It’s fair to say that Kylian Mbappe hasn’t exactly had the dream start at Real Madrid.
It started well enough with a goal in the UEFA Super Cup on his debut. Real then strung together league wins as is the norm for them in La Liga, with Mbappe himself going on a four-game scoring run in September.
But it all came crashing down with a loss to Lille in the Champions League, the need for a huge comeback against Dortmund, and then an embarrassing 4-0 loss at home to arch-rivals Barcelona.
Mbappe himself was caught offside eight times in El Clasico, joint-most in a La Liga game since 2009. Madrid then fell to a 3-1 home loss against Milan in the Champions League just four days ago.
Now, the French captain has been dropped from the national side by coach Didier Deschamps ahead of the upcoming international window.
“I had several discussions with him and I made this decision… because I think it’s better this way.” Deschamps said. “We are on three consecutive victories. We must ensure our qualification for the final eight and to be able to play for first place.”
New captain required
Deschamps did specify that not selecting Mbappe was a one-off, but it is still a seismic decision.
Aside from Mbappe’s struggles, it opens up a question of who will captain France next week.
French outlet RMC Sport is reporting that Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate is in contention for the armband, alongside Barcelona’s Jules Kounde and Al-Ittihad’s N’Golo Kante.
“Konaté is a pillar of the Liverpool rearguard,” writes RMC, whilst also noting that Kounde has developed under new Barcelona manager Hansi Flick, whilst Kante has held the armband previously.
Konate is captain material
But Konate has too. He was trusted with the armband in both games during the last international break, after backup captain and Liverpool-linked Aurelien Tchouameni was substituted and sent off, respectively, against Israel and Belgium.
As a result, it would make complete sense for Konate to step into the captaincy this time around. He previously threw his hat into the ring last month, saying: “Being a leader is something that is innate. You either have it or you don’t,” and naming himself, Kounde, Tchouameni and goalkeeper Mike Maignan as captain material.
And his off-field attitude has been matched by his on-pitch performance, particularly since Arne Slot has taken over as Liverpool head coach. Konate has been essential to Liverpool being top of both the Premier League and Champions League, being one of the most aerially dominant defenders in England.
This followed a disappointing summer for the centre-back in which he didn’t feature at all in France’s run to the Euro 2024 semi-finals. He has subsequently played the full 90 minutes in three out of France’s four subsequent games.
Captaining France also bodes well for Liverpool’s future with the contract status of current club captain Virgil van Dijk up in the air. It is clear how much Slot trusts Konate and the sky is the limit for the 25-year-old.
