The captain's armband is too 'heavy' for Mbappe

Kylian Mbappe's lackluster performance led to the French team being eliminated from the semi-finals of EURO 2024. This was the first tournament the striker wore the captain's armband for the French team, and it was also the tournament he was most disappointing.

Where is Mbappe?

Mbappe was even more obscure than he was at EURO 2020. In that tournament, although this striker did not score any goals, he still contributed a lot to the French team and still had dribbling moves that upset the opponent's defense.

Mbappe did not leave a significant mark

At this year's EURO, Mbappe didn't even have the dribbles that tore through the opponent's defense like last time. His dribbles were easier to predict and control. In addition, the French captain's finishing situations were often inaccurate. Mbappe's only goal until the time France was eliminated from EURO 2024 was a penalty, in a match that was almost only a formality against Poland at the end of the group stage. The big difference between Mbappe himself and previous major tournaments he has participated in is that Mbappe is currently the captain and the leader of the French team in this year's European Championship. In a team in particular and in a tournament in general, the roles of a potential player and a leader are very different.

Mbappe leaves EURO 2024 with great disappointment

Mbappe succeeded at the 2018 World Cup because at that time he was just a potential player, few people paid attention to him. Four years later, Mbappe was even more successful at the 2022 World Cup (in an individual role), because he still did not take full responsibility for the French team's attack. In 2022, Giroud attracted a significant amount of defenders to give Mbappe space to operate, and Griezmann replaced Mbappe as the creator for the blue team. By EURO 2024, Griezmann and Giroud both lost their form, Mbappe took over the work of these two famous teammates. In addition, as captain, Mbappe also had to play the role of motivating his teammates around him. It is clear that this striker has not been able to do well in the above role, in the entire journey of the French team in general and in this morning's match (July 10) against Spain in particular. Mbappe rarely rushed into hot spots to compete with opposing defenders, and was almost incapable of reminding his teammates to stay in position, at a time when the French team was chasing after falling behind.

Psychological effects of trauma and...

It is possible that the injury to the nose area makes Mbappe timid in the disputes and ball recovery. He is also not bold enough to jump in aerial situations, because he is still haunted by the strong collision with the Austrian player at the beginning of the tournament. However, if we look back at this player's previous journey, we can see that Mbappe's inability to become the captain of the French team is not a coincidence. At Paris Saint Germain (PSG, France) in the past, when Messi was on the field, Messi played the role of leader in the attack, Mbappe was very easy to play. But right after Messi left PSG to go to Inter Miami (USA), Mbappe played much worse, causing PSG's performance to decline. Maybe Mbappe is still too young (only 25 years old) to be the captain of a big team like the French team. To wear this armband, Mbappe needs to be more courageous and stronger. This is also not uncommon among the ranks of world -class stars. Messi has been captain of the Argentina national team since 2010, when he was just 23 years old. But it was only in recent years that the Argentine superstar has succeeded as the leader of the team in the land of Tango.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tam-bang-doi-truong-qua-nang-voi-mbappe-185240710115850607.htm