"A chance for women's football": the appointment of Hervé Renard to the Blues, good news?

Europe 1 with AFP 21:01 p.m., March 30, 2023

By appointing Hervé Renard as coach of Les Bleues until August 2024, the French Federation on Thursday shot down the card of charisma and aura to straighten out the France team, a bet for this novice of women's football. Four months before the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand (July 20 - August 20), the FFF decided at the last minute the thorny issue of the succession of Corinne Diacre, former coach landed on March 9 against a backdrop of internal slingshot. "This is a great opportunity for women's football," consultant Grégory Schneider told Europe 1 Sport (every evening from 20 p.m. to 23 p.m.).

️ ́ is the new coach of the Women's France Team
The French technician has committed until August 2024.#FiersdetreBleuespic.twitter.com/O48SxTX29i

— Women's France Team (@equipedefranceF) March 30, 2023

Committed until the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Renard is indeed expected on Friday (12:00) in Paris in the auditorium of the Federation: he must already announce his first list of players to face Colombia and Canada on April 7 and 11 in friendly preparation for the World Cup. The first choices of the former coach of Saudi Arabia, who resigned only Tuesday night from his duties after a defeat against Bolivia (2-1), will be particularly scrutinized.

Will captain Wendie Renard and star striker Kadidiatou Diani have already made themselves available after their withdrawal? Could former banished ones like Eugenie Le Sommer find the selection? In any case, neither the rebellious Marie-Antoinette Katoto nor the former captain Amandine Henry, in cold with Deacon and deprived of selection since 2020, will be summoned, because they are injured.

>> DISCOVER HERE - Football: with 6 million euros gross monthly, discover the highest paid Ligue 1 player

Financial concessions

The presentation of Hervé Renard will also be an opportunity for the leaders of the FFF to justify their decision to turn to this profile certainly emblematic, but unknown to the benches of Women's D1. At 54 years old, Renard is a rather famous face in men's football, especially in selection (Zambia, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Saudi Arabia), but his history is still virgin at the head of a women's team. For the former defender, double winner of the African Cup of Nations adored in Saudi Arabia since his exploit at the World Cup-2022 against Argentina (2-1), it is clearly not a financial choice, because Renard will certainly have to drastically reduce his salary.

The technician with well-groomed blond hair and the unstoppable white shirt has nevertheless given his priority to the tricolor selection, a return to the fold for this globetrotter who has never shone in France, despite some lightning passages (Sochaux, Lille ...). One thing is certain, he ticks the box "charisma" wanted by Jean-Michel Aulas, president of Lyon and the most influential member of the executive committee of the FFF in this file.

>> READ HERE – The coach of the Blues Didier Deschamps attacks a famous sports journalist for defamation

Expanded staff

But the "playboy" image sometimes sent back by the "blond wizard" and his muscular methods, such as his memorable half-time speech against Argentina in Qatar, are not commonplace in women's D1, where the majority of French internationals play. The 9th coach in the history of Les Bleues should be helped for this mission of a staff more experienced than him in the daily life of women's football, a valuable asset both in physical preparation and in the study of opponents.

The FFF did not formalize Thursday the composition of the staff but according to sources close to the file, Eric Blahic, former assistant of Deacon appreciated by several players, will be part of it, as well as his trusted assistant Laurent Bonadéi, who accompanied him in Saudi Arabia. Will this new framework respond to the "profound changes" in "management" demanded by the rebels? As if to recall that they would no longer have a free pass, the FFF has already warned that "the way used by the players to express their criticism was no longer acceptable in the future".