2022 World Cup: Adrien Rabiot, the revelation of competition with the Blues?


Back in force two years ago, Adrien Rabiot, also nicknamed the “Duke” reigns over the middle of the Blues within a moving triangle with the young Aurélien Tchouaméni and Antoine Griezmann, an invaluable pledge of “balance” for Didier Deschamps, who readjusted his plans in the face of injuries.

The fear of emptiness engendered by the package of N’Golo Kanté and Paul Pogba, pillars of the 2018 title, quickly disappeared at the Qatari World Cup. The coach managed to find the magic formula in a short time, without preparation but with the tactical finesse of the players at his disposal.

A new recipe that works

“I don’t need to repeat things to him three, four times,” he said of Rabiot, for example. The Juventus Turin player plays his part wonderfully with Tchouaméni (22) as a vigilant sentry and Griezmann on his right in an unusual position as a torchbearer.

The recipe is new but the mayonnaise quickly caught on around Rabiot, scorer and decisive passer in the first match against Australia (4-1), an appetizer before other delicacies delivered against Denmark (2-1) and Poland (3-1).

“He’s made a remarkable start to the World Cup, he’s in the oven and in the mill in the middle, he fills the gaps, he has impressive activity. I feel he’s fulfilled, it’s a chance to have a guy in the middle like that, especially when you know the absentees”, pointed out Olivier Giroud in front of the press.

“Complete Middle”

At 27, the Juve player says he is going through “probably the best period of (his) career” and relishes the media acclaim that accompanies his performances, far from the “fairly severe” criticism he says he suffered younger. “I’m not going to ignite either, but it’s nice,” he admitted Wednesday in front of the fifty journalists who came to listen to him at a press conference.

The “Duke” has long dragged like a ball his painful divorce with PSG in 2019, after ten years of living together, and especially his refusal to be a reservist during the Russian World Cup. But he has settled permanently in the tricolor landscape since his surprise recall in August 2020.

“He removed things that bothered him at one time, his positioning could limit him psychologically. Today he is a complete midfielder, a balance player”, describes Deschamps. At Juve, Rabiot strengthened his physical skills and refined his tactical thinking. With the Blues, he has gained confidence and is more attacking, reconnecting with the attacking qualities that made him strong as a child.

Chouameni compensates

“At the start, as he scored a lot of goals, I put him up front, but as each time he came down to manage everything, I left him in midfield”, said Martine Moulin, his first coach at the US. Creteil-Lusitanos.

The 2022 version of Rabiot projects more forward despite the already considerable offensive striking power embodied by Giroud, Ousmane Dembélé, Kylian Mbappé, Griezmann or even Theo Hernandez, left side attracted to goal. He can afford it because Tchouaméni keeps watch.

The quarter-final on Saturday (8:00 p.m.) promises to be enticing against Jude Belligham and others. In the middle, the English have “a bit of the same characteristics as us”, noted Rabiot. “They have important weapons but we are not inferior, the midfield battle will be important, that’s for sure”.



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