The mismatched clash between England’s right back Kyle and France’s forward Kylian could leave Kane’s men playing catch up in quarter-final tonight
Kylian Mbappe during France’s training session on Thursday (right) England’s Kyle Walker. Pics/Getty Images
France’s star forward Kylian Mbappe has become more threatening with every passing game. And it won’t be wrong to say that the England defence—right back Kyle Walker, in particular—has lost sleep in the last few days over his upcoming duel with the left flank-loving, lightning quick forward in today’s quarter-finals at the Al Bayt Stadium.
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There is a stark difference between both players. Not only in age—Mbappe is just 23 while Walker is 32 and physical attributes—but also in the manner in which they play their football. While Walker is assured in defence and prefers a comparatively slow build-up before picking up some good pace, Mbappe is light on his feet and extremely fast in his build-ups, often not even caring if the ball is correctly placed or closer to his feet. He knows that even if it gets away from him, he’ll eventually catch up. France skipper and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris revealed that Mbappe is highly focused for this one. “Kylian is preparing very well. He’s trying to ignore all the talk about him because that’s not something he needs. He is very focused on his objective both individual and collective. He’s happy and playing with a smile which is important for us,” said Lloris during the pre-match press conference at the Main Media Centre on Friday.
Walker will do well not to shadow Mbappe because one quick turn-and-take-off by the Paris Saint-Germain star could leave the Manchester City defender chasing a lost cause. French coach Didier Deschamps admitted that pace will be crucial on the night. “Pace is often one of the keys to a match because when you are quick, the opponent has less time to be organised. You can stop a lot of things, but it’s very difficult to stop someone who is very quick, especially in transitions,” said Deschamps. A head-to-head between Walker and Mbappe, involving their club sides, doesn’t make sense because City and PSG are completely different in style and structure—making this fixture a totally different cup of tea. And their only international meeting was way back in 2017 (result: France 3-2 England), when Mbappe hadn’t yet fully exploded on the international stage and Walker was a lot younger.
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When asked recently how he planned to stop Mbappe, Walker insisted that he would “not roll out the red carpet” for him in the “do-or-die” clash. However, England will do well to roll out at least another line of defence beyond Walker, in fellow deep defenders John Stones, Harry Maguire or Luke Shaw. England coach Gareth, who employs the 4-3-3 formation, must pull another man behind whenever they lose possession as the Frenchmen, through link man Antoine Griezmann, will swiftly build a counter and send Mbappe on his way.
Finally, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford will also need to be at his best. Mbappe comfortably beat one of the tournament’s in-form goalkeepers, Poland’s Wojciech Szczesny, not once but twice—first at his near post and then at the far end—in their Round-of-16 clash. The brace took Mbappe’s World Cup tally to nine goals (11 matches) across two editions. Over five editions, Lionel Messi has 11 goals from 23 matches while Cristiano Ronaldo has eight from 20.
There is still no guarantee that England will be able to contain France because Mbappe, the provider, is as efficient as Mbappe, the finisher. Against France, a sharp pass saw Mbappe help Olivier Giroud score his first goal of the tournament and enter the history books by becoming France’s all-time leading scorer with 52 goals, eclipsing the legendary Thierry Henry.
Deschamps summed up his star player perfectly: “I’m sure England would have prepared well to face Kylian just as our previous opponents did. In our last match [v Poland], Kylian didn’t show top form compared to the previous games, but he was still decisive, because Kylian is Kylian. He has the ability to make a difference at any time in the game.”
9
No of goals scored by Mbappe in 11 WC games
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