Yes, Kylian Mbappé's discomfort must be taken seriously – International – France

The absence of Kylian Mbappé for the second time in a row from a gathering of the France team leads to all possible assumptions and fantasies. Annoyance on his part, sanction from Didier Deschamps, extra-sporting affair or simple drop in performance after a failed start to the season in his new club Real Madrid? This Tuesday, one of his relatives puts forward another reason in the columns of The Team : « Call it what you want, but Kylian has had a mental problem for several months. » The term is vague, but the discomfort of the captain of the Blues has not escaped anyone.

Can a player, even one of the best in the world, be subject to depression? Yes and more than anyone since FIFpro, the union of professional footballers, indicated in 2015 that 38% of footballers suffered from anxiety or depressive disorders, while for comparison, 17% of French people experience such symptoms. « The simple pedestrian is subject to burn-out, but the footballer's problem is above all not being able to change employers, he is forced to stay in a system that does not suit him. A top athlete is like an artist, he must realize himself, not become an employee »says Laurent Edriat, currently mental trainer of around twenty professional players. He too was faced with very serious slacking from the people he supports: « I have seen players completely lost. For two years, they no longer had any fishing, no longer wanted anything and especially not playing Football, they were zombies. They would drive to practice, park in the parking lot, cry for five minutes and go play like nothing had happened. »

To get stuck in football or to break away from it?

For the moment, it is impossible to know what is negatively affecting Kylian Mbappé, but the factors are numerous according to this specialist. « We talk about a mental problem when performances do not follow, but it can happen when the player is still good on the pitch. I think he must not have been well for a year, a year and a half, and now it's only getting worse. »he explains, remembering the last 18 months marked by special treatment by Luis Enrique, the scathing divorce with PSG, the Euro passed like a shadow and the first laborious weeks in Madrid.

At Real, perhaps he will be able to count on Carlo Ancelotti, often portrayed as a brilliant manager capable of making oversized egos coexist. Laurent Edriat thinks that coaches, as a general rule, lack training in the field of psychology and above all have other priorities. « I had to work five or six times with Hatem Ben Arfa, but each time he signed for a club where the coach was supposed to understand him, he asks again. Unfortunately we saw the rest of his career, not many people understood it. He has put his career in the hands of a coach, but he doesn't just have Hatem Ben Arfa to worry about. »

So what to do now that the crushing machine is launched at full speed on Kylian Mbappé? Asked by The TeamTiémoué Bakayoko, his former teammate at Monaco, and Ludovic Batelli, the coach with whom he won the Euro U19, have two different points of view: the first thinks that putting the selection aside for a while is « maybe the best thing for him right now »while the second considers that it is necessary « refocus on the essentials: football, performance ». This is another story from Laurent Edriat: « He must think differently, it must be done through his personal identity. For the majority of athletes, the motivation is not sporting, the objective must be personal in order to then perform in sport. The only advice I can give him is to surround himself with a mental trainer and find a new objective. Maybe Mbappé's was to sign for Real, but after that? » In short, disconnect to find yourself better.

What impact for following generations?

Examples of players affected by depression are legion. Emmanuel Eboué, Stan Collymore and Aaron Lennon stopped playing football, Robert Enke, Andreas Biermann and Gary Speed ​​committed suicide, while even superstars like Andrés Iniesta and Thierry Henry admitted to having sometimes collapsed during their careers. « It's probably harder for a footballer to come out of depression because he has more free time. He talks a lot, he hears a lot, so he thinks too much. Everyone calls him and even though his loved ones adore him, they prevent him from disconnecting. By wanting to help him, they push him even deeper »analyzes the mental trainer. Sunday, on the plateau of Canal Football ClubIbrahima Konaté rightly verbalized the differences between him, although Liverpool's starting central defender, and Kylian Mbappé: “Everyone is around him. I often tell him: “I want your level of football, but I don’t want your life.” Because, frankly, it's very difficult. His name is everywhere, with the slightest actions and gestures, people constantly talk about him. »

In recent years, Neymar's calls for help, Richarlison's tears or even Dele Alli's confidences about his rehab and his « trauma » were moving, but did not really move the lines. « We communicate about it, but it doesn’t change anything. It's always a bad idea, being helped is a sign of weaknessdeplores the mental preparation. Out of the 300 pro players that I followed, there were only ten who gave me the number of a friend of theirs so that I could help him too. Aurélien Tchouaméni spoke on this subject and I did not necessarily receive any more calls after that. » Will the case of Kylian Mbappé, one of the most popular players of his time, have the same impact? The answer is clear for Laurent Edriat: « It won't change anything, there will be other news items. Football will continue, Real Madrid will not stop, nor will the French team. »

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