It was four years ago. This October 4, 2016, Presnel Kimpembe has lunch with his partners from the France Espoirs team when they tell him that Didier Deschamps has just called him with the Blues to compensate for Eliaquim Mangala’s package. “Shocked” in his words, the young Parisian does not yet know that he will have to wait nearly a year and a half, before knowing his first selection against Russia, on March 27, 2018 (3-1 victory), in a friendly .
Without protesting, the 25-year-old central defender patiently waited his turn, and this is one of the qualities – not the first – that Deschamps appreciates in him. That of a player capable of blending into group life, without showing his moods even though the playing time is not there. However, with 9 selections on the clock, the last of which against Albania on November 17, 2019 (2-0 victory), Kimpembe now has a chance to seize in Blue.
First of all, “Presko”, his nickname, comes out of a positive streak embellished with successful performances in the Final 8 of the Champions League, after an already convincing season before confinement. In place to settle permanently at PSG after the departure of Thiago Silva, the native of Val-d’Oise has been able to erase the imperfections that sometimes tainted his performances.
Broken to a three-center defense
More mature on the field, he got rid of his concentration swings and offers more security in his game of recovery in particular. So many flaws that Deschamps noted when he privately criticized his player for “forgetting himself” during certain matches. This was particularly the case during a France-Iceland (2-2) friendly, in October 2018, where the Blues had conceded a goal after a lost ball from Kimpembe in his half of the field.
His ability to listen, and the progress that has resulted from it, now open up prospects for selection. Since the physical problems of Samuel Umtiti, Clément Lenglet, his partner at Barça, has settled alongside Raphaël Varane in the central hinge. But the former Nancy does not yet offer all the guarantees and the gap to come and titillate him does not seem insurmountable. In any case, it is a challenge that cannot leave a defender like Kimpembe indifferent to wearing “La Force” branded caps.
On the other hand, Didier Deschamps has made no secret of his desire to use a three-center defense again in the next two games against Sweden and Croatia. “We’re going to do different things and like every time the players are on the pitch, I would expect them to perform as well as possible,” said DD. The Parisian left-hander knows this system well, having often experienced it with PSG during the last two seasons. It is therefore not a novelty for him and we can not exclude that he appears during this rally in the 3-5-2 used by the coach last November in Albania. With Kimpembe already in the defensive trident.
