A fresh backroom team, miles from business as usual
Zinedine Zidane has made his call. France’s new boss has left out several long-serving members of Didier Deschamps’ backroom team, despite them asking the French Football Federation to keep them on. The story was reported on Thursday by L’Equipe and picked up by Foot Mercato.
Zidane has chosen to build his own setup. He is leaning on trusted allies who have followed him throughout his coaching career, as well as a few new faces he picked himself. It makes sense for a manager who has always preferred people he knows and trusts rather than inheriting someone else’s machine.
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A clean break from the Deschamps years
Didier Deschamps was in charge of Les Bleus for more than a decade, winning the 2018 World Cup and reaching two other major finals with a staff that barely changed for years. That core gave France a rare sense of continuity in international football. By refusing to carry it over, Zidane is making a proper statement, not just tinkering with the setup.
The decision comes just days before a big night. France face Turkey in Bursa on Friday in the Nations League, with Zidane taking charge for his first official match on the touchline. He clearly wants to stamp his authority on the job from day one, without the comfort blanket of the old coaching group.
Zidane arrives with a serious track record in the dugout. A three-time European champion with Real Madrid between 2016 and 2018, he knows how to handle a dressing room full of stars, which suits this France squad perfectly. The question now is whether cutting ties with the old staff, rather than blending the new with the familiar as many incoming coaches do, will pay off over time.
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