CITY Laporte French snub is hard to understand
WHEN France finish their Nations League campaign against Holland in Rotterdam on Friday night, Aymeric Laporte could be forgiven for finding something else to do rather than settle down in front of the TV.
Watching his national team play must be increasingly difficult for the City centre-back, who could be forgiven for wondering what on earth he has to do to get in Didier Deschamps’ squad.
The 24-year-old has been the standout defender of the domestic season so far, forming a formidable partnership with John Stones and playing every minute of City’s Premier League and Champions League campaign - the only outfield player to do that.
So with Barcelona’s Samuel Umtiti sidelined through injury for the November internationals, Laporte must have thought his time on the international stage had come at last.
Instead, Deschamps opted for Crystal Palace’s Mamadou Sakho for the game with the Dutch and a friendly with Uruguay next Tuesday. It beggars belief really.
Admittedly, Deschamps can point to the World Cup he won in the summer as evidence for the defence. Case closed? Not just yet.
The partnership of Raphael Varane and Umtiti excelled in Russia and will be hard to break up, but are we really saying that Laporte isn’t better than Sakho or Adil Rami, who are both in this squad?
The former Athletic Bilbao defender, who was capped at youth level by France, is reluctant to talk about being overlooked at senior level, but seems to be stung by the constant snubs, saying in an interview last week about the latest squad: “I’m not in it and I have nothing to say about that.”
Plenty of reasons for Laporte’s ongoing exclusion have been put forward, from his flirtation with trying to earn a Spain call-up while in Bilbao to a personality clash in the France squad.
He was included in a squad by Deschamps in October 2016 but didn’t feature against Bulgaria or Holland and hasn’t been seen since.
Last week a story in French newspaper L’Equipe suggested his absence was due to the fact he was something of a ‘loner’ within the group and didn’t always get on with team-mates.
But there has been no hint of that in his time at City.
Since arriving in January he has settled in quickly and has excelled this term, developing a fine partnership alongside Stones and becoming a key cog in the Pep Guardiola machine. That doesn’t strike you as a player that has problems being part of a group.
In terms of performances there’s little more Laporte can do on the pitch to convince Deschamps of his worth.
Only Jorginho has made more passes per game this season while City’s defensive record is excellent.
And for his part, while France keep winning Deschamps can shut out the calls for Laporte’s inclusion. But if international football is about the best of the best playing for their country, then City’s centre-back should be involved.