As the French national team prepares for a clash with the Netherlands in Euro qualification and an international friendly against Scotland, a wave of injuries has seen some chopping and changing in the defensive spots for Didier Deschamps. First it was William Saliba who withdrew, replaced by OGC Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo. Then, Barcelona’s Jules Koundé pulled out to be replaced by Chelsea’s Axel Disasi.

The latter’s spot with Les Bleus only lasted several hours before injury forced the former Monaco man to withdraw and Leipzig’s ex-Lyon stopper Castello Lukeba to take his place. Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano then had to withdraw, as former Lyonnais product and current Chelsea man Malo Gusto came to replace him at Clairefontaine.

How did Deschamps manage to deal with such a killer list of defensive injuries? According to Transfermarkt, 12 out of the 50 highest market-valued defenders are French, with the 10 most expensive combined market value reaching 468 million euros. With the exception of Dayot Upamecano, all of the central defenders called up by Didier Deschamps have made senior appearances in Ligue 1 Uber Eats. From the academies of Bordeaux to Saint-Étienne, via Olympique Lyonnais and OGC Nice, the breadth and depth of talented French defenders is remarkable - but not a coincidence. It has been the product of some careful planning by the French Football Federation.

What is ‘La méthode Française’ with central defenders?

In an interview with L’Équipe, national technical director Hubert Fournier revealed the process behind the development of French centre-backs in youth academies, belonging to both Ligue 1 Uber Eats and Ligue 2 BKT clubs. "For the last five years we’ve been putting in place specialised coaches for the position in training academies. This allows us to have defenders who are more technically advanced, but above all are more tactically mature," said Fournier, adding ‘Defenders have often in the past been overlooked in the player development process. They are valued more by our coaches."

"After all, I have three options in each defensive position," boasted France boss Didier Deschamps in his press conference earlier this week. There is now such a density of talent in the central defensive positions, that nations such as Spain are naturalising unpicked players. This was the case with Aymeric Laporte and former Brest player Robin Le Normand, now with Real Sociedad.

Didier Deschamps wants France to develop better full-backs 

If centre-backs are in abundance for Deschamps, it is at full-back where the former defensive midfielder is calling for improvement. 'Players used to develop as full-backs, unfortunately, there aren’t many of them, and when I speak to Thierry Henry, they aren’t easy to find. It’s an area for improvement in [our] development,' said the France manager this week.

Deschamps has often called up centre-backs that are capable of playing right-back, as has been the case with Jules Koundé and Benjamin Pavard on the right side with Axel Disasi. All three players are natural centre-backs with their club side, whilst this is also the case with Théo and Lucas Hernandez who feature regularly at left-back. Marseille’s Jonathan Clauss is perhaps the model of full-back that Deschamps is looking for, having recalled the former Lens man for France’s upcoming matches.

Les Bleus face the Netherlands in Euro 2024 qualifying in Amsterdam before heading to Lille’s Decathlon Arena – Stade Pierre Mauroy to face Scotland in an international friendly. The ninth match day of Ligue 1 Uber Eats will resume on the weekend of 20th October.

>>Jean-Clair Todibo: "I know what I have at Nice. Why step into the unknown?"