Qatar World Cup 2022: Kylian Mbappe levelled Lionel Messi in terms of most goals in the WC as France trounced Poland. However, French boss Didier Deschamps has yet to be contained with him. Here's why.
French striker Kylian Mbappe was on a roll on Sunday during his side's pre-quarters match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Being played at the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha, the Les Blues came up with a convincing 3-1 success, thanks to strikes from Olivier Giroud (44) and Mbappe (74 & 90+6). In the process, the latter scripted a remarkable feat, as he levelled his Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) compatriot and Argentine superstar Lionel Messi's feat of most goals in the WC (9). However, despite his achievement and success of late, Les Blues' head coach Didier Deschamps is not entirely happy with him, and here is why.
Deschamps feels that Mbappe is still far from his best and told the media on Sunday as per FotMob, "We know about Kylian. We've already seen him. He speaks on the football pitch. He didn't have his best match tonight, I don't want to accuse him of anything, and he knows that himself. But he can change a match in a moment. He's playing with such joy. We want to share those smiles with him. France needed a great Kylian Mbappe tonight, and they got one."
Meanwhile, being an analyst with BBC for the tournament, former PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino was asked if it was challenging to manage Mbappe. He said, "He's 23 and already won the World Cup. He's an amazing talent. The problem is sometimes you need to manage yourself because we are talking about a top three, top five best player in the world."
"It's not easy for him [Mbappe] to manage himself because he's not mature enough. He's still a child. But he's doing well. Sometimes people talk too much, but I don't think it's like this," added Pochettino. Under the Argentine, the Frenchman scored 60 from 46 last season, the most in Europe's top-five club leagues.