Kylian Mbappe, the young phenom threatening to dwarf the exploits of Pele in the World Cup, is everything that is good and bad about football.
Le Petit Prince from the banlieues of Paris plays with the freshness of youth and the skills of a streetside charmer, forever outwitting and outrunning the pursuing pack aghast at his guts.
But this is also a story of greed, costs and ethical dilemmas that are intertwined with geopolitical powerplay, energy diplomacy, state-owned clubs and hand-in-glove governments with multi-million-dollar paychecks and even more lucrative secret deals.
And in the miraculously airdropped Al Bayt Stadium in the midst of the desert gold, England will again engage with Mbappe in a game of catch-me-if-you-can. Much like the young Leonardo DiCaprio in the film, Mbappe’s tricks are many, and the agencies chasing him are almost always a step behind.
And whatever is England manager Gareth Southgate’s answer – a continuing back-four or a back-three – to the dilemma, Kylie Walker, the most mobile of his centre-backs, would be entrusted with this thankless job assigned to Tom Hank’s Carl Hanratty. Hanratty had to catch Di Caprio once, but for Walker it will at least be a 90-minute ordeal. (At 35.3km/hr, the French striker has been a kilometre faster than the English defender.)
Mbappe, already with five goals and two assists, has forged a brilliant heist partnership with left-back Theo Hernandez and midfielder Adrien Rabiot to overload the left to drag defenders all over the place. The Paris Saint-Germain attacker has been the focal point of the French attack, involved in 36 attacking sequences with 157 touches in the attacking third, twice more than next best Antoine Griezmann (102).
“England will have prepared for Kylian, but he is in a position to make the difference. He was not in top form against Poland, but he was decisive,” France manager Didier Deschamps said in his pre-match press conference. “Pace is often one of the keys to the match. When quick, the opponent has less time to be organised. You need more than just pace to score goals. You can stop a lot of things, but it’s very difficult to stop someone who is very quick, especially in transitions.”
England, which on average has employed the most advanced high line in the tournament (47.3m), might sit back further to deal with France’s fast breaks led by Mbappe.
England’s teenage midfielder Jude Bellingham has provided a much-needed spark to the side. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
A move to three centre-backs for extra protection against Mbappe’s explosive pace might jeopardise Southgate’s midfield balance, where Declan Rice has sat at the base, allowing the youthful exuberance of Jude Bellingham and the experienced positioning of Jordan Henderson to exert control. (Also, a poolside gig by Robbie Williams on the match eve would have, hopefully, boosted morale, though Ed Sheeran didn’t prove such a lucky mascot the last time.)
But the Mbappe-Hernandez combination on the left offers England a defensive weakness to exploit. With Jules Kounde also operating in an unfamiliar role on the right side of the French backline, England will look to create further trouble with the dribbling skills and directness of Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden. With three cross assisted goals and two from set pieces, England would continue to use the wings and test Hugo Lloris’s perceived discomfort against high balls.
As both managers employ a pragmatic and conservative approach that makes international teams look almost similar these days, who will play cat or mouse on Saturday night is still not clear.
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