Paris (AFP)

Supersonic with Paris SG, Kylian Mbappé appeared off Wednesday against Ukraine (1-1) in the jersey of the France team, where his career for a year and a half is marked by a certain irregularity, between injuries, lightning of genius and disappointing performance.

Where did Sunday night's "Kyky" go against Lyon (double)?

What happened to the February "Golden Boy" in Barcelona (hat-trick)?

Wednesday evening at the Stade de France, Mbappé marked the spirits by his lack of influence in the offensive phases of the Blues, well muzzled by the compact Ukrainian defense, and especially unable to find the flame that has animated him for two months within of his club.

"Kylian himself knows he didn't play his best game. I'll talk to him quietly. I'm not going to focus any more (on him). He wasn't in the best shape, maybe he was. he did not have good feelings, "noted coach Didier Deschamps after this frustrating first outing in the 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign.

There is something to be disappointed with, in fact, given the statistics of the young world champion in recent weeks.

Since mid-February, the 22-year-old "crack" has compiled twelve goals in nine matches, including a hat-trick and four doubles!

And his two outings without scoring in club precisely coincided with the last two defeats of PSG to date, in Monaco and against Nantes.

- Absences -

Among the Blues, the observation also works: the only defeat of the world champions in 2020, on November 11 against Finland in a friendly (2-0), took place without Mbappé.

But the French were also able to impress without him, in Portugal especially three days later in the League of Nations (1-0), a real benchmark match for Deschamps' men.

Taking a step back, the course of the native of Bondy with the Blues since the World Cup is far from the love story without pitfalls that the supporters wanted him.

In the last two seasons, Mbappé has started only seven of the fifteen matches played by the world champions, for three goals scored and two assists delivered.

Muscularly injured in September and October 2019, he had missed four meetings in a row.

A similar physical problem had deprived him of two matches in November 2020, while a Covid-19 contamination had cut him off two months earlier ...

Thus, "Kyky" could not assiduously follow the tactical experiments set up by Deschamps during this period, while his coach has been trying for many months to find formulas allowing him sometimes to refocus Mbappé in the axis, sometimes to make it evolve on the left wing, preferential positions for the French striker, aligned on the right during the World Cup.

Launched on the left of the tricolor attack on Wednesday, in a system which included four attackers, the former Monegasque did not satisfy his coach, even being guilty of a low intensity marking at the start of the action leading to the Ukrainian equalization.

- "Not a robot" -

Deschamps even surprised by choosing to replace Kingsley Coman first, yet much more dashing than his counterpart on the left wing.

"I thought that by putting him back in line, he could bring us his speed and his ability to make differences," he explained, acknowledging all the same in a hint that "some have a status" .

The status does not prevent errors, however, and if Deschamps did not wish to overwhelm his player, he nevertheless noted that he could have "perhaps relied a little more" on his partners, arguing nevertheless also that these could have "served him perhaps a little more in space".

At the heart of a grueling series of meetings every three days, will Mbappé still be present at the kick-off on Sunday in Kazakhstan (3:00 p.m.)?

Deschamps has promised rotation and is aware of the wear and tear that is affecting his striker.

"He is not a robot, he is a young player, he continues, has extraordinary statistics. He has given so much, he has the right to be a little less well, to have a little less legs, "Deschamps already said last week when unveiling his list.

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