A year and a half ago, theFrench team has moved into a new era with the international retirements of certain historic executives such as Hugo Lloris or Raphaël Varane. Didier Deschamps made a strong choice by entrusting the captain’s armband to Kylian Mbappé, thus relegating Antoine Griezmann to the role of vice-captain, despite his seniority.
The Mâconnais did not remain indifferent to this decision. And less than two years later, “Grizou” also bows out in Blue. For the first time in ten years, Didier Deschamps did not mention the name of Antoine Griezmann when announcing a list for an international gathering. The Blues coach did not mention Kylian Mbappé either. Returning from injury, the former Parisian was considered too physically weak.
Who will be the captain of the France team?
The question was asked directly to Didier Deschamps.
“I won’t tell you who is captain and vice-captain, I have to tell those interested first. N’Golo (Kanté) is not there because he had a physical problem the day before yesterday (adductors) and this requires treatment. After the World Cup, there were relays that were taken up. With the absence of Kylian and Antoine, that leaves room and that doesn’t happen by snapping your fingers. I have a much younger group that needs to assert itself. There are different forms of leadership – expressive, technical – inevitably there will be room. »
Still, in the absence of Kylian Mbappé, one name emerges as obvious: Mike Maignan. At 29 years old, the number 1 goalkeeper of the Blues has the charisma and status to recover the captain’s armband punctually. His words are rare, but listened to, as evidenced by his rant after the defeat against Italy a month ago (1-3).
Behind Maignan, there are not many candidates for this position. There are few players left from the 2018 epic. Ousmane Dembélé is one of them. Despite his atypical personality, the PSG winger has enough seniority to move up the ranks. But Aurélien Tchouaméni’s temperament seems to tick more boxes to meet the demands of this very special role. A player with a strong character, Théo Hernandez should also gain ground.
