Paris (AFP)

A coach "under control", a "proximity" with the players which "does not prevent respect and authority", the importance given to mental management: the coach of the France team Didier Deschamps deciphers for the 'AFP his way of working, a few days before the Euro.

Q: World champion 1998, Europe 2000: does your experience as a player help you to consider this double?

A: "It was another time, some were not born ..."

Q: So you don't tell the players about it?

A: "Never. It's not their life, it's mine. It's another time. Why refer to it? The references are today. If something has been done right in the past, can it be repeated? What has been done, no one will be able to remove it, but the most important is what has to be done. We always tend to want to compare. "

Q: How can defeats, especially in the Euro-2016 final, serve you?

A: "It served us two years later, especially to better manage the event that is a major competition final. The emotional side is important: the more finals we know, the more situations are repeated. (...) It is especially important to desecrate the event even if it is difficult, because it remains the best of the best. "

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Q: Do you still struggle with stress on match days?

A: "I have no pressure, no stress, it's adrenaline. All that is negative does not live in me. I make sure to control my emotions, even if at times it can come out. . "

Q: Is it a question of character or a discipline that you impose on yourself?

A: "To be under control, that's the function that wants that. That doesn't prevent you from being natural. I'm someone who likes to talk. The words still need to be in line with what you are talking about. we get out. A coach who asks his players to be + quiet + but who has drops running down his forehead ... (he grimaces) At times, we can be filled with certain doubts, but we must make sure We internalize a lot, we take it upon ourselves, because at one point we have to decide and we can't please everyone.

You also have to have a staff to lean on, because you can't do everything all the time.

Of course, they do not have the authority that I represent vis-à-vis the players, but they each have a responsibility.

Each member of the staff is responsible for the state of mind. "

Q: With the players, where do you put the cursor between authority and flexibility, proximity and distance?

R: "Proximity does not prevent respect and authority. They know very well that it is I who decides. The main thing for me is to have a relationship of trust. (...) I do not give them no advice but my opinion, then I see how they react. Perhaps we need a little more closeness today because the emotional notion is more important. The new generation is in demand. "

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Q: Does she need us to come and explain the choices to her, justify them?

A: "Justify no, never, but explain and argue. You can't justify. At one point, you have to make choices with X which is stronger than Y. But if I say to Y + I don't make you play + , he is convinced to be stronger than the other. The discussion allows not to put them in front of the accomplished fact, but before arriving at important decisions I take the time to exchange, to have the maximum of information, I involve them too, it is important. "

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Q: Do you often take the time to chat with individual players?

A: “I do, although I can't see them all. They're not all formalized talks. It could be after a meal, on the pitch before or after training, two or three minutes walking. We talk, not necessarily football. It comes both ways. My door is open at any time.

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Our goal, especially when we are in a big competition, is not to lose anyone.

On the first day, they are all happy, they all have a banana.

After, each day that passes ... There are the prep matches, then the competition.

We must grant as much if not more to those who play little or not. "

Q: Does it waste a lot of energy?

A: "No, it doesn't waste, it's essential for balance and group life. The most complicated area is human management, obviously. OK, they are top players, but that doesn't "This does not prevent them from being human beings with their sensitivities, their weak points. They can also be impacted by external problems, whether professional or private, family. It is sometimes more important to listen than to speak. "

Q: During the fire extinguisher episode in Russia (incident in the Hôtel des Bleus triggered by players), you preferred a glare to a long sermon.

Why ?

A: "We don't always need to raise our voice. It happens sometimes. (...) I also had a first life which allows me to have lived through many situations, myself or my partners, who can help me not necessarily always make the right choice, but rule out the wrong one. It is necessarily a treasure in which I draw, without necessarily copying and pasting because it was another generation. "

Q: How far are you going in participatory management?

How much can they change your mind?

A: "It is open. The human being - it is not linked only to footballers - always wants to widen the framework. There may be requests. I am not here to say yes to everything, not there to say no to everything either. I involve them, I think about it and when I don't have a problem, I tend to say yes. "

Q: You never use mental preparation specialists, why?

A: "It would be to deny the very essence for me of the competence of a coach or a coach. I respect those who do it. If there are those who feel the need and it brings a plus, Why not? But in relation to the way I work, it is a very important part of my prerogatives. I like it, I spend time there. You have to listen a lot, it is a relationship of trust. I like having the people in front of me, plus two eyes and two ears which are on my left (his assistant Guy Stéphan, present at his side during the interview, Editor's note). "

Interview by Jérémy TALBOT and Antoine MAIGNAN.

© 2021 AFP