Former-captain Didier Deschamps appointed as French boss

France have appointed former national team captain Didier Deschamps as their new head coach.

The former-Marseille boss succeeds Laurent Blanc in the position, after Blanc resigned from the hotseat following France’s Euro 2012 exit.

Respect

The former-World Cup winner must have the respect of the French players after all he has achieved in the game.

As a player he captained Les Bleus to victories at the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championships.

He was a vital cog in that team. The player that did the dirty work to allow the more creative players to do their job. Former-teammate Eric Cantona once described Deschamps as a water carrier, but he was far more than that.

Leader

Didier Deschamps has been a leader throughout his career. Even as a player he was a natural-born leader. It’s no surprise that he has gone to become a boss in his own right. He will need all his leadership skills to get the best out of the French players though.

Highly-rated

Didier Deschamps is a highly-rated head coach. At just 43 Deschamps has already managed Monaco, Juventus and Marseille. Along the way winning a Ligue One title with both Marseille and Monaco. He also lead the principality to the Champions League final in 2004, where they were beaten by Jose Mourinho’s Porto.

Deschamps has been linked with a number of high-profile posts in the past years, especially in the Premier League. The likes of Chelsea and Liverpool have been linked with Deschamps in the past but he decided to stay in Ligue One with Marseille.

He left the French giants at the end of the season, after they finished in 10th place in Ligue One. It was a disappointing season for Deschamps and his team. However, despite Marseille’s poor form last season Deschamps is still highly-regarded in his homeland.

Mess

It seems that after every international tournament these days the French has to ban players for misdemeanours. Sadly this tournament is no different. Laurent Blanc looked to have steadied the French ship, until Euro 2012 kicked-off.

The likes of Samir Nasri, Jeremy Menez, Hatem Ben Arfa and Yann M’Vila are all set to be hit with disciplinary procedures by the FFF. The four players could be handed bans by their football federation for various offences during the competition.

The French team is really not helping their national teams cause by being so disruptive and they won’t be helping their new boss by being unavailable for crucial World Cup qualifiers. This will be one of the first situations Deschamps will have to deal with.

Discipline in the French camp seems near non-existent again, despite Blanc seemingly restoring some order to the national team.

Talented

During Laurent Blanc’s reign as boss the team showed that they are a seriously talented group of players, going undefeated for 23 matches until they were beaten by Sweden in their last group game at Euro 2012.

The problem that France have is that their players are often temperamental and hot-headed (Franck Ribery). They have the talent but often waste their talent because of poor attitude. Didier Deschamps is a good man-manager and I believe he can have a big effect on the players.

If he can get France’s best players to perform to their top level then Les Bleus can be a force in international football once again.

Hero

Just like Laurent Blanc, Didier Deschamps is considered a French national hero for his achievements as a player.

The pair was teammates when France were the best team in the world and are both winners. The younger French players didn’t have enough respect for Laurent Blanc, despite his achievements within the game.

If the French players can’t show respect for Deschamps and all he has done in football, then the French international team could be trouble for a long time to come. However, I believe that Didier Deschamps is the right man for the French national team job.

He is patriotic, highly-rated and a good man-manager. Three attributes crucial to those brave souls that venture into international managerial. Didier Deschamps the right man for the French national team, I believe so.

Is Didier Deschamps the right man to lead the French national side?