Bruno Irlès (Pau FC coach) could find Kylian Mbappé at the Hameau stadium. - C. Calva / Pau FC - V. HACHE / AFP

  • Paris-Saint-Germain faces Pau FC (National) at the Hameau stadium on Wednesday in the 8th finals of the Coupe de France.
  • During this meeting Kylian Mbappé could find one of his former coaches who led him hard.
  • Bruno Irlès had gone so far as to exclude the French striker from his team. Since the latter saw a phenomenal ascent.

It is a crime of lese majesty. Dare to criticize Kylian Mbappé, superstar of world football. Living God for some. So, was Bruno Irlès crazy? Who took him that day in 2014 when the current coach of Pau FC, who receives PSG this Wednesday in the 8th finals of the Coupe de France, decided to exclude from his group the "French genius" after having lowered it a few weeks earlier to its management.

At the time, he was the coach of the Monaco U17s. The French international is 14 years old and has just landed in the Principality in the Illes team to continue his training. But relationships will quickly become tense between the coach and the teenager. It is the least we can say.

That season Peter Douala is not yet an agent, he follows his recruiting father for the ASM and regularly attends the meetings of this team: “Dad wanted me to see this youngster everyone was talking about a lot. I remember very well the first time I saw Kylian Mbappé because I was very surprised, he was only complaining on the ground and made no defensive effort. Surely a bad day. After that he was already above the others and he could plant two or three goals per game, "he explains.

An unrestricted internal rating from Irès on Mbappé's behavior

Except that for Bruno Irlès, it's not just the stats in life. He is above all an educator: “He is a very rigorous person. He has strong human values. He is very strict on behavior and discipline. Me, it was going great, but with others, it could sometimes be more complicated, ”recalls Tristan Muyumba. If for the defensive midfielder of this team, "it was above all a collision as there is often on a field or in a locker room", this will take on significant proportions over the weeks. Kylian Mbappé obliges. Already.

#LFC

Before facing PSG, Bruno Irles looks back on his past collaboration with Kylian Mbappé. The Pau coach is very happy and very respectful of the career of the former Monegasque. pic.twitter.com/y9uCzrlq9m

- Late Football Club (@LateFootClub) January 20, 2020

It starts with a very salty note, revealed by M6 a few weeks ago, from Bruno Irlès to his management:

Many difficulties with authority, rules and discipline, great lack of humility, writes the former defender. He does not hurt himself on a field and does not accept remarks about him.

Then, Kylian Mbappé is put on the bench or sent in reserve before being completely out of the group for a week. A crisis meeting then takes place to calm the game and convince the player to stay. But nothing helps. In spring 2017 after a new collision in the middle of a match, the tension was at its height between the Monegasque coach and the entourage of the future world champion. Race result: Kylian Mbappé is excluded from the group.

A handshake in Pau?

The player goes directly to U19 and begins his meteoric rise at 15 years old. “With hindsight, it was bad for good. Maybe Kylian needed it. He came out frustrated from this moment and behind it exploded, ”admits today Tristan Muyumba who plays this season in Toulon. The French international begins the 2015-2016 season by scoring three consecutive double goals with his new team. During this time, Bruno Irlès takes the direction of Arles-Avignon in Ligue 2 and partner club of AS Monaco. Nothing still says today if this departure had a link this story between the two men.

For Peter Douala, “what is good is that Kylian Mbappé quickly understood what was being criticized for him and in the following months he agreed with everyone. It is also thanks to Bruno Irlès that he became aware of certain things and that he is there. "But don't count on Bruno Irlès to come back to his opinion today, when the PSG striker has become one of the best players in the world:" I see that there are things that I thought that are revealing true. I reproached him for not defending, for having a certain sufficiency in attitude… I am happy to see that the boy seems to be aware of it five years later ”, he slipped recently into L'Equipe.

Pau FC wants to "lay paving stones" to receive PSG via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/dd4eIlNJ6q

- 20 Minutes Sport (@ 20minutesSport) January 21, 2020

The handshake may still be a little cool. It remains to be seen whether it will take place. Not sure to see Kylian Mbappé on the delicate lawn of the Hamlet three weeks before a knockout round of the Champions League: "Neymar and Kylian (Mbappé) are able to play on a field like this, predicted Thomas Tuchel, but it may be one game too many after Lille and the previous ones with a lot of pressure. It would still be a shame to miss this reunion…

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