Kylian Mbappé has been named captain of the French football team by coach Didier Deschamps and therefore succeeds Hugo Lloris, who retired from international football after the World Cup in Qatar.
Kylian Mbappe “has the shoulders to be a captain, he has the shoulders to be a leader”, Bixente Lizarazu, franceinfo football consultant, said on Tuesday March 21 on franceinfo, while the striker was appointed captain of the French football team by coach Didier Deschamps. This cuff “will allow him to open up to others” And “to listen to others”. It will be a pass “positive” for the France team, believes Bixente Lizarazu.
franceinfo: Does Kylian Mbappé have the build to be captain of the Blues?
Bixente Lizarazu: He has the shoulders to be captain. He has the shoulders to be a leader. He demonstrated it in the World Cup final, by scoring this hat-trick, speaking at half-time in a match where the France team was losing ground. He also showed it by his speeches. I am thinking in particular of Le Graët’s attacks on Zinédine Zidane. I am thinking in particular about image rights. And he did it without fear. He was first in line, he was the first to do it and always with well-felt, hard-hitting words. So even though he’s 24, he’s ready. He’s not 19 anymore. He begins to age a little, to mature.
“Afterwards, the question concerns his position as a striker. It is a position where you are rather selfish and rather self-centered. I think that will allow him to open up to others and to be listening to others. You can’t win without others.”
Bixente Lizarazu, franceinfo football consultant
It will be something important. He is capable of scoring a hat-trick in the World Cup final. But he must also watch over his partners. His partners must be good and be happy. This armband can help him listen to his partners, ensure that things work well, ensure that there is a good atmosphere in the team, ensure that it is unifying. It can be positive for the France team, but especially for him, because it is an additional passage in his career and in his life as a man.
What main task awaits him in the France team as captain?
Already, we must be exemplary. Being a captain is not a posture, it’s something you have to feel deeply. You have to feel in your place. He’s the captain, he’s the one who takes you on board, he’s the one who takes his partners, he’s the one who motivates his partners, he’s the one who sets an example on the pitch. So we can set an example in different ways: when we are a defender by making a huge tackle and showing the desire to fight, and then when we are an attacker, by being, as Kylian Mbappé knew how to do during the final of the World Cup, breaking through the defence, scoring a goal and galvanizing his troops.
But it’s also a little daily work with your partners, listening to your partners. It can’t just be about him. I think he has the energy to care for others. This is the meaning of the story. Compared to what I have seen in recent months, Kylian Mbappé has really shown that he has this personality, that he has this leadership to be the captain of the France team.
As boss of the team, he must now be respected?
A boss does not exist in a locker room. He is captain, he is leader. It is up to him to lead by example. It’s up to him to take these guys. But it’s not “the boss, and then the others”. It doesn’t work on a team. Because everyone has ego. I played in teams where I was not captain, but the captain should not tell me anything. We do not impose. We are not a captain-dictator. You have to be respected by others. And if the captain doesn’t get respect, that’s a problem. So it should not be done by force. It has to be done by persuasion. I know he can do it and I think it will do him a lot of good.