In France, this new absence is still making a lot of talk. “He doesn’t take it because he did it the wrong way last time.”said Daniel Riolo this Thursday evening on RMC. “It’s a punishment, it’s a sanction! He doesn’t say it because he doesn’t want to drive the point home and tear up the relationship a little too much. He told her. Until last night (Wednesday ), at Mbappé, we were sure to come. There was no subject in his entourage.”
Often offensive towards Didier Deschamps, the journalist this time spares the coach. “For now, I find that Deschamps’ decision is good and fair. We may have forgotten it, but last time, Mbappé made him look like an idiot. Deschamps came in front of the microphones to say that Mbappé was a little injured Three days later, he started with Real Madrid and he gave him a degrading story.
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“We don’t understand anything”
Unsurprisingly, the Spanish press is incredulous at this decision by the 98 World Champion. “No one understands anything”estimates the journalists of El Chiringuito for their part. “The player is afraid of showing such a level with France. Didier Deschamps protects him”said one of them.
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On the AS side, Didier Deschamps takes his place. “His explanations on the absence of Mbappé from the France team were vague and imprecise. And unnecessarily enigmatic”began Marco Ruiz, another major columnist of the newspaper. “It would have been easier for the coach to say openly that he wants to protect the group, that there is too much noise around the star player at the moment, or even to slip than when you withdraw from a group , as Mbappé did in October, we risk not being in the next one. Mbappé’s non-summoning is very strange.”
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Same story from rival Marca. “The strange absence of Mbappé“, headlines the newspaper’s front page. One thing is certain: Kylian Mbappé is going through very difficult times since his long-awaited transfer this summer. Between poor performance and positioning problems, Bondy’s Rocket has not yet found its place in the capital Spanish. “He is training well, but he is having a difficult time on the pitch”Carlo Ancelotti even admitted at a press conference. “I think the problem he has is the problem we all have: we don’t get to show our best side.”
Stockholm, the root of the problem?
From a sporting point of view, it is quite simple to see that Madrid’s adaptation is taking longer than expected. What about in the private sphere? Did his escapade in Stockholm and the specter of Swedish justice play a role in Deschamps’ choice? For the newspaper The Teamto say otherwise would be to lie. “Deschamps does not know if the Swedish justice system would be likely to summon the French attacker to a rally”explains the media in a paper. An idea confirmed by Marca in today’s edition.
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This assertion was brushed aside by Deschamps during his press conference: “It is not extra-sporting problems that come into play since the presumption of innocence exists and must exist.” “It’s better that way”had also affirmed Deschamps, evasively. Better for whom? For KM7 or Deschamps? Certainly for the Blues group who will be able to live (a little) away from the Mbappé media phenomenon and all that it represents for the moment.
Everyone knows it: Kylian Mbappé likes to speak when he decides to. Except that his hot news on and off the field would have forced him to speak. Which would have exposed a squad which is experiencing turbulence, despite another semi-final in a major tournament. As is often the case, Mbappé would have monopolized all the oxygen of a team which has been sorely lacking in recent times. And Didier Deschamps didn’t want that. Until when?
