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After leaving the men’s selection of Saudi Arabia, Hervé Renard should take the reins of the French women’s football team. An unprecedented challenge for this coach who will have the heavy burden of leading Les Bleues to the World Cup this summer and then to the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
It’s now a secret Polichinelle with the formalization of his departure from Saudi Arabia. Hervé Renard will be inducted 9e coach of the history of the Blue. At the head of the French women’s football team, he is preparing to succeed Corinne Deacon, ousted after a revolt by several players, and will have the heavy task of leading his team to a first title.
According to AFP and the Team, the choice of the 54-year-old Southerner will be confirmed on Friday March 31 during an Executive Committee (Comex) of the FFF dedicated in women’s football.
While the names of several prestigious women’s football coaches were buzzing (Gérard Prêcheur, Sonia Bompastor, Sandrine Soubeyrand), the FFF finally made the choice of tinsel, with a charismatic coach although lacking in experience with women’s teams.
“We have the chance to play the World Cup in five months. The following year there will be the Olympic Games in France and perhaps the Women’s Euro again the following year. There is a extraordinary cycle to come and I think we have to be very, very ambitious. So we have to change habits, think outside the box and give ourselves the means to get this World Cup in Australia and New Zealand”, argued Jean-Michel Aulas, member of the Comex to defend the arrival of Hervé Renard, in a recent interview.
Football Globetrotter
As a player, Hervé Renard never really knew the top level. This professional defender even played only one Ligue 1 match (at the time Division 1). When he hung up his crampons, he set up a villa cleaning business on the Côte d’Azur and began coaching the modest amateur club of Draguignan where he ended his career.
It is the meeting with Claude Le Roy that will change his destiny. The legendary “white wizard” offers him to become his deputy in China at Guizhou Renhe. Hervé Renard passed his coaching diplomas, made a detour via Vietnam, then rejoined his mentor when the latter settled in Cambridge in an English D4. In 2008, Claude Le Roy introduced him to Africa : the duo takes Ghana to the third step of the podium at CAN-2008.
It is on this continent that he will carve out his reputation : with Zambia, he writes history. During his first stint (2008-2010), he took them to the quarter-finals. During his second (2011-2013), he allowed the southern African country to win the first CAN in its history. Three years later, he did it again with Côte d’Ivoire at CAN-2015. He qualifies his next selection, Morocco, for the 2018 World Cup.
Still, for the moment, Hervé Renard has never been a prophet in his country. His last two passages in France ended in fishtail : his year in Sochaux (2013-2014) concludes on a relegation and he was sacked after six months in Lille (2015) with a meager record of two victories.
A hard worker and a leader
Gael Mahé, FIFA agent who knew Hervé Renard from the time he was Claude Le Roy’s assistant with Ghana (2007-2008), describes the coach as “a personality that is both radiant and charismatic”. He sees him as “a hard-working technician, who has now become the most emblematic French coach posted abroad“.
Hervé Renard is also an undisputed leader. His latest feat at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar proved it. While his team, Saudi Arabia, trailed 1-0 against Lionel Messi’s Argentina, he led a high-flying half-time talk.
“Guys, what are we doing here ?” That’s the pressing ? The pressing does not mean that you have to play high !”, he reproaches while taking the 100 steps. Faced with the danger Messi and the wait-and-see attitude of his players, he asserts : “Take your phones and take pictures with him if you want !”
After the reproaches sequence, he remobilizes his team : “With the ball, you were good. You saw what you did ? You don’t feel anything ?, he asks them. Back on the pitch, his men are done par overthrow the future world champions, signing the first surprise of the World Cup (2-1).
An experienced assistant to support him
More time is already running out for Hervé Renard: there are only four preparation matches left – against Colombia on April 7, Canada on April 11, Ireland on July 6 and Australia on July 14 – before the start of the competition from the Blues to mWorld Cup on July 23 in Sydney against Jamaica. Hervé Renard will therefore have to get up to speed of a world he knows little about.
The 9e coach of the history of the Blue could be helped for this mission by a staff more experienced than him in women’s football, a valuable asset both in physical preparation and in the study of opponents. ANDric Blahic, a time mentioned to become coach, could play this role. The former assistant of Corinne Deacon, who remains appreciated by several players, has returned insistently to the debates of the last few days.
If he is appointed, Renard’s priority, before the announcement of the list expected at the end of the week for the next two friendly matches, will be to convince the rebels to return to the selection.
Captain Wendie Renard – no relation – and attackers Marie-Antoinette Katoto and Kadidiatou Diani had clearly announced their withdrawal from Les Bleues, conditioning their return on “profound changes” in “management”. He could also choose to recall Lyon striker Eugénie Le Sommer or PSG goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi, long dismissed by Corinne Deacon.
The “worker” has his work cut out for him.