Five new ones on the list, then finally seven with the arrivals of Butez and Yoro following the defections of Risser and Konaté. Zinedine Zidane has innovated in his list, but the biggest change to his first eleven could well be the composition of his attacking trio. The names are the same, with Mbappé, Dembélé and Olise, but the positioning will change. Zizou had already made it clear during his press conference, he appreciates seeing Kylian Mbappé on the left side, at the same time relaunching a debate that we had almost ended up forgetting, the best positioning of the Real Madrid striker.
A debate that the person concerned fuels himself by going to walk on Vinicius Jr’s toes, like the meeting last weekend between Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid, where the two men played in almost the same position. Zidane therefore wants to try his luck with a left winger Mbappé, with of course freedom of movement and the possibility of swapping with Ousmane Dembélé, who will be in the false number 9 position, and Michael Olise, who will be aligned on the right as at club with Bayern Munich. The big question will concern the defensive involvement of a Mbappé far from the standards aligned to this position.
Who is the big winner from Mbappé’s repositioning on the left?
With the French team, Mbappé has played 32 matches as a left winger since his debut on March 25, 2017, with 21 goals and 16 assists. His last appearance in this position? Against Spain in the semi-final lost in 2024. During the preparation for this Euro, Deschamps had put in place a system allowing Mbappé to occupy the left lane, while forcing Marcus Thuram, aligned at the forefront, to provide the defensive efforts in this lane. Zidane obviously does not intend to tinker like this, and will probably ask his player to carry out the defensive work linked to his position.
The two men would have discussed this repositioning in advance, but it remains to be seen whether Kylian Mbappé is excited about the idea of returning to this position that he ended up leaving, both for the sake of developing his game and in the compromise of a number 9 role which allows him to defend less. Daily life The Team thus wonders about the impact of this change of position, wondering if this repositioning is not rather a favor done to Ousmane Dembélé, who will thus return to the zone that he brilliantly occupies with PSG. With a Mbappé who will be drawn towards the axis from the left, a Dembélé who likes to come down to touch the ball, an Olise capable of taking the game on his own and a Cherki potentially aligned as a relay, there could be a traffic jam in the axis. The alignment of all these talented players in a new position is desirable, but only the match against Turkey on Friday evening will allow us to see if it is tactically viable.
