It has been a while since a defence locked down France‘s Kylian Mbappé. The teenage sensation, who has been tearing up Ligue 1 for a few seasons already, truly announced himself on the world stage with a mesmerising performance against Argentina in which his brace and incredible sprint through that creaky defence decided the game.
Croatia will have looked at that game, as well as his trickery and raw pace against Belgium, and thought to themselves, “How do we keep this boy of unbound talent and speed in a box?”
Mbappé is incredibly hard to restrain. Uruguay are probably the side that has given it the best effort this tournament, and that had been touted as the best defence in the competition – an accolade Croatia are very far from indeed.
Read more: France through to quarter-finals as magnificent Mbappe slays Argentina
The France forward has lightning pace, making a high defensive line a very high risk indeed. He also has an exceptional touch and is a precocious dribbler, meaning he can both run and pass through sides. If you question his ability to navigate tight spaces, you are a fool – his heel flick to Giroud in the Belgian box and the space he found in the box for his second goal against Argentina show there’s no such thing as a tight space for the teenager.
Dejan Lovren and Domagoj Vida stuggled to keep Raheem Sterling under wraps in their semi-final against England. Mbappé will represent a new challenge entirely.
Take Real Madrid’s lead
The only side that have kept France goalless this World Cup were Denmark, and Mbappé only played 12 minutes of that fixture. To go back to the last time that Mbappé was truly kept under lock and key, and didn’t just flat out underperform, you would have to go back to Real Madrid‘s performance against his club side, Paris Saint-Germain, in the Champions League.
PSG lost the last 16 tie 5-2 on aggregate, and Mbappé spoke of a gap in quality between his side and Madrid: “Mentally, we wanted to face the game against Madrid as best as possible. Nobody can say that we didn’t try, but this is football and although we have great players, Madrid showed the difference between having great players and champions.”
He showed a frustration with his midfield throughout the home second leg for the relatively poor service he received, and at his defence’s ability to contain the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored three goals over the two legs. That frustration came to the boil when he passed up an opportunity to square a ball to Edinson Cavani for a goal and decided to go himself. An immature decision.
Mbappé can try to do too much, and although he’s dangerous, if you cut off passing lanes to him and shut down service from midfield, he can start to make bad decisions. Luka Modric will have seen this during that 1-2 loss in Paris and will be encouraging precisely that tactic – by Croatia retaining possession and frustrating the French. Keep ball, make calm decisions, make them pump hopeful long balls to Mbappé from defence and win the headers.
Uruguay also contained him best because France had issues of their own to deal with. Cristhian Stuani and Luis Suarez caused problems in the French backline, assisted by Rodrigo Bentancur – which kept wing-backs Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernandez a little more withdrawn. As a result he found himself isolated at times.
Give him a horrible day
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His cynical timewasting against Belgium was a thought-through professional foul executed perfectly – his head was entirely calm during the offence. But Mbappé can also be guilty of poor discipline on occassion, as well as dissent. He got a booking against Uruguay for a blatant dive, borne of complete frustration.
Croatia need to summon all their powers of shithousery and attempt to get Mbappé booked early, feeling up against it from the off. Early goals. Physical aerial challenges. Stick knees into him as he receives the ball. Anger him to the point he does something exceedingly befitting his young years. Make him see rouge.
Beyond this, there’s not much you can do. Mbappé is an intense competitor on a world-class level already and will only get better. The international stage, which Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo seem likely to exit before 2022, is set for a new lead, and Mbappé seems every bit the understudy.
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Croatia are a strong collective but they will not outshine his individual talents – so their best chance is to ensure he’s the villain of the piece, not the hero.
More on the World Cup Final:
Fifa tells broadcasters to stop zooming in on attractive women in World Cup crowds
Quiz: Can you name the third-placed team from every World Cup
Why even England fans should get behind Croatia for the World Cup final
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