Ousmane Dembélé has come out hard in defence of Kylian Mbappé, saying the criticism of France's captain has gone too far as the World Cup begins. He said some of the scrutiny is so excessive that it has become personal, and he pushed back on the idea that Mbappe should be judged like anything less than a human being.

"Whether he ties his shoelaces or not, whether he pulls up his socks or not... it's too much," Dembélé told BBC Sport. "The criticism towards him is very, very unfair." He added that Mbappe is "very good with us" and "he's a leader" with France.

Why Dembele is pushing back now

The line from Dembélé was blunt. He said some people "go a bit too far" with their criticism of Mbappe and that they "shouldn't keep going after him". That matters because the noise around the France captain has grown while he is already under scrutiny in Spain after Real Madrid failed to win a trophy this season.

There is a wider football argument here, and Dembélé's comments sit in the middle of it. Mbappe's club season ended with Real Madrid second in La Liga, on 86 points, with a 77-35 goal record and a WWWLW finish to the league campaign. That does not look like a collapse. It does look like a team that still met a high domestic standard, while the bigger complaint around Mbappe has been about trophies and expectations rather than any simple lack of output.

Dembélé also used the interview to praise Didier Deschamps, who announced last year that he will step down after the World Cup. He called him "simply an exceptional coach" and said he will "forever remain a legend among French national team coaches". On Zinedine Zidane, Dembélé was even more direct, saying, "We hope to welcome him one day to the France bench. I'm convinced he would do a fantastic job."

For now, though, the clearest message is about Mbappe. Dembélé is not treating the debate as normal criticism of form. He is saying the tone has crossed a line, and with France only just starting their World Cup campaign, that defence is likely to hang over the captain for a while longer.

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