“It already started two or three years ago”: What is going on with the French Women’s National Team?
Sandrine Soubeyrand, Gérard Prêcheur, Éric Blahic, Hervé Renard, and Sonia Bompastor. These are the names being brought up regarding the position as the next French Women’s national coach.
After Corinne Diacre was fired on March 9th because of ongoing accusations and amid the departure of key players captain Wendie Renard, Kaditiatou Diani, and Marie-Antoinette Katoto, the French association is looking for possible replacements.
Diacre had been coaching the French team since 2017 with more allegations surfacing against her and her coaching style over the years.
With the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup only a little more than four months away, the next steps are critical at the French camp.
Division 1 Féminine player Katriina Talaslahti gives her opinion on the current situation. The Finnish FC Fleury 91 goalkeeper has been playing in the first French division for four years. During this time, she has played together with Renard at Lyon, trained under Sonia Bompastor for a short time, and has gotten a broad overview of French football.
“Everybody is talking about this”, Talaslahti describes the current atmosphere in the French league. Her team had just lost against Lyon with Bompastor and Renard on Friday. The defender has a great standing in both her club and the national team. Therefore, her retirement and the reasons for it shook up everyone in women’s football around the world.
“Wendie has been the captain for many years. She is a very powerful woman”, the Fleury goalkeeper explains. “It’s a huge thing for women’s football. I really think it made a huge difference that she did that.”
“I can no longer support the current system”, Renard said in a statement shared via social media last week. “Unfortunately, I will not participate in a World Cup under these conditions. My face can hide the pain, but my heart is hurting. I do not want to be in pain any longer.”
After this statement, Kaditiatou Diani and Marie-Antoinette Katoto – both players for Paris Saint-Germain – followed Renard with their announcements to step back from international duty. This ultimately led to the French Football Association dismissing Diacre who had had previously made clear her intention to remain in the coaching position.
The potential of the French Women’s team has been at an all-time high with multiple top-class players in the squad for some years now. However, they have not achieved any major accomplishment during the last tournaments.
“I think the problem is the staff. They wanted to keep everything as it was and didn’t want to adapt to a more modern approach”, Talaslahti thinks. “It already started two or three years ago with the problems in the French national team. For example, France international goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi retired early from the national team because of the coach.”
Now the French federation is searching for a new coach – to approach the difficult task of bringing the players back together with only a short time left to the World Cup in July and August.
The problem with some of the managers that would be a good fit is that they are currently in the middle of coaching a club. Sonia Bompastor (Lyon), Sandrine Soubeyrand (Paris FC), and Gérard Prêcheur (PSG) are all managing Division 1 Féminine clubs. On top of that, Bompastor and Prêcheur are still in the run for the UEFA Women’s Champions League title. Leaving their clubs at this critical time would be a big blow the teams.
Sonia Bompastor (currently at Olympique Lyon)
If we are talking experience in the world of French women’s football, Sonia Bompastor would be the first choice. With the victory of the UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) in 2022 with Lyon, the 42-year-old became the first woman that won the trophy as a player and manager. On top of that, Lyon reclaimed the league title in 2021/22 after losing it to PSG in the year before.
This leads to Lyon’s mission for the current season to defend both titles. The team is on a good way as they are occupying first place in the league and have made it to the UWCL quarterfinals facing Chelsea on March 22nd in the first leg.
“I just feel like she has too good of a relationship with the players,” Talaslahti thinks. “Sonia Bompastor has played for Lyon before her coaching career, many players still know her as a teammate. Therefore, it’s difficult to separate the private and professional aspects.”
On the other hand, the Fleury goalkeeper is sure that this would be a reason for Wendie Renard to make her return to the national team as they are currently working together at Lyon. Changing Renard’s opinion about retiring from the national team would mean a lot to the team as she is one of the key players – not only as a captain but also as one of the best defenders in the world having made it to the FIFA Women’s World 11 for the 7th consecutive time this year.
Gérard Prêcheur (currently at PSG)
A similar situation as with Bompastor comes up with Gérard Prêcheur, current coach of the PSG women’s team. Even though he managed to win the Coup the France, his team currently only takes up second place in the league behind Lyon.
He also brings a lot of experience to the table and was nominated for The Best FIFA Women’s Coach in 2016 and 2017 when he coached Lyon. He has managed women’s football teams since 2000 when he was responsible for the female France U20.
For the 2018/19 season, Prêcheur managed Jiangsu L.F.C. in China gaining a foothold on international ground. Therefore, the 63-year-old has occupied positions in multiple women’s clubs nationally and internationally making him a good fit for the position as French national coach.
However, same as with Bompastor, Prêcheur’s PSG is still in the run for the UWCL title facing German team VfL Wolfsburg in the next round.
Talaslahti thinks of Prêcheur as a “good choice” for the international coaching position.
The other options include Sandrine Soubeyrand (Paris FC coach), Éric Blahic (former assistant of Diacre), and Hervé Renard (currently coaching the Saudi Arabia men’s national team) with Blahic being among the reported favourites as he had left his position in 2021 because of Diacre’s method of coaching.
Apart from the decision for the coaching position, the biggest question is going to be: Will Diani and Katoto make their return return and will Renard come back as captain of the French national team and lead the association to the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Talaslahti rounds it up: “People listen to her [Renard]. She just wants the French national team to be better. As she is getting older and thinking of retirement she also thinks of her legacy for France. She wants to create a better environment for the younger generation.”
One thing is for sure: This debacle will have a great impact on the future of the French national team. Renard, Diani, and Katoto have proven that protest can lead to a change of direction.
