France unleashed: reinvention could earn Deschamps all-time great status | Nick Ames

The brief

It was a night when, as Didier Deschamps put it, the light went out by half-time. A remodelled France side had been comfortably beaten by Italy in their Nations League opener and a Parisian crowd made their feelings perfectly clear upon the conclusion. Three days later Les Bleus’ roadshow moved to Lyon for a meeting with Belgium, where the head coach’s name was booed before kick-off. Deschamps attributed that to provincial enmities but there was the clear sense of a once glorious tenure outlasting its welcome. Almost two years on, Deschamps stands on the verge of genuine greatness. How can the assessment be any other way when, should the next…