IHigh year in sports HexagonDespite a run to the semi-finals of this summer's Euros, the French national team was not one of them. The sport was a symbol of a happy summer during the Olympic Games in Paris by the likes of Leon Marchant and Teddy Rainer. On the contrary, The Blues Kylian Mbappe has become emblematic of the kind of malaise – even discontent – that has lurched and stumbled from one minor crisis to another throughout the year.
As captain, Mbappé was the face of a side flattered to deceive. There were “warning signs” according to Mbappé, who condemned “flawed leadership” in the friendly defeat to Germany in early March. Results improved over the summer, but spirits did not.
Deschamps, whose contract has been extended until the 2026 World Cup after a run to the 2022 finals in Qatar, has his critics. Pragmatism or overcaution, depending on how you wrap it up, has always been the hallmark of Deschamps, but it's far less popular when you don't see yourself lifting the trophy at the end of the match.
It was a lackluster run to the semi-finals in Germany, where the Frenchman scored just one goal in open play. But it was Mbappe who, more than anyone else, incurred the wrath of the French people. This reflects a recent poll from Odoxa in which only 54% of the more than 1,000 questioned had a favorable opinion of Mbappé, down 12%, while only 58% believed he was likable, down from 80% in 2019.
But Mbappé's popularity is certainly at an all-time low. The captain chanted during the international break in September – a reaction to a clumsy comment he expressed concern about. The BluesPlaying style is “the least of his worries”. He received a hostile reception when he returned to France for the first time as a Real Madrid player, in Lille earlier this month.
“For various reasons, Kylian was not in the best shape psychologically during the last international camp,” said Deschamps. Mbappé is absent this time. And his absence was not without controversy.
Mbappe suffered a thigh injury in late September. The blow was initially predicted to rule him out after the international break, when he came off the bench against Lille in the Champions League – ahead of Deschamps' squad announcement. Mbappé was no longer on the roster, but he started for Real Madrid against Villarreal before the break in the final game.
Cue the outrage. Any ex-footballer and pundit in France had an opinion; Many do not reflect Mbappé in a very positive light. Patrice Evra condemned the power given to Mbappé by former club Paris Saint-Germain and the national team. “It's not just Deschamps, it's the whole of France that gave Mbappé more,” the former international told RMC Sport, with other pundits speculating that Mbappé's priorities now lie elsewhere since his move to Madrid.
The Irresistibly FrenchThe main France supporters group, in context, said Mbappé's absence from the team was “not normal, as a captain”. Philippe Diallo, president of the French Football Federation (FFF), tried to put out the fire. “Didier spoke directly with Mbappé and with the medical staff at Real Madrid and chose not to select him, but that does not question Kylian's link with the national team,” he said.
Deschamps has, on several occasions, backed up that version of events. Complaints about the busy schedule, voiced by players and echoed by Diallo and Deschamps, lend further credence to their argument. At a time when player welfare is not being looked after, the French organization wants to show they are listening.
But there is a broader context that sustains outrage. Antoine Griezmann's shock retirement certainly played its part. Appointment after Mbappé retired The BluesAll-time top scorer Hugo Lloris said Griezmann was overlooked.
The Atletico Madrid player is said to be underrated at times by France. In 2019, this led to his retirement from international football and perhaps Deschamps would not have talked him out of the decision. But this time, not even Deschamps knew Griezmann's intentions as he called time on his France career.
Mbappé was named captain, and many assumptions played a part. “Captain decision? He said it affected him. He didn't hide it. It is legitimate; It's normal,” Olivier Giroud told Téléfoot.
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Granted, a lot of time passed between Mbappé's appointment and Griezmann's retirement, but those lines can, and have, been connected. “What we've learned this week is that the real captain is out, knighted by the fans, Antoine Griezmann,” Inevitably French. A “good guy-bad guy” dichotomy is drawn: Griezmann walks off the stage heroically, while the chosen Mbappé shirks his responsibilities for the national team – or so the script goes.
But there's one more ingredient, the lack of relatability and the urge to reminisce, the onset of which is difficult to contend with between the changing of the guard. Aurélien Tchouaméni, who replaced Mbappé as captain against Israel, summed up exactly where France was. “In a time, a generation ends, a golden generation has done so much The BluesMbappé's Madrid teammate started.
“A new generation is emerging, our generation. We have to win, win titles and write our history,” he added. The end of the generation that won the 2018 World Cup in Russia was not a moment.
But it is a process that has accelerated recently. After Lloris' retirement and then Raphael Varane post-Qatar, Giroud and Griezmann have now finished their international careers. With Mbappé absent, none of the players who started in the 2018 final against Croatia are in the current squad.
Within this generational transition, fans are constantly looking for elements to stick with. It's Mbappe. At the time of his appointment, he was spoken of as this link – the one who bound the old with the new, rising generation and the “golden generation”. In his absence, the fragility and restlessness of this moment is deeply felt. It is heard on the radio, read in newspapers and heard on the stands. In all the Mbappé noise, a broader concern is implicit.
Mbappé, by his absence, has found himself at the center of a perfect storm – a symbol of a depression so deeply ingrained with the state of the French national team that he, more than anyone else, is capable of fixing it… not now. .
