Emmanuel Petit: “Mbappé has not yet proven himself to be a worthy captain”

Emmanuel Petit, former player of the French national team, criticized He recently spoke out against the star player of the French squad and recent signing of Real Madrid, Kylian Mbappé, who he pointed out that “so far he is not worthy of a captain” because “he does not assume enough responsibility on the pitch.”

In statements that were broadcast by German television NTV, the retired The midfielder made his thoughts known, saying that the striker “has not been up to par since the start of this Euro” and that “he is not in good physical shape” and that “his broken nose is also affecting him”.

“It was already too late when he was substituted at half-time in extra time. “He should have been substituted after an hour at the latest,” Petit said. Despite the criticism, Petit made it clear that he trusts Mbappé and what he can do in the rest of the Euros, “he will suddenly explode in the semi-finals.”

“He will play only because the rival is called Spain. Otherwise, I would have left him in the “I’m on the bench,” concluded Petit, whose honours include a World Cup title in 1998 when France beat Brazil, and he was one of the scorers in that match.

Why is Mbappé the captain of France when Griezmann and Giroud have been there longer?

More than a year ago, in March 2023, the coach of the national team of France’s Didier Deschamps made the decision to appoint Mbappé as the next captain of the World Cup runners-up. Shortly before, Raphael Varane and Hugo Lloris, who was captain of the national team at the time, made public their retirement from the team and it was then that the decision was made to choose a new captain.

Mbappé was 24 years old and had played 66 games with ‘Les Bleus’, in which who had managed to score a total of 36 goals. Although Mbappé was a regular player in the national team at that time, he was not the most experienced man.

Griezmann and Giroud, the forgotten ones

Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud had been in the squad for longer France and until then had many more games under Didier Deschamps, but despite this they were not considered to wear the captain’s armband. The Atlético de Madrid player made his debut in 2014, and Olivier Giroud had his debut in 2011. In addition, the former AC Milan striker is the all-time top scorer for the French national team with 57 goals scored.

This decision was widely criticized and pointed out by the French press and Some former players, such as Robert Pirés, who played for Arsenal in the English Premier League, Griezmann himself expressed his displeasure at being relegated to vice-captaincy.

His first action as captain

There was no shortage of controversy and dispute over the appointment of Mbappé as captain of the national team, and to calm the atmosphere, Mbappé decided to give a press conference in which he clarified that his objective as captain is to be dedicated to others and that he understood Griezmann’s sadness. “What I told him is that when I am captain and he is vice-captain, I am not his superior.” With this phrase he wanted to close the subject and recognize the importance of the ‘7’ of Atlético de Madrid and the French National Team.

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