Claudio Marchisio reveals what it was like working with Didier Deschamps at Juventus and how the France coach reacted to his first red card. ‘He’s a nice guy, but if he gets angry…’
Deschamps has already won the World Cup for France in 2018 and is hoping to follow it up today against Argentina.
It was not that long ago that he sat on the Juventus bench in Serie B, as the club was demoted following the Calciopoli scandal of 2006.
In those circumstances, Deschamps helped launch some youth team players, including Marchisio.
“It was wonderful to be coached now only by someone who had already taken Monaco to the Champions League Final, but also a champion who I watched from the stands playing for Juventus,” Marchisio told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“He put his faith in me, gave me my debut in the Coppa Italia and in Serie B.”
There was a moment when Marchisio feared the worst from his boss after a red card against Napoli.
“I had never been sent off at youth level, it was a really unfair decision and I was stunned. I was so sad to leave the team down to 10 men in that match, so when we went back into training, I expected a telling off from the coach.
“Deschamps greeted me with a really grim face. He’s a nice guy, but if he gets angry… He told me I should be more careful.
“I turned around, shamed, and then heard him laughing. He looked at me and said: ‘Don’t worry, just keep playing in your way.’”
no doubt we be in serie b very shortly