Mbappé: “I spoke with Griezmann and his reaction was normal”

Kylian Mbappé appeared for the first time as captain of the French team before the media. Last Monday, just hours after meeting with his teammates, Didier Deschamps notified him of the decision. There was expectation to see the first words of the PSG striker with this badgeeven more so after the disappointment of Griezmann, who was appointed vice-captain.

When asked about his responsibility as captain, he said: “A good captain is someone who influences the team, who brings the players together and who is a uniting element. The week has been good, many people congratulated me and it hasn’t gone badly. A captain is based on the personality of each one. I also want to give other players the opportunity to speak (…) when the coach comes to talk to you and proposes you to be captain, you quickly say yes”.

The PSG star also confirmed that he spoke with Griezmann about the captaincy of the French team. “I spoke to Antoine, he was disappointed and it is understandable, it is a reaction that can happen. I told him that I would have had the same reaction, he is perhaps the most important player of the Deschamps era. I am not your boss. We are going to be hand in hand, he and I, to try to make this French team reign worldwide. If he has something to say to the group, I sit and listen. You don’t have to close the door to anyone, everyone is free to express themselves”.

Bondy’s talent also wanted to make it clear that wearing the bracelet is not going to change him. “I’m not going to transform as a captain. You have to use the bracelet in the best possible way. More to defend on the pitch? I will do everything my coach asks me to do. If he tells me to attack, I will.. If he asks me to defend, I will defend. If you want me to stop playing, I will abide by the decisions, ”she stressed.

“It’s an excellent thing to be the captain of the French team. I am captain of my country, it is something that cannot be avoided. It supposes a new responsibility for me. I will assume it naturally. It won’t change the way I play, but possibly the way I behave”, he added. He ended by talking about Noël Le Graët: “He resigned, we must thank him for everything he did for the national team. But it is not a topical issue now.”

Deschamps: “Mbappé has fitted the captaincy naturally”

The French coach, Didier Deschamps, spoke to the media on the eve of the match that will measure the runner-up in the world against the Netherlands, on Friday at the Stade France. The 54-year-old coach began by justifying the decision to give Mbappé the captain’s armband. “I am not going to go into the details of the conversations. I made the decision on Monday night. Kylian has gotten used to being in this dressing room for a long time. You won’t be alone. She has taken it in naturally. The most important thing is that it is not an added burden for him,” she said.

On how he informed Griezmann and Mbappé of the captaincy’s decision, he replied: “I have had conversations with both of them, I will not go into details. I can assure you that Griezmann, since Monday, has been smiling. That he was disappointed at the time is legitimate. But there he stayed. From what I see, they all have the same objective regarding the objectives of the selection. Antoine is vice-captain, he has an important role as always. He is radiant, resplendent, both in training and in group life”.

Finally, the coach spoke about the style of play that he would implement in the next international commitments. “Of the 23 that have been called up, 18 were in the World Cup. The objective is always the same, we start with a qualifying phase that is never easy. For me, the objective is to put on a team that has a better chance of beating the rival. It is always a balance of forces. I stick to that to have the ball more than the rival and force him to defend.