Zidane's Early Strategy: Mbappe Remains Captain with New Role

Zinedine Zidane’s reign is barely underway, but the outlines of his France are already taking shape.

On Friday, the new head coach named his first 23-man squad for the upcoming Nations League fixtures and settled one of the biggest questions immediately: Kylian Mbappe keeps the armband. No debate, no drama. The superstar forward remains the face and voice of the dressing room.

Where he plays on the pitch, though, is another story.

Mbappe, but not through the middle?

Zidane, speaking at his unveiling press conference, made it clear he sees Mbappe as more than just a central striker. In a squad refreshed with five uncapped players, the coach underlined the captain’s tactical flexibility but did not hide his own preference.

“He is capable of playing in all three positions. He has said it himself,” Zidane told reporters. “Me, for example, I like him a lot on the left.”

That one line will echo all the way to Madrid. Mbappe has been used across the front line for club and country, but Zidane’s wording hints at a France built around the 25-year-old cutting in from the flank, not wrestling with centre-backs in the middle.

The message is simple: the captain stays, the framework around him shifts.

No free passes without the ball

The next challenge came quickly. If Mbappe is central to Zidane’s plans in attack, what about his work without the ball?

In Spain, Real Madrid’s forwards have been scrutinised for their defensive output, and that debate has followed Mbappe since his move. A journalist pushed that angle, suggesting a lack of defensive investment from the attacker.

Zidane shut it down.

“It is a false subject, a false debate, it will have to be managed like all the other players,” he replied. “When we do not have the ball, we will have to make an effort. It will not be a problem for Kylian.”

No special treatment, no public rebuke either. Zidane framed it as a collective standard, not a Mbappe problem. Everyone runs. The captain included.

Steering clear of politics

The press conference did not stay on football for long. Questions turned to the 2027 French presidential elections and the recent controversy around Mbappe’s refusal to wear a t-shirt fully supporting residents of Ceuta.

Zidane wanted no part of it.

“I am going to dedicate myself to this task, manager of the France national team,” he said. “However, I have convictions like everyone else, I am a citizen. As for sharing them... Everyone does as they want, but I am going to try to dedicate myself to this task.”

It was a firm line. Zidane acknowledged his personal beliefs but drew a clear boundary: his public role is football, not politics. In an era where players and coaches are often pulled into wider debates, the new France boss is choosing to keep the spotlight on the pitch.

A new era starts in Turkiye

The real judgment starts on the grass.

France open the Zidane era on September 25 in Kocaeli against Turkiye in League A of the Nations League, before heading to Brussels to face Belgium three days later. Two away games, two hostile atmospheres, no gentle introduction.

By then, one question will dominate the build-up: will Mbappe line up on the left, as Zidane “likes him a lot,” or shift across the front line as the matches demand?

The captaincy is settled. The defensive demands are clear. Now comes the part that will define Zidane’s second life with France: can this refreshed squad bend to his ideas as quickly as his words suggest?