“I can understand a lot of things. As I often say, I have this quality of being lucid about what I do with good and not well. I know that people were not happy with what I was doing on the field and outside. Afterwards, I had reasons which were explainable or not. I have no problem questioning myself. I never had a problem with criticism when they are argued. I was not good against Italy, my press conference had not rained, I was not unusual as captain. The most important thing is to move forward and no longer redo the same mistakes ”. Here is what Kylian Mbappé declared before challenging Croatia as part of the first leg of the Nations League.
A welcome Mea-Culpa for the captain of the Blues, under the fire of criticism in recent months. Yes, but here, for the Real Madrid striker, it was still necessary to join the gesture to the Word, this Thursday evening, on the lawn of the Stadion Poljud. Aligned on the front of the attack alongside Randal Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembélé, the 2018 world champion was logically eagerly awaited. On the left side, a well -hung brassard, the native of Bondy would however live a painful evening, at least on the collective level. Plusted by a completely missed first period, the Blues have, in fact, made arms (0-2) and are now sentenced to feat, next Sunday, at the Stade de France.
Deschamps appreciated
At the heart of this collective slump, the former goalscorer of Paris Saint-Germain, however, has him overall supernetched. Positioned in his preferential area, the 26 -year -old Frenchman was the only one to have brought a concrete danger in the Croatian surface in the first period, with two caded strikes (13th, 23rd) on two good services of Digne. If he suffered the roughness of the defense (3 duels won over 12, 21 lost balloons), who often committed the fault to stop him, he came to lend a hand in creation, wisely, and was able to find several times in the heart of the surface. Credited with a 5.5 by the FM editorial staff, he was even very close to giving hope to his own but fell on a large Livakovic (81st).
Despite the sad overall performance, Kylian Mbappé therefore offered a rather encouraging return. A performance that Didier Deschamps did not fail to emphasize at the final whistle. “I found it very legs very well. He did not succeed everything but he found the full possession of his means. He was very available, he also made a lot of effort in front of a low block. He had fewer spaces and was watched. He can always do better. He does not always succeed in his risk taking and his dribbles but he was at a very good level this evening “noted the coach of the Blues at the microphone of TF1. Mbappé & Co will now have to create the feat in 3 days against their audience …
