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EXCLUSIVE | Franck Leboeuf: ‘What bothers me is Kylian Mbappé’s inability to change his game’

Ahead of France’s first appearance at the World Cup, Get French Football News spoke exclusively to World Cup winner Franck Leboeuf.

In this second of a four-part interview, Franck talks about Kylian Mbappé’s form and how those playing around him need to adapt.

You talked about the fact that some of the players didn’t score in the warm-up games in 2002. Mbappé missed a lot of chances against Northern Ireland and the end of last season was tough for him at Real Madrid – although more off the pitch than on it. Are you worried about him or do you think that the criticism will be a source of motivation for him?

Well I’m worried for France – not for Mbappé! [Laughs] But it’s true that he was unlucky or clumsy and that, with the chances he had, he should have scored at least one goal. But anyway, with Mbappé, we have to trust him. He is the captain of the French team. He’s going to play every game. It’s impossible for Didier Deschamps to say “listen, you’re not scoring, I’ll put you on the bench” because he has shown that in the final 15 minutes of a World Cup final he is capable of scoring three goals. I don’t think that’s ever been done. So he has built up a bank of confidence with his team-mates because we know that he is a goalscorer – if he hadn’t been at Real Madrid this year, their season would have been even worse – lucky for them that he was there for half of the season, that he scored goals. So he’s a great player, that’s for sure.

So that’s not what worries me. I think that at some point it will go in and then there are matches, maybe against Iraq for example, where you have more opportunities to score goals, to regain your confidence and put you back in the spotlight.

But what bothers me is his inability to change his game, to get back in position when he loses the ball, to try to help his teammates. That’s what bothers me. OK, when he has the ball, he does what he wants, he’s a bit selfish – but he’s a centre-forward – I’ve known some centre-forwards in my time – the types who are happy when they have lost 4-2 because they scored two goals but don’t care when they have won 4-0 because they didn’t score. There are thousands of strikers like that – they need to be selfish.

So I hope he will find the solution. He’s going to receive help because I sincerely think that Michael Olise, Désiré Doué, Ousmane Dembélé will create chances for him, even Adrien Rabiot, Aurelien Tchouameni, N’Golo Kanté or Manu Koné will work for him. So he will get opportunities and it’s impossible to think that it won’t come good at some point.

You said that Dembélé has an inferiority complex – and also that we can’t put Mbappé on the bench. I’m starting to wonder – and I saw them discussing this on L’Équipe after the Northern Ireland match – is it becoming like the debate in England when there was Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard – is it that Mbappé and Dembélé can’t play at their best together in the French team? 

I think they can. Look, you can’t ask Mbappé for anything. Mbappé does what he wants. When you ask him to play centre-forward, he will play on the left; when you ask him to play on the left, he will put himself centre-forward. It’s Ousmane’s intelligence that will do the trick, that will sort the problem, who knows how to find and use the spaces. He has no technical problems so he can play as a number 10 without a problem, or if Mbappé moves to the left he can move to the centre-forward position and Doué will play at 10. It is up to the other three to adapt to the versatility of Mbappé’s game. Otherwise, it’s not possible. It’s like at the time of the great Real Madrid with Cristiano Ronaldo, you find a way to work around a personality who does not defend. It was the same with Messi. When you have these goalscorers, then it’s for the others to adapt. It is when they don’t score – and Mbappé isn’t scoring right now – that it becomes a concern for the team.

But I think that Ousmane – I mean we’re talking about the Ballon d’Or here, an exceptional player – Mbappé isn’t a Ballon d’Or – so we’re talking about a player who I think is too humble, too modest to fully appreciate his talent, but who applies his talent to the service of the team. In the last game [against Northern Ireland] I wasn’t satisfied with his work rate in the first half. But what I really like about Ousmane is his investment for others and of course his skills. So it would be crazy not to start with him.  

So I think the only real question mark is between Doué and Rayan Cherki on the left and how easily Didier Deschamps chooses between the two. There is no chance that Deschamps will start with Olise, Mbappé or Dembélé on the bench. It’s not possible. He would be murdered by the press. So it’s just the Doué / Cherki question. In a perfect world that would be the only issue. And Cherki or Doué are the perfect pair to interchange so that there will be no problems in the changing room – or in the press!

Franck Leboeuf was speaking exclusively to Get French Football News courtesy of talkSPORT BetOnline Slots

GFFN | Jeremy Smith