While applause accompanied the exit of the Blues from the field, this Monday evening after their victory against Belgium in the League of Nations (2-0), the evening at the Groupama Stadium had started in a slightly more tense atmosphere. Three days after the slap received against Italy (3-1 defeat), whistles were heard when the composition of the Blues was announced in the Lyon stadium.
Whistles that targeted former homegrown child Bradley Barcola (whose departure for PSG upset OL supporters) or ex-Marseille player Mattéo Guendouzi, but especially coach Didier Deschamps and his captain Kylian Mbappé. And for the latter two, it was not a matter of clubism, according to Daniel Riolo, who was not surprised by this demonstration of defiance.
“The two are linked”
“They embody this lack of love,” the columnist said in After Foot, after the match. “Deschamps embodies the fact that we are bored when we watch the French team, and Mbappé embodies a bit of the disillusionment with this player, his character, everything that has happened over the last year, everything he represents in this football that is going backwards and is no longer popular…”
And Riolo added: “The two are linked. Mbappé has been saving Deschamps’ behind all the time since the 2022 World Cup. Today Mbappé is mediocre, the French team is not good, even if tonight we will have to highlight at least his reaction of pride which is interesting given the context, and there is a Deschamps who finds himself with a team to rebuild.”
Asked about the subject at a press conference, Deschamps more or less dodged the issue, assuring that he had only heard the whistles against Barcola. “I’m not going to point the finger at one club more than another, but that’s the only regret when you’re going to play in the provinces, this type of reaction,” he lamented. Adding with a smile: “As for me, I have no problem with that, even if I knew that for various reasons, I didn’t have a lot of unconditional supporters in Lyon…”
- RMC Sport
