Deschamps sure Mbappe will be back among goals

France coach Didier Deschamps said he has no concerns about the form of Kylian Mbappe and expects Real Madrid’s new forward to rediscover his scoring touch when he reaches full fitness.
After France opened their Nations League campaign with a 3-1 defeat by Italy in Paris, Deschamps fielded a much-changed team against Belgium on Monday, with Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann starting on the bench in their 2-0 win.
Mbappe struggled at Euro 2024 after breaking his nose against Austria and took four games before scoring his first league goals for Madrid after his move from Paris St Germain.
“The French team will always be stronger with him and I’m convinced that in a month he will be better,” Deschamps said. “There are very high demands in his club. I have no worries with Kylian.”
Mbappe was brought on in the 67th against Belgium and looked bright as he tried to add his name to the scoresheet, missing narrowly from a tight angle 10 minutes from time and having an effort saved in the 86th minute. Michael Olise and Manu Kone were handed their first caps against Italy while Lucas Digne played his first game for France in more than two years against Belgium, with Matteo Guendouzi also returning.
Deschamps says he is using the Nations League as a platform to widen the pool of talent at his disposal and plans to continue down that path regardless of the results.
“I’m sticking to my course, to put as many players as possible in situations where we can test them,” he said. “It is the time to do that even if it you lose games. You don’t replace players with 50 caps by snapping your fingers. “I’m well aware that I am not putting the team in the best conditions,” he said of the numerous changes to the line-up. But we have to go through it. It gives us answers.”
Captain De Bruyne’s Belgium
future in doubt
Belgium captain Kevin De Bruyne’s future with the national side has been thrown into doubt after he slammed his teammates as “not good enough” after a 2-0 Nations League defeat to France. The 33-year-old Manchester City midfielder vented his frustration at the players and coach Domenico Tedesco’s tactics after Monday’s loss in Lyon.
De Bruyne complained a lot was not right with the Red Devils – third in the 2018 World Cup – who sank after a promising first 20 minutes. “There were six of us at the back. Even in the second half when we were trailing it was like that,” he said.
“It’s our way of playing that is in question. There are players who did not fulfil their role, full stop. If you are not good enough, you still have to give everything, which some people aren’t doing. I can accept that we are no longer at the level of 2018 but things are unacceptable.”
De Bruyne was also filmed on the sidelines saying several times to technical director Franky Vercauteren “Ik stop” (“I stop”) with the national team. Belgian media reported that De Bruyne also made comments in the locker room that were hurtful to his teammates.
But Tedesco insisted he did not believe that the 107-times capped player was set to exit. “Kevin is a winner, it’s normal for him to be disappointed. But I don’t fear his departure,” said Tedesco.
Belgium are third in League A Group 2, level on three points with France, with Italy leading with six points. On Tuesday, visiting a children’s hospital in Brussels, De Bruyne said he had “slept little” but it was “neither the place nor the time to talk about football”.