He is obviously not the only one to have sunk. Apart from Bradley Barcola, the only real satisfaction of the evening, and the newcomer Michael Olise, intermittent distributor of thrills, it seems that the Blues had agreed to miss their return to school on Friday at the Parc des Princes. But one of them of course knew he was more expected than the others. Back for the first time in the enclosure of the Porte de Saint-Cloud, in the uniform of captain of the French team, Kylian Mbappé had a golden opportunity against Italy, an opponent always prestigious but considered to be on the decline, to sweep away the doubts and questions about his form, his state of mind and his positioning.
A failed performance
“It’s special, I spent many years here. I have a lot of memories, it’s the stadium I know best in my career,” he confided this week. “The welcome from the supporters? I don’t expect much, I don’t care, the most important thing is to win.” As a result, there was no victory for his reunion, nor reassuring answers about his personal situation. Swept away 3-1 by a Nazionale who had not won in France for 70 years, the French team was never able to count on its number 10 to put it back on the right track. There was that exciting first quarter of an hour, that desire to attack hard, that obvious complicity with the fiery Barcola, and a handful of successful dribbles.
The rest was a long ordeal, as Daniel Riolo noted in After Foot: “For the first five minutes, I thought we had found Mbappé. He was moving everywhere. But it lasted five minutes…” The public was then treated to the Euro 2024 version of Mbappé. Victim of a broken nose in the first match against Austria, he was unable to find physical sensations worthy of his status, scoring only one goal (on a penalty against Poland in the group stage) and missing out on his semi-final against the Spanish. His defenders then recalled that he had arrived in Germany after a chaotic end to his adventure at PSG, slowed down by various glitches and singularly lacking rhythm due to reduced playing time in Paris.
A positioning problem?
Ancient history according to the main person concerned, now focused on his start to his adventure at Real Madrid. “I think I feel very good, I’m very happy, I play every match, I’m still a starter, it’s really great. I’m where I always wanted to be, there’s only positive in my life. The Euro is behind me, I’ve moved on. It’s a failure, we were sad, but I quickly put that out of my mind. (…) I don’t know what the guys think, I don’t notice anymore, I come, I play, what people think is the least of my worries,” he assured Thursday. Also relieved by his double with Real against Betis Sevilla (2-0), which relieved him of a weight while criticism was starting to target him in Madrid, Mbappé fell back into his old ways against Italy. The questions are still the same about his athletic state as about his best role.
Blocked on the left by Vinicius, he tends to occupy a more axial position in club and this evolution could also occur in the French team. With the international retirement of Olivier Giroud, the difficulties displayed by Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani to impose themselves at the forefront, and the emergence on the left of Barcola, the Mbappé center forward option is becoming more and more important. This is where he was installed on Friday by Didier Deschamps and it is there that he disappointed. “We know that the 9 position is not for him, but since he can no longer play on the left either, I honestly wonder if he will come back. It is an unknown. We have the impression that his future rests in the hands of the Real physical trainer, as if he was going to get him back into shape… Tonight he is missing absolutely everything,” stressed Riolo, not convinced by his communication either. “It’s a build-up. He says in conference that he doesn’t care what people think. Let him know that people, not just journalists, think he’s bad.”
Deschamps not (yet) worried
Same analysis in the After from Kevin Diaz: “He has trouble admitting it to himself because of his ego, but he tries things that are too complicated. Since he played with Neymar, we have the impression that he wants to be like him with very difficult technical moves. But as Thierry Henry says, if you don’t have confidence, do what you know how to do and do it well.” Proof that his problems are not so recent, Mbappé’s last goal in the French team in the game – and not on a penalty – dates back to June 5 and a friendly stroll against Luxembourg (3-0). In an official match, we have to go further with this hat-trick slammed in the Euro qualifiers against Gibraltar (14-0) last November. An eternity for such a player. But not enough to worry Deschamps, officially.
“Kylian has always scored goals, he will score them,” insisted “DD” before the start of the gathering. “All the attacking players have always had a lot of freedom and Kylian needs it. It’s about compensation, balances and the areas being well occupied. Kylian doesn’t have the register of a pivot attacker like some can be. You have to have an association with those who are next to and behind him to be dangerous and efficient.” This is what is expected from the Blues and their leader on Monday against Belgium (8:45 p.m.).
- RMC Sport
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