PREVIEWING Spain vs. France Euro 2024 👀 ‘MBAPPE HASN’T BEEN GOOD ENOUGH’ – Steve McManaman | ESPN FC

PREVIEWING Spain vs. France Euro 2024 👀 ‘MBAPPE HASN’T BEEN GOOD ENOUGH’ – Steve McManaman | ESPN FC

Tuesday brings with it the start of these semi-finals in the euros and it is the big one first stop between Spain and France and there’s been a lot of talk about Killian mbappe status after he had to come off in that quarterfinal against Portugal well here is what Didier desam has had to say about it all he said don’t you think he’s already made enough history with what he’s done so far he wants to make even more history during the preparation he had a little back problem too but kilan is here even if he’s not 100% desent I know very well that for the opponent knowing he’s playing makes them think and forces them to adapt let’s welcome in Julie Lon and sidlo as well we will start with you Jules should theum start mbappe in this semi-final against Spain I think he will start him but we can debate on whether he should start him or not uh because it’s true and Des is right he’s not 100% physically he had that back problem he had a knee issue he’s got obviously the mask and the broken nose which I think has hindered him so far in this tournament there there’s no doubt he hates wearing the mask he he says he doesn’t see the ball properly doesn’t see the game properly whether it’s an excuse or not it doesn’t doesn’t matter so much the fact is he’s not 100% he’s not fully fit and he hasn’t been good at all however he still killing mbappe and you still really need him especially if it turns out that on Tuesday he actually has a good game so there’s not even a debate I think in des’s mind that he will start tomorrow where do you stand on it m because we’ve been talking throughout this tournament about players not quite 100% for whatever reason it may be injury whether they’re out of form at what point does it impact the team or is it the case this is a superstar we have to play in whatever percentage he that I think there’s only certain people in certain teams that are so-called Superstars and are effectively bigger than the team and Killian’s one of them Cristiano is another lonel Messi is another regardless of all their form and they all three of their form in the respective competitions has been really poor this these in these tournaments but Killian will play if he wants to play it would be his decision and his decision alone and not did De shamp but his form hasn’t been good enough I don’t know whether he can we discussed it the other day I don’t know whether he can play with a different type of mask on maybe a PE spe mask which is clear uh whether he can play with just some sort of bandage over his nose so he can see but he’s clearly being inhibited by this mask or by his res respiratory problems so I we don’t know the full story but what you’d have to say is he will have to perform and be at his utmost best if he’s going to beat the Spanish team cuz they are the stand outside of the tournament absolutely Jules is there any talk on that what he will do if there’s anything he can do to help him in the mask situation well this is his fifth mask that is’s had the one that he’s wearing now uh the kind of Batman Batman esque mask I don’t think there’s another one coming certainly not now for the start of the season if he still needs to wear it maybe but for now this this would be it will be the same one that we saw uh in the Belgium game and obviously in the Portugal game as well what would you do Stevie cuz Frank said here the other day that for the best of everybody he shouldn’t play as a manager what would you do I think he plays you know I think it’s important what the says about the opposition if they see mbappe’s playing uh I don’t think if you went and ask the opposition do you want to play or not every single one of them would say well no I don’t care I don’t Mas him not I don’t want him playing so I I would start him 100% And and see what he produces and if he doesn’t produce anything then you can take him off but when you’ve got a guy who’s capable of producing something from nothing even with a mask on then you got to start them and if it’s not going well and it smells a bit like what’s happened previously then guess what you can take them off has it been a big topic of conversation Sid among the Spanish media mbappe’s participation in this game yeah of course it has I mean obviously the focus from Spain point of view is Spain themselves but mbappe is the big the the kind of the the key issue in terms of looking at France in fact so much so that there been a discussion about what Spain should do about mbappe regardless of the Mask regardless of his form of course Spain are without Danny Carvajal and Danny Carvajal is the player that would have been one-on-one one against mbappe and there has been that discussion about whether they should change the way that they play or at least change the Personnel to deal with him because people look at this and they think okay so it’s kesos Naas kesos Naas is 38 he’s quick or he was quick once but he’s not as quick as mbappe so there was even a suggestion that maybe Karas changes size to try and take mbappe on one-onone uh L laen said that won’t happen he said he won’t put a left back at right back he’s just not going to do that but yet absolutely mbappe is the focal point from a Spanish point of view as well as from a French one you’re not in along there Maka yeah that was always the concern when Danny Danny Carvajal is a warrior he’s a proper right back isn’t he if he needs to defend he can defend he’s played against kilan on a number of occasions knows how he plays tesus Navas is completely different as Sid rightly said and also it looks as if nacho will come in so that side of the pitch automatically looks a little bit weaker but yet again Killian needs to be Killian doesn’t he they’ve got demele on one side if he plays they’ve got Griezmann there’s talk about Griezmann stepping out and dembele will play they’ve got bar who’s who’s quick and he’s very direct he could come on but you know as as we said before if Killian wants to play if Killian feels it’s fine Killian plays but he has to deliver sooner rather than later it’s all right saying what he did when he’s a hattick in the final a couple of years ago but they lost it’s all right saying what he done previous it’s everybody talks about now don’t they and um Killian needs to produce because he hasn’t had a great tournament so who is starting for France then Jules obviously if he does start what is going on with Griezmann will he be dropped yeah I think this is the most likely scenario now dembele coming on against Portugal had a big big impact on the game uh when he replaced grizzman after the 67th minute did really really well the end product is obviously always debatable but certainly what he brought with the ball was great so demele will be there I think and then kilan on the left hand side because I think the the target will bees Naas and Nao like Mak just said and then tur more likely turam only after training tonight behind closed door this was the the idea for deson and rabio coming back in Midfield no Griezmann desan has tried everything in this tournament for Griezmann different formations different positions wide centrally deeper higher up everything and not has worked and I think he gets to a point where desan says listen I love you so much Griezmann Griezmann owes everything internationally to to desan pretty much but there’s a moment where it’s just not working out so I I I wouldn’t be surprised if Griezmann starts on the bench tomorrow and rabio comes in for whom Jules kaminga for kaminga probably my go yeah M and I know this is a good debate to have but they’ve had the issues before but it’s he’s very much like a father and son kind of relationship and he likes his solidity the physicality the the brains that he has and for Eduardo he’s still quite young certainly much younger than rabio and I think as well as he did against Portugal with all that energy as you know because we see him every weekend on ESPN for Real Madrid he prefers the rabo and how safe maybe safer slightly rabio is compared to kaminga you know you got to think there’s a reason why France have won these tournaments World Cups and Europeans because of the manager you know we’ve been talking all week about about Southgate maybe not dropping Kan just because he doesn’t feel he can drop and we’ve been talking about Roberto Martinez with Ronaldo if there’s one thing that you know the shps is going to pick the team he thinks is going to win regardless of the name on the back of the Jersey that’s why theyve won tournaments previously when it comes to dembele if he is on his day nobody wants to be coming up against him do they no uh no but unfortunately his day is doesn’t come often enough does he for the for the paying public we know how exciting he can be we know when he flashes a goal uh in the back of the net how great that goal normally is it’s just that it’s normally followed by 17 attempts over the board or wide or frustration after frustration we know he cuts in on his left and he’s he’s very exciting but it’s the final It’s the final ball it’s the end product and it’s always been the case it got glossed over slightly because of was Big Money move to Bara and everybody presumes he was he was the finished article then but he hasn’t he wasn’t a barel he’s not a PSG and he hasn’t been for the French national team but somebody’s there to make to make themselves Heroes Spain are the big favores going into this game even though they’ve got a couple of people missing so if dembele does become the match winner if tru’s had a poor poor tournament if he becomes the match winner it’s fine they’ll be strong at the back as they have been if rabio comes in along alongside K they’ll be strong in the middle but it’s just whether they can find the goals because Spain will dominate possession yeah we’ll get to the favorites tag in a minute when it does come to Spain as you mentioned MAA Sid but who would the Spanish national team be more fearful of demele or Griezmann that’s a really difficult question to answer to be honest I think the way that griezmann’s playing I think they would be less concerned about him in in terms of the fact that he’s not at the best of his form of course he doesn’t have the the physicality the athleticism the speed that they would be concerned about and in theory at least memb has all of those things but of course the Spanish know better than anyone exactly what Steve’s just been talking about that idea that you get a Dem and say okay which demet is turning up and and the amazing thing about demet is he can be both brilliant and absolutely awful not just in the same game but in the same move sometimes you can run up the wing and you think here it is here it is it’s coming and then it doesn’t happen and so I I think they would be concerned about the speed I think this is a Spanish team that’s quite tired I think it’s a Spanish team that that knows it doesn’t have the natural pace that France has got and so I think they’d be concerned about that but there’s a huge amount of respect for what Griezmann gives France for his capacity to kind inter the game to understand the game but yeah I must admit I don’t think the Spanish want two Wingers running at them and running at them really really quickly because the other thing of course it does if demell plays is it means Spain can’t think well it’s okay we double up on mbappe because if you double up on someone someone else somewhere is free yeah it’s interesting actually as you mentioned some of the maybe shortcomings that the Spanish are seeing in themselves hereid and being realistic in certain areas because they are favorites coming into this game we’re talking a lot about France here is that the feeling in Spain that they are the favorites going into this Clash what are the fans thinking yeah I mean look the truth is I think that the Spanish look at the way that they’ve played and look at the the way that other teams have played and that includes France by the way and it includes England as well and they think yeah we have been the best team at this tournament but the belief that you’ve been the best team at the tournament doesn’t necessarily mean that you believe you will keep on winning and I think there is an awareness at the kind of um qualities that France have the way that France play May well make life difficult for them Spain have played different types of teams so far but I don’t think they’ve quite yet seen a team like France and it’s curious isn’t it watching France because to be honest you watch them and think they’re not all that good and in a way what frightens you is what you think they can do rather than what they have done but at the same time this is a very physical team it’s a very difficult team to overcome and in theory at least it’s a team that can run counterattacks on you now obviously that depends on mbappe’s Fitness and and how quick he is but I do think the Spanish look at this and think yeah this is tough this is tough even though they haven’t played well even though we believe we have played the best football at the tournament so far one of the big reasons Spain are favorites right now is because of the farm of those two Wingers Nico Williams and Lin M you’ve been loving what you’ve seen from the M yes I have but again as Sid rightly said they’re up against Tao Hernandez who’s had a really good tournament and Jules kundai who’s at times struggled but he’s very experienced you know that defense of of France hasn’t been breached often at all so as much as I love the fact that these young young boys in the Spanish team are very direct very positive you know want to attack it will be a tougher game for the war because K and Rabbi all sit it won’t be as open and they won’t be able to cut through as often and it’ll um it’ll be interesting to see uh L Mal against Teo Hernandez because he’s been very aggressive and he wants to go forward Teo Hernandez and if he goes forward the youngster going to have to follow because you don’t want Teo Hernandez and Kelly mbappe you know sort of doubling up onz so it’s going to be a tactical effect it’s going to be interesting to watch I don’t think it’ll be as open as we we’ve seen in the past with the Spanish teams but it’ll be it’ll be a chess match in itself on who overcomes each other how do you defend these Wingers the Spanish Wingers uh numbers don’t commit don’t be too far off them don’t be too tight I mean t Hernandez in particular will be getting himself in a position where all he’s going to do is hold up linal he’ll just hold him up because you can’t commit or he’s pass you and as I said if you stand off him then he’ll either kill you with a pass or he’ll get a strike so yeah I I’m with Mar the the two Wingers are playing against two experienced guys who know what they’re doing and particularly kundi on the other side will know exactly what he’s up against and I’m sure he’ll be speaking about it how to go about it and again he’ll be doing the same thing hold him up until you get some more cover and then show him inside the pitch so to where you’ve got more bodies where where where your friends are if L your Mal’s running at you you just show them in there where I know another one of my Mates is there and there’s another one there you just don’t let them go around the side of you show them inside all the time and kante will be there or Rabbi all be there to help you out easy peasy easy peasy in theory it is unfortunately the Practical is not always absolutely not but when it comes to predictions let’s take a look at what the team tonight are all going for everyone’s going for Spain except for Stevie who’s going for France but I do want to start with Jews here first because I feel as though this is a bit of reverse psychology Jews no no I think Spain are a better team and it would be very much what we’ve all said it would be attack V defense for most of that game and I think if there’s a team that can frustrate Spain it would be this French team and like M said I think they have never or said they’ve never really come up against a team like that we have the best defense in the tournament for a reason Saliba and meno have been outstanding really but I just do think that eventually I think Spain will find a way just score one goal it won’t be a pretty game to watch I can tell you that right now unless it’s a very early goal but I think Spain eventually will just drain a bit that French wall if you want and find a way to break them down uh Stevie nickel France I you can’t back against them you can’t and particularly the way this game’s going to go Spain are going to have the ball and when SP cough it up DeBell moani mbappe the pace of there them getting after that back four so you have you have to go with France and we’re talking about earlier on will Spain think they’re favorites maybe the fans will think they’re favorites anybody out with the Spanish FAA the players the coaches all the staff don’t think they’re favorites they know what they’re up against regardless of how France have played the Spanish players ain’t going around going you know what these have been rubbish the last four games we’ve got a great chance there rubbish they can’t score a goal they’re relying on own goals ain’t that’s not how they’re thinking they’re thinking right okay we know we’re going to have it but we better not cough it up in the wrong places because if we do the ball’s going to be in the back of the net and then it’s going to be twice as hard to break down a defense that’s as good as anybody in the tournament [Music]

On ESPN FC, Julien Laurens, Steve Nicol and Steve McManaman join Kay Murray to discuss what they’d like to see from Kylian Mbappe ahead of France’s matchup with Spain in the UEFA EURO 2024 semifinals.

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