Saturday evening, on the lawn of Groupama Stadium, the French team disappointed in great ways. Swept (0-2) by Germany, the Blues delivered an indigestible performance, whether on an individual or collective level. Present at a press conference this Monday, before challenging Chile for the second friendly match of this March gathering, Kylian Mbappé also returned to this rout. “I think it wasn’t enough. Leadership has been failing, that’s clear. But we were overwhelmed in quite a few aspects. These are indicators, even if it is a friendly match. It's up to us to react so as not to create doubt in the team that does not currently exist.admitted the Parisian striker in particular.
Asked about the difficulties seen in Lyon, the man who should soon formalize his departure for Real Madrid did not wish to shy away from his responsibilities. If his presence in front of the journalists was already a strong sign, his words also went in this direction. “We are never harsh against high-level players, it’s our daily life. It's our life to be criticized, especially executives. It is certain that we had to have another face. The match is over, we want to show a reaction tomorrow. We must realize that what we did was not enough”thus launched the number 7 of PSG before putting on a new coat.
Mbappé does not want to be alarmed, but…
“We reviewed the images, the coach had a message to convey, it got through, we now have to react. Coming to a press conference is my responsibility, even more so after a defeat, if we had won, I would not have come, I would have given way to other leaders of this group. In the event of defeats, you have to take responsibility, that’s why I’m here”. As a good captain of the Blues, the Bondynois however refused to give in to panic despite this defeat against the Germans. “We had no doubt. We played badly. There is no absolute truth in friendly matches. I had the chance to play several competitions, there are competitions where the matches before we took a beating and some where we won everything during the friendly matches, so there you go, but that still gives indicators that 'we must not neglect'.
And to add: “There were a lot of warnings. Technically, tactically, in desire, efficiency… that's a lot to do against a team like Germany. Better take this slap now. If it helps us, we will come back here on July 14 and say to ourselves that it was nice to take a slap against Germany. But for the moment, we haven't won anything, so we have to use it as an example.”. Lucid, but determined to react to Chile, Mbappé finally concluded his intervention with a unifying speech. “It’s a warning. But we're not going to throw everything we've done in the trash. We're not going to shoot guys after just one losing game. We are always united, united, full of confidence and humility. We are ready to continue tomorrow (Tuesday, editor’s note)”. If the former Monegasque generally disappointed against the Mannschaft, history will record that his two recent appearances at press conferences were, for their part, perfectly managed…
