• Didier Deschamps will announce his list of 26 players for Euro 2021 on Tuesday evening

  • Yes, 26 players and no 23. UEFA has exceptionally enlarged the lists of coaches, health context requires

  • On the surface, it is a gift for DD and his colleagues.

    But this enlargement also has its drawbacks

New rule. History does not say if UEFA was inspired by Koh Lanta to imagine its latest adjustment for the upcoming Euro, still it is that the belligerents learned, on May 4, of the new weapon. secret they will have on occasion: the expanded list to 26 players, which each coach will have to disclose before June 1. The adaptation "on an exceptional basis" is in line with the five replacements in that it is supposed to bring a little serenity to breeders who will live for a month in fear of the PCR test. But is this list of 26 a gift for Didier Deschamps and his peers? To answer this thorny question,

20 Minutes

called on two customary selectors of international gatherings: Claude Leroy and Alain Giresse.

Yes, especially if players decide to eat a waffle in the middle of a tournament

For those who do not have the reference, because they do not care about rugby or they were sleeping soundly at this time in our glorious sporting history, it will be recalled that the XV of France has proved there is not so For a long time it was extremely easy to screw up a group in the middle of a tournament.

We can also cite the example of the Handball World Cup, where Cape Verde came in with eleven players before losing two players and forfeiting a match later.

The bubbles reduce the (bad) chances of catching the Covid without reducing them to zero, so you might as well have as many guys as possible in the group.

Giresse:

“By having the players on hand, you can be sure that they are always active.

Whereas if all of a sudden you have to go pick up a player with his feet in the sand, it's a little more problematic.

Seen like that, the blow of 26 stands.

"

Deschamps prefers small groups but ...

The French coach had approached the theme of the management of enlarged groups somewhat by chance last fall, when France was preparing to face Portugal in the League of Nations. At the time, it was not a question of Euro but of the number of players summoned during national team gatherings. DD then indicated his preference for small groups. “When there are 23-24, it's not easy to concern them during training, explained the coach of the Blues. I know, for example, that Roberto Mancini takes 32 players, but I don't really like these situations, I want the players to feel concerned. Humanly towards the players, I think it's fairer. "

Ironically, Deschamps nonetheless ended up joining the movement initiated by his Italian counterpart when he first breathed in early spring the idea of ​​an extended list for the Euro.

"I think if UEFA looks at being able to expand the roster that would be a good thing, provided of course that it can be two or three more players, and all can be on the scoresheet .

"

Depressing for the dropouts of the scoresheet

The European football body has acceded to the request of our national SD with the exception of the very last point. There will be "two, three" more loustics, but the match sheets will remain blocked at 23. Alain Giresse is worried. “Imagine. You have 23 with the shoes and the shin guards on your feet and the other three, they will have nothing at all, and they will be in the stands. I experienced this situation when we had 23 players on the list but a scoresheet at 18. We had to put five guys in the stands. It's not the nicest thing to do and it can create discontent among players. "

We are still quite serene about the fact that no one in the 26 will be reckless enough to challenge the authority of DD in the event of a referral to the gallery, especially when we know the fate reserved for the capricious. Even Adrien Rabiot, who miraculously managed to come back, had to take his illness patiently before the amnesty. Nevertheless, Deschamps can make it easier for himself by opting for the bizuts option, which is always easier to sit on the sofa in addition to being good investments for the future. This is the Claude Le Roy method:

“The last three or four on the list are a priori young people who are there to learn.

I remember Samuel Eto'o in 1998. He was 17 years old, and I didn't make up my mind to dismiss him because his talent was so great… So before the World Cup, I said to Sam “you don't won't play, but you'll save a lot of time learning what a World Cup is like.

"Well, in the end he played anyway, but it is in this spirit that I would go to complete the list of 26." A perfect job for Thuram or Koundé, for example.

With DD, the 26th may very well end up starting

Be careful not to exaggerate the cliché of the hairdresser, a concept that Alain Giresse is not very fan of. “It's not serious to imagine that we take boys who have no qualities, just because they are nice. “Of course, Didier Deschamps attaches value to the notion of a group, but that does not make him a summer camp instructor. The coach of the Blues has proven on the last two international competitions his desire to involve everyone or even to establish healthy competition.

And to anyone who would be tempted to take Rami 2018 - the only player with zero minutes in Russia - as an example, it will be recalled that DD had planned to bring in his central defender in the final against Croatia if Lloris had not freaked us out 20 minutes from the second star.

The same Rami who was called up in 2016 to compensate for Varane's injury after not even appearing in the reserve list for the Euro, and playing the first four games in their entirety.

Before seeing a certain Samuel Umtiti, happy reservist called in as reinforcement after the package of Jérémy Mathieu, finish the competition in his place.

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  • Didier Deschamps

  • Euro 2021

  • French football team

  • Sport