Deschamps urged to unleash young guns in French revolution

Manager goes into game tonight under pressure to throw his new wave of talent into action

The French political landscape, as Prime Minister Theresa May will find when she visits President Emmanuel Macron, may be on a far more stable footing than England’s, but Les Bleus are ready for their latest revolution.

May will meet Macron, who is on course for the kind of majority she envisaged when she called last week’s general election, before the pair take their seats inside the Stade de France for tonight’s friendly.

While May attempts to fight off a political revolution of sorts in her own country, France manager Didier Deschamps is coming under increasing pressure to carry out a football shake-up of his own. Just as England’s young voters want change, so do French football fans, who are invigorated by youth.

At the head of the new wave of France youngsters ready to usurp the established order who fell at the final hurdle of Euro 2016 is Kylian Mbappé – the most wanted teenager on the planet. Other than Mbappé, Deschamps can also call on 20-year-old Ousmane Dembélé, so highly rated at Borussia Dortmund, and 21-year-old Thomas Lemar, another product of Monaco’s exhilarating Ligue 1 title-winning team. Midfielder Adrien Rabiot has played more than 150 games for Paris St-germain and is still only 22, while Lyon’s Corentin Tolisso, also 22, has been coveted by Bayern Munich and 21-year-old Presnel Kimpembe is expected to become a regular starter in the centre of the PSG defence next season.

“With all young players, the more they play, the more they learn,” said Deschamps. “All beginners need as much time as possible to prove themselves.”

Excitement over England’s Under-20 World Cup success is tempered by the fear that not enough of Paul Simpson’s squad will be afforded opportunities by their Premier League clubs.

Dominic Solanke, who was voted the tournament’s best player, is moving to Liverpool after failing to make a single appearance for Chelsea last season. Gareth Southgate, the head coach, believes another two Chelsea starlets, Nathaniel Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-cheek, should be around his England senior squad by now, but too few chances at Stamford Bridge mean they are yet to step up, and central midfield options remain thin on the ground.

“England won the Under-20 World Cup and also won the Toulon tournament, so it is clear they know how to train their young players, because of the results,” said Deschamps.

France won the 2013 Under-20 World Cup with a squad that included Paul Pogba, Kurt Zouma, Samuel Umtiti and Lucas Digne, and they won last year’s Under-19 European Championship with Mbappé playing up front.

Deschamps said: “French football has always had a good reputation for training the youth, but this depends on the championship we have here, which is more open to younger players without experience, and there are also many differences in the financial means. It is not always good for us to see French players leaving for the Premier League as there is more money over there.”

Deschamps, though, did not go as far as warning his young stars off moving to England. “It’s obviously better for them to play as many games as possible, but look at Olivier Giroud, he did not play a lot for Arsenal, but when he did he was very efficient,” said Deschamps. “Then when he came to French selection he was maybe fresher than other players.

“This game time is not an exact science. If one player doesn’t play for three weeks he may lose rhythm, but sometimes it works well. What is important for me is that they come to the national team with trust, and they need to be efficient on the pitch.”

One of the older generation of current French players who will be given another chance against England is 30-year-old Hugo Lloris, who gifted Sweden their late winner in Friday’s World Cup qualifier. Asked whether the Tottenham goalkeeper would play, Deschamps said: “He shared the same opinion as I did. We wanted him to go back on the pitch and give it his best shot.”

With Lloris potentially captaining a team full of youth, the future feels like it is about to arrive for France. Vive la révolution.