Kylian Mbappé: France have a desire to achieve great things

STAR MAN: Kylian Mbappé during a France training session. Pic: INPHO/Gary Carr

Comparing generations of footballers is an exercise prone to ridicule but it’s difficult to muzzle the ‘Mbappé Generation’ when the man himself is predicting greatness.

The French wouldn’t be known for modesty yet the weekend discourse elevated from qualification talks to winning the Euros outright when they almost certainly rock up in Germany next year as favourites.

“I can’t speak for every generation; only mine,” said Kylian, recently appointed captain at 24, as the Lansdowne Road press conference fell silent in anticipation of a grand declaration.

"There is a lot of talk about me being a link between different generations but to be honest we are a really united group. That has been the case all week and we needed to step up and bring people together last Friday against Holland.

“What I think marks us out is our ability to cope with high pressure situations. Then there’s our desire and willingness to achieve great things.” 

Manager Didier Deschamps, listening patiently behind the door, looking on while the star turn dazzled his audience in similar vein to his markers, is aware of generational debates.

He skippered Les Bleus to their maiden World Cup triumph in 1998, followed up with the Euros crown two years later, cementing their place as the greatest team of all time. Michel Platini’s 1984 Euro winners had heretofore been worthy of that honour.

Symmetry exists insofar as Deschamps is the conduit to the latest bunch of successors reaching for the stars in the Parisian air.

He’s been at the helm since 2012 and his peer from the golden generation Marcel Desailly has been feting Ibrahima Konaté and Dayot Upamecano as potentially the best-ever central defensive partnership.

Deschamps, despite being in unusually chipper form, flattened the mood by following praise with perspective. “They are helped by solid players ahead of them,” he flagged about his pair of midfield pivots, Adrien Rabiot and Aurélien Tchouaméni.

“They have a brilliant understanding from their time together at RB Leipzig but there is room for improvement. It is difficult to say.” 

That they are even been spoken of in such terms is incredible, given Raphaël Varane and Presnel Kimpembe were not that long ago the mainstays of that defence.

They are just two talents still playing in a gallery of those who for reasons including retirements, injuries and form are not part of the current squad.

Among them are Ousmane Dembélé, Hugo Lloris, Lucas Hernandez, William Saliba, Benjamin Mendy, Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kanté. Not forgetting, of course, Karim Benzema.

Real Madrid’s Eduardo Camavinga can’t get into the side while Oliver Giroud is now assuming the Robbie Keane twilight role, leading goalscorer without enjoying first-choice status.

If the AC Milan striker does come into the side on Monday night from the start, it is expected that his recent replacement Randal Kolo Muani won’t be ditched.

He’s likely to be redeployed wide right in place of Kingsley Coman, doubtless triggering more comparisons to Thierry Henry.

Coman left the pitch after 67 minutes on Friday with a knock and while he’s been deemed fit the “one or two changes” Deschamps suggested are likely to encompass his demotion to that of impact sub.

"He offers a lot of different ways of playing,” gushed Mbappé about Kolo Muani, who shone on his first senior start against the Dutch.

“He is fast, plays on the counter attack but can also play when the opposition are defending deep.

“He has a lot of energy and puts in the hard yards. It's a new weapon for us.” 

As if they needed another.