French team, Captaincy: disagreements between Mike Maignan and Kylian Mbappé!

Although he has the makings of a captain, Mike Maignan has never chased the armband, and that should not change. While we learned last week of Kylian Mbappé’s withdrawal from the Blues rally, the question of his interim replacement naturally arose. Antoine Griezmann being retired, N’Golo Kanté being injured, the field of possibilities had however been reduced for Didier Deschamps, in search of new leaders. Among the names cited in the press, and often called for by public opinion to put on the armband, that of Mike Maignan still stood out.

Little adept at language elements, charismatic, very attentive, the experienced AC Milan goalkeeper ticked many boxes. But as we told you this Wednesday morning, the 29-year-old goalkeeper was not really seeking this role, aware that he did not need to wait to be named captain to become a leader. Not very fond of the press conference exercise either, he should have stuck to it in the event of nomination, as tradition so well dictates. For his part, Maignan therefore did not welcome Tchouameni’s appointment with a touch of bitterness, as has been written or said elsewhere, especially since it is only temporary.

Mbappé and Maignan are incompatible

What was public knowledge before today, however, were the differences of point of view between Kylian Mbappé and Mike Maignan. Last month during the Blues’ defeat against Italy, the goalkeeper’s bleeding remarks had already targeted several players, including Kylian Mbappé, to criticize certain stars’ behavior. But to believe The Teamthese disagreements did not stop here. Before the match against Belgium a few days later, an exchange between the two men took place.

Mbappé deplored the lack of tactical work put in place by the French staff, while Maignan pointed out the lack of generosity and withdrawals on certain sequences. This exchange served as a reminder of how difficult cohabitation between the two men for this type of responsibilities would have been for everyone. Obviously, this incompatibility had not escaped Didier Deschamps, one of the reasons why Tchouameni was also named, so as not to designate a profile that was too distant regarding the role of captain of the Blues. Moreover, in recent weeks, the newspaper argued that an appointment of Maignan as captain could have somewhat offended Kylian Mbappé, in the sense that this decision could have been perceived as a way of giving power to the French goalkeeper.