For me, the goal is to make the most of each player, play them in the position they feel best in. And then repeat, repeat, repeat.
— Didier Deschamps
In football, you don't hold on to the ball just to hold on to the ball. When you have it you need to be dangerous, create opportunities and score goals. And when you don't, you make sure the opposition doesn't.
He might not be very tall, but he's very useful. Kante wins balls, has great transition play, can be found everywhere, and always has solutions.
Continuity is very important for national teams.
While there is life, there is hope.
That's what international football is all about - be able to bounce after a bad performance.
We can always play better.
There are a lot of things you can practise to unsettle teams that defend deep.
Football is my passion.
Players like me, we did something of a thankless job. You don't show a hard tackle or stripping someone of possession in slow motion on the big screen. But if you add it all up, I was always the one that the coaches wrote down automatically on the lineup card.
When you go to a club abroad and play against one from your own country, you are part of the enemy.
You can't wake up one morning and say, 'Right, now I'm going to be a leader.' I think it is something that's in you, that you're born with, and which develops. Some people have that character, that personality and it comes naturally. You can't force it. It has to be authentic and natural. Innate.
The biggest victories can lead to the greatest foolishness.
There is no worse situation to enter competition than losing the home opener.
What interests me principally are points.
Open all the debates that you want, but I think that the players that I select, and in whom I have total confidence, deserve a minimum amount of respect.
One of the main tasks of a manager is psychology.
It's hard to evolve when you only have fifteen days or three weeks to practice and correct and change tactics.
We can't really look back and see what is in the rear-view mirror. This is not how you are going to move forward.
Sport represents a union of diversity.
It is up to the players and their advisers to see what is best for the player.
Those friendly games are not pointless. They enable us to go forward.
You can always criticise people, the players are aware we can improve in a number of areas.
All are welcome in sport.
My past as a player is strongly linked to the red, white and blue France shirt.
When there are hard times, the trend is to question yourself and to dig deep but when things go well you shouldn't relax and think things come easy or you need to put in less effort.
I've always hated to lose and I continue to hate it. But I've been obliged to accept it because I also have had some crushing defeats.
It's not just about the words you use, but the way you use them, and the message that puts over. Also your face too and the way you project your message. If you're telling the group to stay calm, be good, and you have beads of sweat dripping down your forehead, you're in trouble.
I don't think you just become a leader.
We arrived at the 2002 World Cup with two titles, very calm, well organised, maybe missing a bit of concentration. But the only truth is on the pitch. The dangers are there.
There is no better lawyer than Cristiano Ronaldo.
Creativity is making a good pass at the right time... but it can also come from deeper, there should always be a balance.
Either a player accepts competition or they say they absolutely need to play. For a player to have an open door, I have to have, at the same position, an element that is just as good or even better.
Nobody knows what will happen in the future.
At the highest level, if you don't have a solid defensive base, you can't get by. In one match, yes. But over a whole competition? No.
What I can say is that I feel very good as the national team coach. I really enjoy it.
Sport is a way of uniting people.
Each member of the team must feel important - everyone must make my life and choices difficult.
We want to be the best we can.
You have to live in your times.
I am not a very good dancer.
You can't win anything more special than a World Cup.
Look, I was a water carrier, I don't reject my image. I didn't have the pretension to think that I could change a match by myself.
My players need to have the feeling that they've pushed themselves to their limits.
The key thing is knowing how to adapt. Adapting to the group that you have at your disposal; adapting to the place where you're working; adapting to the local environment. This is crucial: adaptability.
People always want the same thing: to carry on winning.
When you make your final list for the World Cup or European Championship you don't take the 23 best players, that is for sure.
To score three goals and not concede any is always interesting for a coach.
In tough times, that's when you see true colours and personality.
You need to have discussions and make sure you guide players towards the collective spirit. It can't be done overnight.
