"A difficult period, physically and psychologically': Deschamps on Mbappe’s struggles

Saint-Denis (The Uttam Hindu): Despite Kylian Mbappe not being a part of the French national team for a second consecutive international break, the Real Madrid forward is still the talk of the town. Head coach Didier Deschamps revealed he believes ‘there is a physical and psychological’ element that has led to the striker’s rough patch. "It's a fact that he is in a difficult situation. Obviously, he is going through a period which is not the happiest of his career. He wanted to come; I think it's better for him (not to be selected) at the moment. Everybody can go through a difficult period. There is a physical element and a psychological one," Deschamps told broadcaster TF1. The 25-year-old had missed out on France’s previous international break through a knee injury and was not called up for the games against Israel and Italy. He has not scored a goal for Les Bleus since June. France played out a goal-less draw against Israel, on the night the nation recorded their lowest ever attendance (16,611) outside of the Covid-19 pandemic, but secured qualification for the next round of UEFA Nations League.

The game between France and Italy will potentially decide who will grab the top spot in League A Group 2. "I can't be satisfied with what we produced. We should have won. We're capable of doing better. We could have done more against an opponent that was very compact and wasted a lot of time. We had the chances to win, but we weren't efficient enough. There was much more energy in the second half, but we still couldn't score," Deschamps had told reporters in the post-game conference.