In a long interview with the media Carré, the vice-president of the French Football Federation (FFF) Jean-Michel Aulas also provided some food for thought on the method of appointing the captain of the French team.
In a perilous exercise of contortions, the tightrope walker Jean-Michel Aulas has kept the core of his thoughts safe, but the things left unsaid, in what they sometimes suggest, are interesting. The former emblematic president of Olympique Lyonnais, in a video interview with the media Carré, was invited to speak about the captaincy of Kylian Mbappé in the France team. A thorny subject for the vice-president of the French Football Federation, who did not hide his embarrassment, knowing that captain Mbappé was absent from the last two gatherings of the France team. “I am not able to decide, I trust Didier,” he smiled, assuming to look for a way out of this impasse.
While taking care to recall to what extent the star striker of the France team is in his eyes a “charming” boy – “every time I need a jersey, he autographs it for me” – Jean -Michel Aulas, however, expressed reservations about the recent behavior of the Bondy prodigy, and in particular his controversial trip to Sweden in October.
Exempted from gathering at the time, due to an injury, according to the official version, Mbappé had treated himself to an expensive getaway abroad while his teammates were playing in the blue jersey. Photographed on site, in Stockholm, when he thought he could move incognito in the Swedish capital, Mbappé tarnished his image. “It’s true that since Kylian is not in the France team, it’s a bit stupid that he is there, in Sweden,” said Aulas.
“Let Didier take the pulse of the group”
The 75-year-old, with his long experience behind the scenes of professional football, advocates a method for appointing the captain. “The story of the captaincy is a story of the coach, but it is the group which has the truth, recommends Jean-Michel Aulas. Didier should take the pulse of the group. It is the group which will give the impetus. Because a captain is a leader of men, if I had to name a captain, I would have been in a bad position, even in Lyon. intended to do, but I always thought that, when there is a small group of five or six players who supervise the whole group a little and give the key to the coach, it is better. On the other hand, he is one of the very best players. at the moment, but the exploits he was able to do are gigantic.”
Mbappé, is this the end of the tunnel? Vincent fixes the problem – 06/01
Didier Deschamps entrusted the captain's armband to Kylian Mbappé, preferred in March 2023 to the newly retired Antoine Griezmann, after the retirement of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. A choice which divided the followers of the France team, even if Kylian Mbappé could appear legitimate on a sporting level. For the show Clique, Mbappé recently returned to the circumstances of his appointment as new captain of the Blues. “He (Didier Deschamps) said to me: 'How would it feel to be captain of the France team?' It wouldn't change my life. It would be an honor. You give it to me, I'm super happy, you don't give it to me, I wouldn't have returned anything if he didn't give it to me. hadn't given. In the French team, it's the only place where I've always forgiven everything.”
