World Cup Daily Podcast: How Didier Deschamps's Tactics Led France to World Cup Glory

With the World Cup over and France being crowned champions, Grant Wahl and Brian Straus discuss Didier Deschamps's tactics throughout the tournament and how he led Les Bleus to the ultimate accomplishment.  
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On this episode of the World Cup Daily Podcast, we discuss a thrilling World Cup final, France's tactics in the game, the way Didier Deschamps marshaled this team throughout the tournament after losing the Euros in 2016 and what teams you should be watching for going forward. 

Tune in for our analysis on the World Cup final, stick around for an interview with Fox's Stuart Holden and be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes to listen to all of our post-World Cup content.

Here's a snippet of the latest episode:

BRIAN STRAUS: One of the themes I put in my column was like, Deschamps put shackles around this team. And he demanded that this team subvert their individual wills and their individual instincts for the collective and they were still good enough to win the World Cup. They were so talented that even with his NASCAR restrictor plates, they were still the fastest cars.

GRANT WAHL:  And they weren't the most entertaining team at this World Cup, I think Belgium was the most entertaining team.

BS: Yeah, we talked about that. I agree with that 100%.

GW: But the most entertaining team is not maybe often or ever the team that wins. I mean how often does that happen?

BS: And if you're Deschamps, maybe you're thinking if we play entertaining soccer, that's when guys start to argue over the ball. That's when guys start to argue over runs. That's when guys start to get in your way and think about themselves and think of their own stats. He forced France to get away from things that have torpedoed them in the past by getting them to play this way. So he decided this was the way to win the World Cup and he won the World Cup. 

Continue listening for the remainder of our conversation in the podcast console above or download and subscribe to the podcast here.


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Grant Wahl and Brian Straus
GRANT WAHL AND BRIAN STRAUS

A leading soccer journalist and best-selling author, Grant Wahl has been with SI since 1996 and has penned more than three dozen cover stories. A lifelong soccer player, coach and fan, Brian Straus joined SI in 2013 after covering the sport for The Washington Post, AOL and Sporting News.