2023-09-12 12:51:52
He is no longer the strong-headed young boy we knew at Paris Saint-Germain. At 28 years old (since April), Adrien Rabiot is a mature footballer, undoubtedly at the peak of his football since he finally achieved, with Juventus where he has been playing since 2019 as well as with the Blues, a form of unanimity.
On the eve of facing Germany in a friendly (this Tuesday, 9 p.m.), the number 14 of the Blues gave a long interview to The Team. He, whose speech is rare in the media, was loquacious on all subjects, starting with this new status which he enjoys in the French team. For more than a year, the physical problems of Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kanté have made him, with Aurélien Tchouaméni, the holding midfielder of Didier Deschamps’ 4-2-3-1 in a group where he feels like a fish in the water.
His experience in Italy transformed him
“Since my return in 2020, I have played every match whenever I have been available,” he explains. It’s a different status that I also have at Juventus this season. The generation of players has gradually changed and I have also become one of the oldest (he is 28 years old). With the new generation, in the French team, we all know each other pretty well, we have links, and several of us come from the Paris region (…) This is an ultra-important step in a career to become a starter for your national team, especially in France with so much talent in each position. Of course that gives a lot of confidence for the rest. »
“The coach grants me more freedom than before”
A new maturity that he expresses in a position where he feels comfortable, in this double-pivot and on a left side where he benefits from the incessant activity of Théo Hernandez and Kylian Mbappé. “In the selection, given our offensive players, the coach asks me to be a little more in the game, to project myself a little less. Despite everything, I like this role because we are supposed to have the ball a little more than the opponent so we are called upon to make the play and I have to touch a lot of balls. I think the coach has also adapted to me in the sense that he grants me a little more freedom than before. He knows the player I am, the qualities I have and what I can bring to the team (…) It’s true that with Kylian and Theo, it’s attacking quite a bit. So you need a player who adapts. »
After a difficult first season, he explains that his experience in Italy shaped him and refined his football. “(It) gave me this tactical touch, in thinking, in the development of the game, the construction of actions. Also being able to read the movements, whether those of the opponents or those of my team. It’s a championship where we work a lot tactically. It took me to a new level. » Both tactical and physical: “It was said that I was quite nonchalant before, it’s a term that came up often. I wouldn’t have described myself as nonchalant, but it’s true that I had less of this warrior side, strong on the field, who can like to hurt in the duel. Italy made me progress at that level. »
Disappointed not to be among the 30 candidates for the Ballon d’Or
Finally, he also returned to the lost World Cup final, in Qatar (3-3, 4-2 on penalties), which he confirms he played with a hip injury and illness: “It was complicated, we’re not going to lie to each other, returning to France, but also returning to the club, with Angel (Di Maria) who was there and (Leandro) Paredes. Failing so close to the goal for something we all dream of was very complicated but, once digested, it helped me to continue and my second half of the season was very good too.”
More surprisingly, Rabiot mentions the fact of not having been named among the 30 candidates for the Ballon d’Or: “I tell myself that I still had a very big season on an individual level and because seeing certain players that appear there, I thought that it is not necessarily logical. But I’ve never been someone who looks for individual rewards, I’m centered on the collective, and those who decide all that may not have in mind the whole season of a player. Sometimes one or two good matches in the Champions League can be enough. »
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