Why Dimitri Payet is unlikely to be celebrating a call-up for France’s Euro 2016 squad

Dimitri Payet was at it again on Sunday, scoring two fantastic goals for West Ham as they beat Blackburn to win 5-1 at Ewood Park and reach the FA Cup quarter-final. Payet’s goals summed up his season so far: the first a curling free-kick and the second a dribble from inside his own half culminating in a shot that flew into the corner of the net. Most players wouldn't even have taken that on, but Payet is at the peak of his form; his confidence is high and he has no fear.

Last week West Ham tied him down to a new contract – no doubt protecting themselves in case a big club comes in for him over the summer – and he is likely to be in the running for end of season Player of the Year awards in England. His coach at West Ham, Slaven Bilic, said yesterday: “I have to get poetry lessons to describe his importance to us.” But not everyone is won over.

On Sunday night, France coach Didier Deschamps was on Canal Plus show Canal Football Club, where he was asked about the winger’s form. “There is no problem with Payet, he is playing well for his club,” said Deschamps. “But he does not play as a number ten at West Ham, he plays in a 4-3-3 where he is often on the left. He has some good numbers but on the left, I have competition too; they are called Griezmann, Martial, Valbuena or even Ben Arfa, Coman and Fekir. Dimitri is not out of favour... For France, he has not played the same as for his club. I have no problem with his attitude. It is a choice about football based on the other competition.”

Deschamps has been using the last two years of friendly matches to work out the best formation and group dynamic for his team before France hosts the Euros this summer. “I wouldn’t have changed the team so much if this was during a qualifying campaign,” he told the FA match programme before the England friendly last October. “But I need to have as much background [information] when I will name my list in May. I want to keep that list open. All I care about is the potential of a player. If I see someone who is gifted for international level, I will take my time with him. I can’t fix a definitive line-up. You can have injuries, ups and downs…”

How has it come to this? That a player like Ben Arfa, talented yes but also tainted by a succession of fall-outs with coaches at club and international level – among them Deschamps, who banned him from the training-ground when they were at Marseille together – is in the reckoning above a player with nine goals, eight assists and, crucially, no temperament issues, in 24 appearances this season?

The “non-issue” goes back to last August, when Payet was not selected for the friendlies against Portugal and Serbia. “For me, it’s not complicated,” Payet told Telefoot at the time. “The coach has made choices, we must respect them. If he calls me, I think we will discuss it together so that I do as well as possible. I've missed a World Cup, I know what it’s like. The Euros is in a corner of my head but there is no spirit of revenge. I am relaxed.”

Payet was unfortunate in that he played in France’s summer defeats to Belgium (3-4) and Albania (0-1). “I expect more of him and I told him this is not a punishment,” Deschamps said after the August squad was announced. “I will continue to follow him with the staff... I made a choice for these two games.”

Payet was not happy and went on Canal Plus in October to have his say. “He spoke to me the last two times that the squad assembled, that he wanted more from me, in the way I played for the national team.” The playmaker was asked if it is harder for some players to be picked rather than others. “Yes, for sure,” he replied. “Honestly, I am struggling to understand what he is really asking of me. For me, it has been maybe a year now that I have been giving my all and I am probably in the best form of my career. I don't know what more he wants. Of course, I can always do better, but on the overall idea, I struggle to understand it.”

His comments caused a storm and four days later, Deschamps was responding via RMC Radio. “Players can say what they want,” he said. “I will not answer them through the media. In training, I have spoken to him and told him what I expect of him on the pitch… He has the right not to understand.”

Deschamps is not a coach to be messed with and he would not have appreciated the public back-and-forth on this issue. He knows better than most what it takes to win a major tournament and, as captain of France’s 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 victories, has always spoken about the importance of getting the balance right in the squad. This is not just from a playing point of view; he will probably know his first-choice XI already, and have six or seven replacements in mind as well. The other squad members, though, need to be those who can understand that they might not play but need to be there to help their team-mates.

This was something Samir Nasri failed to handle in Euro 2012: he was incapable of cheering on his team-mates when he was on the bench and there are fears that Payet’s reaction would be similar. “I like having characters but it’s about having the right balance in the squad,” Deschamps repeated on Sunday night.

There is a similar debate going on with Aymeric Laporte, the Basque defender at Athletic Bilbao, who complained recently that he never makes the pre-selection squad for the France team. “He’s captain of the Under-21s so what more proof does he want that we are following him?” countered the coach.

The better response would be to follow the example of Yohan Cabaye, who has lost his place in the France side to the excellent Lassana Diarra this season but keeps his head and does not complain to the press. Call it maturity if you like, but he knows how these things work.

France’s recent tournament history has been peppered with controversy and it’s no coincidence that their best results have come when the squad is harmonious. One of Deschamps’s highlights from the World Cup in Brazil is how well the squad got on. He wants to keep that spirit and risking a squad place on someone who may rock the boat is simply not worth it. It’s also why N’Golo Kante, so impressive for Leicester this season, has very little chance of making it into the Euros squad this summer – Deschamps is not the type to take a chance on someone he doesn't know very well.

Deschamps was right to talk up the competition for places too. His first-choice front six is likely to be the midfield trio of Matuidi-Diarra-Pogba behind Valbuena-Benzema-Griezmann. Martial and Kingsley Coman offer extra pace in wide positions while Giroud is back-up centre-forward, and Lyon’s number ten Nabil Fekir is returning from injury this month.

The key line from Deschamps’s comments is perhaps this one: “For France, he has not played the same as for his club.” Payet has made 14 appearances under Deschamps and has not yet made a decisive impression. As one French commentator (a little harshly) put it: “Scoring two goals against a bottom-half Championship side is not the same as playing against Germany or Belgium at the Euros.”

Even if his form continues, the chances of Payet being in the France squad this summer look very slim.