Kylian Mbappé having preferred to visit restaurants and nightclubs in Sweden during the international break rather than representing the France team, Didier Deschamps relied a lot on the PSG attackers against Israel and Belgium.
The October international break is over for the four French players of PSG with still some hungry playing time for Warren Zaire-Emeryentered for a few seconds against Israel last Thursday during the first match and remained on the bench against Belgium on Monday evening (Deschamps preferred to bring in Youssouf Fofana following the expulsion of Aurélien Tchouaméni).
If the youngest player in Didier Deschamps’ squad did not take advantage of the absences of N’Golo Kanté (injured), Antoine Griezmann (retirement) or even Manu Koné (suspended against Israel but started against Belgium) to scratch some minutes, the three Parisian attackers Bradley StaggerRandal First Class and Ousmane Dembele’s have been widely used in recent days in the absence of Kylian Mbappé.
Kolo Muani took full advantage of Mbappé’s absence
With 90 minutes played against Israel and Belgium, for two goals and an assist, Kolo Muani is the one who benefited the most from the absence of the captain of the Blues during this international break, as well as from the poor form of Marcus Thuram, hit an ankle. Little used at PSG since the start of the season, Kolo Muani has had plenty of minutes and confidence and will not complain about having played so much.
The presence of Kolo Muani in the center during this October break, and not on the right wing where Deschamps has often used him in the past, also had the consequence of pushing Didier Deschamps to start Ousmane Dembélé against Israel and Belgium, with two disappointing performances and without any decisive action for the Parisian winger, who would undoubtedly not have played the two matches if Mbappé had been there. During the last breaks, he generally played a match as a starter, coming in or remaining on the bench for the second. This time, Mbappé’s absence doubled his playing time.
But in the selection, Kylian Mbappé still often plays on the left, like against Spain in the semi-final during the last Euro. In his absence, it was Christopher Nkunku who started on the left wing against Israel, with his first goal for the selection, before sliding into the center when Bradley Stagger replaced Michael Olise in the 70th minute. The Parisian winger came into play on the left and scored his second national goal before starting against Belgium on the same left wing Monday evening, with a good first period and a penalty caused. He was replaced in the 74th minute by Nkunku against the Belgians.
PSG attackers played 50% more minutes in Blue in October
In total, the three PSG attackers played 443 minutes with the Blues during this October break: 94 minutes for Barcola, 180 minutes for Kolo Muani and 169 minutes for Dembélé. This is 151 minutes more than in September when the trio only played 292 minutes: 113 minutes for Barcola, 67 minutes for Kolo Muani and 112 minutes for Dembélé. The absence of Mbappé therefore had a real impact on their playing time and fortunately, none were injured.
For Kolo Muani, this French team break will have been beneficial and he has undoubtedly taken a lead over Marcus Thuram to be the alternative to Kylian Mbappé at the forefront. Ousmane Dembélé has not particularly scored points, but does not really have any competition on the right while Bradley Barcola is slowly but surely starting to establish himself on the left wing of the Blues. A wing where Mbappé will perhaps still have a say in the future, provided he is present at the rallies.
Related News :