REPUBLIC OF IRELAND MANAGER STEPHEN KENNY has claimed that focusing too much on France's star man Kylian Mbappé could be a poor idea when Ireland plays France later this month.
The defeated World Cup finalists have players playing for some of the biggest clubs in the world and are expected to play a strong side.
It includes the likes of Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), Aurélien Tchouaméni (Real Madrid), Paul Pogba (Juventus), and many others.
However, the star man for France is Mbappé. The French forward has scored 29 goals in all competitions this season.
His electric pace will give Ireland's backline several problems, but Kenny believes fixating on one player could be detrimental to Ireland's chances of a win later this month.
“He’s only one player, they have a lot of good players, we can’t get overly fixated on one player,” Kenny said to RTE Sport.
“We’ve got to focus on ourselves. He is a terrific talent, there is no doubt about that.”
Kylian Mbappé went past 200 goals for PSG last weekend and I haven't really been able to get over it since.
Nicolas Anelka scored 210 club goals in his entire career, Michael Owen 222, Salah 252 to date...
Mbappé has scored 231 goals for Monaco and PSG and he's still only 24. pic.twitter.com/O8Ih9t9FQ2— Dougie Critchley (@DougieCritchley) March 1, 2023
France plays Holland 72 hours before the play Ireland, while Ireland will play Latvia before that.
Kenny went onto to say that he was not sure if France would rotate for the Ireland game on the Friday.
“We are not sure what they will do, in terms of whether they will make four or five changes. They can easily do that,” he added “So there is a level of uncertainty about that.
“We are pleased that the game against Latvia is Wednesday rather than Friday. That’s by design to give us the best opportunity, because we need everything we can get in this game, because France are obviously such an outstanding team.
“Only time will tell. The players are used to playing every three days at that level, because they play in the Champions League, so it’s nothing for them really. They are used to it.
“But you never know. I honestly don’t know whether they’ll pick the same team against Holland and against us, or whether they’ll make five changes. It’s difficult to predict that.”
Ireland's game against France starts at 7.45pm on Friday, March 27.
