There is not much to say about Zinédine Zidane’s first meeting at the head of the France team. Whether in the group or in the game, the new coach has made strong choices, in complete break with his predecessor Didier Deschamps. But one of his decisions, taken during the Türkiye-France match (0-1), continues to be debated.
That evening, in Izmit, “Zizou” surprised everyone by starting Ousmane Dembélé in the center and Kylian Mbappé on the left. A pattern that he was unable to reproduce in the following matches, against Belgium and Italy, since the Real Madrid star, used to playing up front at club and under “DD”, injured his left thigh and was allowed to leave the Blues.
A good idea? By for Etienne Moatti. “Before this gathering, this idea of putting Kylian Mbappé on the left seemed completely crazy and even a little stupid to me. Today, Kylian Mbappé is a center forward who scores 60 goals per season. It is only in France that we move the center forward who scores 60 goals per season to one side”he asserts on the L’Equipe channel.
Zinédine Zidane asked to review his copy
“In any other country, we would play him up front. We saw with Dembélé what it could do, so it’s a mistake from Zidane”judges the journalist, who believes that the 1998 world champion “can correct it” on the next international windows and
“get back to something healthier”. Especially since “Dembouz” did not convince in new form.
“I have the impression that Dembélé was almost in overdrive during the season when he won the Ballon d’Or,
he said. So if to be the center forward of the France team, you only need to have the ability to press very high and make runs against the goalkeeper and the central defenders, there are a lot of people who will be able to play center forward in the France team…”
And Etienne Moatti continues: “More seriously, I don’t have an absolute passion for Kylian Mbappé, but it is only in France, when you have a player of this level who has managed to refocus and obtain results as a center forward that I myself did not imagine, that we move him from position…” Will Zinédine Zidane see his copy again in November?
