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The coach has left his captain out of another set of games, casting doubt on both their relationship and the forward’s mental state right now
Top players pulling out of internationals is nothing new. It’s been common practice for years. The game’s most powerful clubs are always reluctant to release their most valuable commodities for anything other than qualifiers or major tournaments, particularly if there’s the slightest concern over a player’s fitness.
So, it wasn’t a massive shock to see Kylian Mbappe fail to show up for France’s Nations League clashes with Israel and Belgium last month – even though the forward had just recovered from a minor muscular problem to start for Real Madrid in the Spanish side’s final fixture before the October international break, against Villarreal.
The feeling was that Mbappe would benefit from the rest – and not just from a physical perspective. The 25-year-old hadn’t exactly made the best start to his Madrid career following his much-hyped summer switch from Paris Saint-Germain. There were increasing signs that he was buckling under the pressure of trying to justify his monstrous signing-on fee, his colossal wage and, to be brutally honest, his mere presence at the club that didn’t really appear to need him.
‘What people think is the least of my worries’
Mbappe was the golden boy of French football after helping his country win the 2018 World Cup in Russia while still only a teenager. By the time Les Bleus had been dumped out of Euro 2020 at the last-16 stage by Switzerland, though, public opinion had turned. There was undoubtedly a racial element to some of the criticism Mbappe received for his poor performances for France, but there was also legitimate concern over his increasingly petulant behaviour on the field.
The way in which Mbappe propelled Didier Deschamps’ team to the final of the 2022 World Cup went someway towards repairing his reputation, but the feeling in France persisted that by constantly catering to his every whim, PSG had allegedly created an egomaniacal monster, a self-absorbed superstar who felt he was bigger than not only his club – but his country.
Consequently, Deschamps’ decision to hand Mbappe the captain’s armband after Hugo Lloris’ retirement from international football was fiercely debated, and the forward’s underwhelming displays at Euro 2024 cast further doubt over his leadership skills. However, Mbappe insisted ahead of France’s
Nations League opener against Italy on September 6 that he was paying no attention to the criticism coming his way.
“I’m at a stage in my life and my career where I don’t notice anymore,” he said. “I come, I play, I try to do my best, to help the team. What people think is the least of my worries.”
In a way, that’s probably true, as Mbappe has bigger problems right now. But it’s also highly doubtful that he’s been unaffected by the dramatic dip in his popularity.
