Mbappé and good words / Ligue 1 / J16 / PSG-Strasbourg (2-1) / 29 December 2022 / SOFOOT.com

Back in competition with PSG this Wednesday evening, Kylian Mbappé hasn’t lost his good habits, especially that of wearing the costume of the Parisian club’s savior when he seems trapped. Barely ten days after being the hapless hero in the World Cup final defeat by Argentina, the forward has done what he likes to say and what he is good at, which is to shoulder his responsibilities. Quite the opposite of Neymar, who was foolishly sent off after receiving two crackers in under two minutes on the hour, and who probably missed his teammate’s show in extra time in this trap game. The French international wreaked havoc in the Strasbourg defence, before forcing the decision to pick up all three points by succeeding in his new favorite exercise: converting a penalty. This time he got the better of Matz Sels, another goalkeeper rather comfortable in this sector (28% success), perhaps confirming a new psychological ascent after his performance against Emiliano Martínez in the match of his life, under much greater pressure of a championship match stuck between turkey and bubbles.

“I have been trying to give momentum for my team to come back with victory and continue our season, in which we are undefeated. It was a world parenthesis, the club has nothing to do with it. » Kylian Mbappé after the success against Strasbourg

At 24 and after a month spent in Doha, where he finished top scorer at the World Cup, Mbappé knows more than ever that every goal, every move, every performance will be subject to scrutiny, in France and abroad. He also knows – and he has always known – that a player of his stature is not judged only on the pitch. In this sense, this end of 2022 could appear as a turning point in the communication strategy of the Parisian number 7, at least in the short term. After remaining silent for almost the entire match with the Blues, with the exception of three answers given after his brace against Poland in the round of 16, he showed up in the mixed zone in the labyrinth of the Parco dei Principi: ” World Cup ? Personally, I will never digest. My club is not responsible for this failure in the selection, I try to return with the most positive energy possible. I have tried to give momentum to my team to come back with victory and continue the our season, in which we are unbeaten. It was a world parenthesis, the club has nothing to do with it. » One way to bring PSG back to the fore after the blue break and to send a message: in Paris he is in charge on the pitch and in the locker room.

“You shouldn’t waste energy on such trivial things, the important thing for me is to give my best for the club. We’ll wait for Leo’s return to start winning matches and scoring goals again. » Kyks and Leo, best friends

Move, nothing to see

This is new with the Bondy idol, when we know that lately any of his media outings could rock the Parisian staff. There is of course the memory of the May 2019 UNFP trophies during which the famous “It’s time for me to have more responsibility” , but also last season’s ceremony during which Mbappé liked to have fun keeping vague about a contract extension or a free start at Real Madrid in front of the microphones. Most recently, in September, he himself opened a table discussion on the talk show when he explained that he had “more freedom” in the French team than at PSG. Everything has always been calculated and thought of by Mbappé, and this Wednesday evening, he chose to underline his total involvement in Paris (after presuming in particular that he had “he built (his) season on the World Cup”) and to defuse potential tensions upon Lionel Messi’s return to the capital. “I chatted with him after the game, congratulated him, because it has been a lifelong quest for him. Me too, but I failed, so you always have to be a good playerhe wiped out. Celebrations are not my problem. You don’t need to waste energy on such futile things, the important thing for me is to give the best of myself for society. We will wait for Leo’s return to start winning matches and scoring goals again. »

Go ahead, there is nothing to see or fantasize about, Christophe Galtier can rest easy and concentrate on preparing for the next deadlines. “The message was simple, it was to show that whatever happens with the selection, PSG are something else, and I’m still determined to bring all the trophies back to the capital.insisted Mbappé on his presence at the Camp des Loges just 48 hours after the final loss. We spoke to the staff before the final and I said that I would come back, whatever the result, because I felt good, I wanted to continue playing, I didn’t want to go on holiday right away. » A desire that the current year’s Golden Boot assumes leadership at all levels in a team where Messi and Ney are in any case. Facing Strasbourg, the Parc des Princes has definitively renamed the idol Mbappé, who now has his song and who came to celebrate victory in front of the Auteuil curve, something the other two members of the Paris attack trio did not they almost never do. The 24-year-old has won hearts and respect, but behind the kind words and this positive attitude there remains an evident ambition: to win the Champions League, starting this season, with a club that has never lifted it. Time is running out for those chasing time and records: Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar were 23 when they won their first C1, Messi was 18. And here the pitch takes over, as always.

By Clement Gavard