Express News Service
CHENNAI: For more than a decade, Arsene Wenger had total command of the French market, especially the young players. During the 2016-17 season, when the then-Arsenal manager was gradually losing his mojo, he opened his contacts books and turned towards France for one of the final times in his career. It was a call to one of his old clubs, Monaco.
A young player was making heads turn and Wenger, who made a young player from Monaco one of the best in the world (Thierry Henry), thought he could do something similar. The only problem was this young player was making heads turn where ever he went. Scouts up and down Europe landed at the Stade Louis II to watch this teenager in action.
Even if he was just 17 at the time, there was a physical maturity beyond his years. He was already shrugging off defenders twice his age, beating them for pace as well as physicality. Legends of the game were forming an orderly queue to sing their paeans.
It kind of helped that Kylian Mbappe, who had come through the youth system AS Bondy before making senior debut for Monaco, had already set a string of records. Incidentally, he broke Henry’s record when he made his professional debut before turning 17. So, it was natural for Wenger to put on a charm offensive to try and get this kid, widely anointed as the next big in world football even then. But Mbappe had already become a phenomenon in under a year.
He also broke another of Henry’s old Monaco records when he became the youngest goalscorer in the club’s history. Hat-tricks followed. In one of his most memorable performances for Monaco, he made Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City look like a team made of school kids in the Champions League. Over 18 extraordinary minutes, Mbappe not only scored twice but put himself in a shop window with his extraordinary dribbling ability, deadly finishing skills and pace to burn. It’s these three traits that have helped make him as the sport’s apex predator since owning the last World Cup in Russia.
In 2018, after moving to PSG, all eyes were on him as Les Bleus landed in Russia. France had multiple elite talents but Mbappe was, even then, the most sought after. While he has failed in quest to make PSG European champions, the 23-year-old is, without doubt, at a very different level for his country. He has already showed it multiple times in Qatar as he leads the Golden Boot (and, probably, the Golden Ball) race with five goals (two clear of the next best).
A bit like that meme of Thanos, Mbappe, in the form he is in currently, feels inevitable. One only needed to listen to France coach, Didier Deschamps, ahead of the quarterfinal against England. “I imagine England will take measures like our four previous opponents did but Kylian has the ability to make the difference,” Deschamps said on Friday. “Even in the last game, when he wasn’t at his best like in the first two, he was still decisive, but if we can share around the danger that stops too many precautions being taken against Kylian. But Kylian will always be Kylian, with the ability to be decisive at any moment.”
He can flick the switch at any movement, it feels like he is a video game player, a cheat code.
Like Deschamps said, the teams that came before England tried. And failed. Poland right-back Matty Cash, who was tasked with playing against him a week ago, had this to say. “I spent the afternoon watching his clips and I knew it was going to be a tough test, but when he gets the ball, stops and moves, he’s the quickest thing I’ve ever seen,” the Aston Villa defender was quoted as saying by The Guardian. “… he’s burning my legs. When he stands you up and moves he does it really well. He drops the shoulder, goes short then long. I got into a couple of races with him and I did all right. You look over your shoulder and he’s there.” The people who reported on that game too felt Cash had done alright. Mbappe scored two goals.
It’s why England have spent a lot of time on how to stop Mbappe. As world champions, France have multiple weapons and England can ill-afford to ignore any of them. But the biggest weapon in that arsenal is Mbappe. Stop him and the rest could suffer.
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