always agree but at least we say it to each other, and we can say it correctly, to be in the positive contradiction", remarked at the end of 2020 for AFP Dr. Le Gall, for whom trust is "the basic principle".

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For the first circle of Deschamps, enlarged by about fifteen other people (physiotherapists, video analysts, manager, press manager ...), the experience makes it possible to show a united face in the face of players who are always "very attentive" to behavior of each other.

"They look at the staff, they say to themselves: + Hey today it's calm at the table, what's going on? +", Explains Stéphan to AFP.

"If they see that we exude a serenity, that there are bursts of laughter as is very often the case, it rolls. That is very important. There are 26 players and 20 people in the staff. These are two forces that must work towards the same goal: to win. "

During a competition, it is necessary that the staff remain "well in their sneakers to release a big serenity, a big requirement and a lot of ambition. The three are important", affirms the deputy of Deschamps.

Concretely, "this is reflected in acts and behavior, verbal and non-verbal, that is to say the attitude, the look, the energy that can be released", assures the Breton.

In a big tournament, every detail counts.

© 2021 AFP