Only one manager has ever won the World Cup twice. His name? Vittorio Pozzo. Don’t worry, you’re not expected to know the answer to that little piece of trivia. Seeing as he led Italy to global glory in 1934 and 1938, he’s just a little bit before our time for the majority.
Yet Il Vecchio Maestro (The Old Master) could soon find himself sharing this unique piece of history as France continue to chase down back-to-back World Cup wins.
In Didier Deschamps, Les Bleus already possess one of only three men to win the World Cup as both a player and as a manager in their hotseat. Captain when France won the tournament for the first time back in 1998, he oversaw their second World Cup win in Russia in 2018 - having been appointed national team manager in 2012.
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He’d have won the European Champions as both a player and manager too, if not for a final defeat to Portugal at Euro 2016. For those of you scratching your heads wondering the identity of the other two, look no further than Brazil’s Mario Zagallo and Germany's Franz Beckenbauer.
Meanwhile, Deschamps could also become only the third man to possess three World Cup winners’ medals, following in the footsteps of the legendary Pele, who won the tournament three times as a player with Brazil in 1958, 1962 and 1970 and Zagallo.
A member of Brazil’s playing squads in 1958 and 1962 alongside Pele, he had taken over as manager when they won the World Cup again in 1970. He’d also get his hands on the trophy for a fourth time in 1994 when serving as assistant manager to Carlos Alberto Parreira, so Deschamps has plenty of work still to do if he wants to topple that record!
Anyway, with France through to this year’s semi-finals after beating England over the weekend, only Morocco stand in the way of Deschamps leading his homeland to back-to-back finals at the very least. Then there is the small matter of Argentina and Lionel Messi.
Yet two years before he took over as France boss, long before that 2018 World Cup win, he was actually in the running to become manager of Liverpool.
It has clearly been some managerial career to date for the former Chelsea midfielder, and not just because of that World Cup win. His first managerial role came with Monaco in 2001, not long after his retirement as a player at the age of 32.
In charge of the Ligue 1 side for five seasons, he led them to a Coupe de la Ligue cup win in 2002/03 and a Champions League final loss to FC Porto in 2003/04.
Resigning in September 2005, he'd take over at Juventus the following July, replacing Fabio Capello following the Old Lady's relegation to Serie B in the wake of the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal. And while they would start the season on minus nine points as a result, the Frenchman still oversaw Juve’s immediate return to Serie A as they won the title by six points, before leaving Turin after just one season in charge.
Deschamps was back in management two years later as he returned to former club Marseille in July 2009. And his first season with the club was most memorable as he led them to a Ligue 1 and Cope de la Ligue double, made all the more impressive by the fact that they hadn’t won the league since 1991/92, and haven’t again to this day for that matter, while they had also never previously won the cup competition.
Further Coupe de la Ligue wins would follow in both 2010/11 and 2011/12, before he resigned a week before taking over at France. Yet our story takes place in the summer of 2010 at the end of Deschamps’ first season with Marseille and after Rafa Benitez had been dismissed by Liverpool. Former owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett had tried to replace the Spaniard, whose relationship with club bosses was very much broken, with a World Cup winner before, having held talks with Jurgen Klinsmann two years earlier only to face fierce backlash. This time though, things were rather different.
The Reds had endured a miserable 2009/10 season, in complete contrast to the Ligue 1 side, as they finished seventh in the Premier League, exited the Champions League at the group-stages, lost in the Europa League semi-finals and exited both domestic cup competitions early on. Throw in the club’s worsening plight under Hicks and Gillett, who were ultimately steering Liverpool towards financial ruin at the time, and Anfield was not a happy place to be.
Marseille president Jean-Claude Dassier would confirm in June 2010 that the Reds had approached the Ligue 1 side, seeking permission to speak to Deschamps as they searched for a replacement for Benitez despite their financial constraints.
“It's true, Liverpool's executive director, Christian Purslow, called me Thursday morning,” he told L'Equipe. “He speaks French very well, is very polite.
“I was expecting his call because I had heard of Liverpool's interest in Didier. He asked me if I would allow him to meet Didier and (agent) Jean-Pierre Bernes.
“I replied that I would never forbid anyone from meeting whoever. I also kindly indicated to him that there wasn't the slightest chance for him to pinch our coach. Even in his dreams.
“With Didier, we have a trusting relationship. I hope he will commit himself to us for another year. I’m not worried. It’s true also that Didier is flattered to see a great European club interested in him.”
He would reportedly meet with Liverpool, despite Marseille’s confidence that he would stay put. The Daily Mail reported that the Frenchman met Reds bosses on June 23, 2010 and that Purslow was impressed by his presentation. The club were also said to like the fact he came with ‘youthful exuberance’. However, they opted to appoint Roy Hodgson instead, with his appointment confirmed on July 1, having had doubts about Deschamps’ lack of experience of managing in England.
Yet the former Fulham boss would only six months in the job before being sacked by new owners FSG, who had bought the club in October 2010, with club legend Kenny Dalglish appointed as caretaker manager in his place. While the Scot would be handed the job permanently, Liverpool would later opt for ‘youthful exuberance’ when conducting their next managerial search and appointing Brendan Rodgers in 2012.
While such a report suggests it was the Reds who did the rejecting, Deschamps, who had been the bookmakers’ favourite to become the next Liverpool manager at one point, would later hint he had declined their offers.
"We have held [contract] discussions. I am happy at Marseille. I am not there for just one year,” he said at the end of June. “A coach must be there for the long haul, and that is my wish.''
Meanwhile, he insisted that he had no regrets about not replacing Benitez at Liverpool when speaking to L’Equipe later that summer..
“Liverpool? I do not regret,” he said. “The emotional aspect is very important in relation to Marseille. I preferred to prolong here rather than start again somewhere else. I am convinced that we can do better here than last year.”
Deschamps would also be asked about Liverpool’s advances at a pre-match press conference ahead of taking his Marseille side to Chelsea in the Champions League, where he revealed he had been put off by the timing of the approach.
"Yes, it's true," Deschamps said, when asked whether he had been offered the chance to manage Liverpool after Benitez's departure, "And I was very proud that a club like Liverpool were interested in me.
“But, to be fair, the timing was not good. I was engaged with Marseille, the players and the fans, and I could not leave them two days before the restart [of pre‑season]. I was extremely pleased and happy [with Liverpool's approach] but I decided to stay and continue my adventure with Marseille."
Deschamps was asked whether he had received a "concrete" offer from Liverpool. "But what is a concrete offer?" he replied. It was put to him that it was something definite, rather than mere fleeting talks. "We had a long discussion, yes."
Whether Hodgson was Liverpool’s first-choice option ahead of Deschamps or they turned to him after a rejection from the Frenchman, only club bosses at the time will know for sure. And either way, there are no guarantees that he would have succeeded at Anfield, even if he had lasted longer than the future England manager.
Regardless, the Reds were at one point interested in hiring their World Cup winner as their new manager 12 years ago. And with hindsight, it eventually worked out for the best for both Deschamps and Liverpool, that he did not take over at Anfield.
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