Kylian Mbappe might be one of the best players in the world and the captain of the French national team, but Didier Deschamps proved on Thursday afternoon that he is the boss.
The new Real Madrid star has not had the smoothest of starts to his career in the Spanish capital, with indifferent recent form coming after an allegation of rape following a trip to Sweden.
The France captain had been linked to the incident – which happened at the same Stockholm hotel he was staying at – by the Swedish media, despite no names being officially connected to the case, with the player and his legal representatives dismissing the allegation as ‘slanderous’.
The timing of the allegation is also important however, having come during an international break where the player turned down the call up to recover from an injury – a decision that didn’t go down too well in France.
But this time round, ahead of the next international window, Mbappe was left out of the former Marseille and Monaco boss’ squad for the upcoming UEFA Nations League clashes with Israel and Italy, despite the forward’s return to fitness.
Kylian Mbappe has been left out of the France squad for their upcoming international fixtures
Despite six goals and an assist for Real Madrid his form for Los Blancos has come in for criticism
Announcing his selection, Deschamps admitted: ‘I had a couple of talks with Mbappe, and I took the decision to leave him out this time,’ said the Les Bleus head coach.
‘What I can tell you are these two things: One, that Kylian wanted to come. And two, it’s not the extra sporting problems that come into play since the presumption of innocence exists and must exist. It’s a one-off choice for this gathering.’
According to L’Eqiupe, Mbappe and Deschamps spoke on each of the three days preceding his snub, and it is believed that the skipper had no reason to think he wouldn’t be joining his team-mates at Clairefontaine.
The final phone call is thought to have included reasoning from Deschamps along the lines of trying to ‘protect’ his player, according to RMC, with the report also suggesting that he thanked his boss for at least giving him a heads up.
But there was an indication from the manager that the two are not seeing eye to eye on everything.
‘We may not agree on everything. These are discussions that I can have with the players. I am not here for the players to tell me that I am the most beautiful and the best. I listen. I have always fed off these discussions, whether individual or collective, protecting all the players.’
‘That’s why I can have a lot of discussions that can go beyond the purely field sphere, because they know very well that we know who spoke if something comes out.
‘These exchanges are important to me. With hindsight, tranquility, as much lucidity as possible, I make the decisions that seem to me to be the best.’
Didier Deschamps admitted that he spoke to the player before his shock decision on Thursday
Mbappe has been a key component of Deschamps’ side that conquered the world back in 2018
Is Mbappe considered to be a negative influence in the dressing-room? It is hard to countenance such an idea given what he has done for France in recent years, though his return would undoubtedly have stolen the spotlight and increased the exposure on the team.
Currently, the prosecutors for the case in Stockholm have suggested there is no new information to be released, but there is thought to be a ‘legal uncertainty’ around the player, according to L’Equipe.
The announcement that a complaint had been filed made no mention – neither confirming nor denying – that the player was in any way targeted.
There is the issue of Mbappe’s perceived poor form of late, however. With just – just! – six goals and an assist from 10 LaLiga starts, they are perhaps not the numbers that Real Madrid might have expected, but they are still nowhere near enough to warrant being dropped.
Mbappe has just joined the most intensely scrutinised team in the world, so of course there is going to be a bedding in period, and he has still managed to showcase his abilities, certainly to an extent that warrants an international call-up.
Deschamps has always prioritised the greater unit, the team as a cohesive whole. He has retained much of the same spine of the squad over the years, with Antoine Griezmann even shoe-horned into a quality central midfielder, and he is keen to give opportunities to younger players.
Mbappe has scored 48 goals in 86 appearances for France since making his debut back in 2017
There is an argument that there is nothing Mbappe could show Deschamps that he doesn’t already know about his star man against Israel and Italy. Perhaps it is a good move, and one that other managers should start copying, dropping those who you know so well to have a chance to look at those you don’t.
Is Mbappe going to be in the squad for every major competition for the next 10 years? Of course he is. So why not fill his spot with someone on the outskirts of the side to see if they should be, too? In that respect, and with that motive, it could be a fair decision.
Mbappe will return in the next window, if Deschamps’ ‘one-off’ comment is to be believed, but dropping your captain is almost unheard of; so will he retain the armband when he does come back?
The question was put to Deschamps, though his answer was hardly conclusive: ‘Today, that’s not the subject.’