He was nicknamed "The Rock".
In the mid-1990s, Marcel Desailly (116 caps) settled down among the best defenders on the planet.
Hard on the man, intractable in the duels, he participated in the writing of famous chapters in the history of French football.
The consultant BeIN Sports, broadcaster of the entire Euro 2021, hammers his confidence.
The Blues of his friend Didier Deschamps gather, in his eyes, enough assets to join them in the annals.
With his customary freedom of speech, he slips, in passing, some little advice to the address of some of his cadets.
What do you have left of Euro 2000?
MARCEL DESAILLY.
A feeling of total plenitude.
All the planets were aligned.
Reigning world champions, we wanted to show our superiority to other nations.
Step by step, everything went as planned.
Even our defeat in a third group match without a stake against the Netherlands (3-2) turned out to be profitable, because it allowed us to stay in Belgium, where our base camp with infrastructure was located. functional.
Throughout the competition, we were able to manage positive stress perfectly.
He took us to the summits.
Read alsoIt was once the crazy summer of the Blues: Euro 2000, and Wiltord silenced the Italians
Would you speak of this European Championship as the pinnacle of your generation?
Each at his post excelled. Lilian (
Editor's note: Thuram
) was a monster behind. In the middle, Didier (
Editor's note Deschamps
), for his last campaign in Blue, perfectly commanded the team. Zizou was in charge. He knew how to stay in his role of playmaker without adding more. With less nervousness than during the 1998 World Cup. He understood that we were all behind him so that he could make this difference to us. Compared to the current generation, we were perhaps a level below in terms of talent. But each of us was at the top in our respective clubs. This is the main difference with the situation today, where some have encountered difficulties in recent months. They will be keen to restore their image through selection.
PODCAST.
The summers of the Blues: 2000, the height of French football
Does the France team seem able to imitate you by winning the Euro after the World Cup?
It has already been done by France or Spain.
She has the potential to achieve this.
The players are aware of their strengths.
I am very optimistic.
I imagine the Blues going to the end.
Nothing, in any case, leads me to think otherwise.
Is it more complicated to win a European Championship than a World Cup?
Without doubt, yes, even if in terms of the stress generated, the World Cup remains unparalleled.
In 2000, we inherited a complicated group, with the Netherlands and the Czech Republic in particular.
France is also not better off this year with Germany and Portugal.
To know the coach well, were you surprised by the return of Karim Benzema?
I had spoken with Didier a little earlier.
He hadn't told me about it.
Everything is analyzed according to the moment.
Before 2016, Karim's career with the selection had not had a very big impact.
A decision was made in 2016 about her after the affair with Valbuena.
In his philosophy of play, Didier then identified another system in 4-2-3-1 with Giroud leading the Euro, then in 2018 at the World Cup.
It worked well.
Footballistically speaking, you can't say anything.
In 2021, Benzema had once again become essential to the Blues?
He did the right thing, working hard for Real. Well done to him. After the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, he asserted himself as Madrid's attacking leader. The evidence brought him back to selection. In need of playing time at Chelsea, Giroud was a tone below. You know, Didier is an intelligent, pragmatic and surgical person. In order to make his team even stronger, to have that little extra, he needed a very efficient central striker. Kylian has this ability to operate in this register as well, but not permanently because we also need his liveliness on the sides. The coach could no longer keep the Karim option aside. He is also driven by the pleasure of being back in selection. It is magic. You're going to have a 150% Benzema. He has a revenge. We gave him his chance.He cannot afford to disappoint.
Marcel Desailly and his teammates won the title of European champion in 2000. LP / Guy Gios / Olivier Lejeune
How should Didier Deschamps manage the abundance of offensive talent?
Mbappé, Griezmann and Benzema are hungry.
At Real, the latter showed great tactical intelligence.
With him, everything is fluid.
He knows how to adapt to his teammates, to seek the most effective movement in relation to his partners.
When Kylian goes to transplant, for example, in the axis, Karim will know how to shift to the right or to the left to give him space to express himself.
Read also List of 26 for the Euro: the return of Benzema, the promise of a dream attack
You have rubbed shoulders with young prodigies in your career.
Where do you locate Mbappé?
It has it all and is already one of the best in the world. If there is one small thing I can blame him for, it is still being too playful. It's nice to see a young player of his level liking the ball so much, making dribbles, having fun on a field and having such a desire to participate in the game. But that slows down his progress a bit. It will come with time. He must first agree to take a little less pleasure in order to become even more of a killer. All the great forwards that I have played with or been an opponent with, from Zola to Bergkamp, Papin or Baggio, via Van Nistelrooy, Weah and Van Basten, were killers in front of goal. They constantly sought to hurt, not hesitating to sacrifice everything to strive for maximum efficiency. Kylian is already exceptional,it must now become, magic. Unique and unparalleled.
Some observers compare the Varane-Kimpembe pair to the one you once formed with Laurent Blanc.
Do you share this analysis?
I find in them a beautiful complementarity a little comparable to ours.
Varane will want to show his ability to be the leader, the defensive pillar.
He will want to prove that his ups and downs with Real this season, in the absence of Sergio Ramos, only reflected the reality of the moment.
How do you judge the progress of the Parisian defender?
He still has to digest the pressure of the high level.
He does not have the experience of a big international competition.
In 2018, he was a substitute and only took part in the third game of the first round.
He has a very big room for improvement.
It is enough to observe him to realize that he still has a stress in his concentration.
He said to himself in his head:
They are looking at me, I have yet to prove
.
It continues, thus, on the ground to be applied, but it is not yet released.
He must break that and say to himself
I am already a great, indisputable holder at PSG
.
When he succeeds, he will take another dimension, bringing offensively by his climbs, his balls in the meantime.
In the management of Didier Deschamps, do you find the legacy of Aimé Jacquet?
Didier was certainly influenced in his early days. Afterwards, he accomplished himself while taking into account Aimé's career in the France team. In 1996, after our elimination in the semi-finals of the Euro, he kept telling us:
I understood where I made mistakes
. He was able to rectify them in 1998. Didier knew how to take the best of Aimé to develop, in particular, his philosophy and his ability to manage a group.