Jérémy Jacquet has only just made his senior France debut and he’s already getting some very good reviews.
The Liverpool defender started against Belgium on Monday night as France won 1-0 in Brussels, playing the full 90 minutes alongside Maxence Lacroix.
For a 21-year-old making his first appearance for his country, that’s some introduction.
And the reaction afterwards has been very encouraging.
L’Équipe described Jacquet’s performance as very promising, while Goal gave him a 7/10 rating and praised his composure, positioning and the way he helped deal with Belgium’s attacking threat.
The numbers back that up too.
Jacquet had 88 touches and completed 92 per cent of his passes. He made four tackles and won six of his nine duels, while his 10 passes into the final third were joint-most for France.
Not bad for your first senior international appearance.
What I particularly like is that Jacquet doesn’t seem to have gone into the game trying to prove he’s a superstar.
He just played his game.
There was a calmness about him, and that’s something we’ve already seen at Liverpool.
He’s aggressive when he needs to be, he’s comfortable with the ball and he doesn’t seem frightened by the occasion. Belgium tried to put France under pressure at different stages, but Jacquet looked like he belonged there.
That’s probably the biggest compliment you can give him.
He looked like an international footballer.
And this wasn’t some meaningless friendly either. It was a Nations League game against Belgium, away from home, with Zinedine Zidane making nine changes to the France team that had beaten Türkiye in their previous match.
Jacquet was one of three players making their senior debuts for France, and Reuters reported that the newcomers left a positive impression as France secured a 1-0 victory.
Liverpool supporters already knew there was something about this kid.
We’ve seen it at Anfield.
We’ve seen him alongside Virgil van Dijk.
We’ve seen him compete physically and make important defensive interventions.
But seeing him step into international football and immediately look comfortable is another thing altogether.
And I have to admit, I’m really enjoying watching his development.
Liverpool paid a reported £60 million to bring Jacquet in, so there was obviously a lot of expectation attached to him. But he’s not behaving like someone weighed down by the price tag.
He’s just getting on with playing football.
Even Jacquet himself wasn’t completely satisfied with his performance.
After the match, he admitted he was happy with the win and his debut but felt he could have done better in a couple of attacking situations and wanted to improve his distribution after winning the ball.
I actually like hearing that.
There’s no need for a 21-year-old to come out after his first France cap and tell everyone how brilliant he was.
He’s already looking at what he could have done better.
That’s exactly what you want.
And from Liverpool’s point of view, this is another reason to be excited about what they have signed.
Jacquet isn’t simply gaining experience at club level anymore.
He’s now getting international experience alongside some of the best players France has available.
He has played with Van Dijk at Liverpool.
Now he’s playing against some of the best attackers in international football.
That’s only going to help him.
The really interesting part will be seeing where Jacquet goes from here.
One good international performance doesn’t suddenly make him the finished article. He’s still 21 and there will be difficult games, mistakes and periods where he has to learn.
But that’s fine.
Liverpool don’t need the finished article.
They need a young centre-back with the potential to become one.
And everything we’ve seen so far suggests they might have found exactly that.
Jacquet helped France keep a clean sheet on his debut.
He won six duels.
He made four tackles.
He looked comfortable on the ball.
And now he’s getting praise from the French media as well as Liverpool supporters.
Jamie (The Kopite View)
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