Dmitri Payet is a very good football player. That is about as obvious a statement as saying ice cream tastes good...when it's not melted. There are things in life that are just facts where there's no room for opinion. Payet falls into this category, and after his two very telling performances for France in the friendlies, every football fan should be hoping injury or a sex scandal does not stop him from representing France at the Euros this summer.
The way in which Payet plays is very similar to the grand big daddy king himself, Zidane. Relax, I am not putting him on the level as one of the four horsemen. All's I'm saying is, he reminds me of Zizou. The way in which he uses his intelligence, his touch and control of the ball and understanding of where to be on the pitch and how to drift past players and make plays with minimal effort.
He's been amazing for West Ham and he's proven that if you have a G on your team, even in a club as average (just being truthful y'all) as West Ham, you can go a long way in the league. There is no doubt whatsoever that without Payet, West Ham would not be in the top six and flirting with a Champions League place. His free-kicks, playmaking and the way in which he has carried this team with his amazing quality each time he gets the ball has been the main reason why West Ham have been one of the toughest teams to face...especially at their cribb.
Before seeing him for France, I thought maybe being in a new team and the pressure of being on the international stage may get to him. No sir. He played the same exact way he's done for West Ham, and he even managed to score one of his signature fade-away free-kicks against Russia, putting him as the premiere dead-ball specialist in the world.
First of all, France have gone up in my estimation as I did not realise the amount of good players they have. They don't only have a good first team, but a squad which is very important in a tournament that you expect France to go deep into. I refuse to have a gun be put to my head and forcibly put them as favorites, but I just think they will be hard to beat, especially with that crowd behind them.
Hopefully the crowd supports them through thick and thin because the Parisien contingent have been known to have little patience when the team isn't playing well.
Back to Payet. I for one, as a football fan want to see him as I think that if he comes into the tournament fresh, he could potentially be its star. So when you think of all the talent that France already have, and you have the icing of Payet who can be the playmaker of the team and get them going, it's an exciting prospect.
Ever since Zidane retired, I've always said that France have the talent but without that jewel that the great man was, they won't be able to take that final step. I've been looking at Pogba as being that jewel and maybe in a few years he will be. However, my sights are on Payet who this season has come out of nowhere, way off the radar and just might be that defining factor that France have been looking for to be a team that can bring home a trophy they haven't tasted since the turn of the millenium. HH
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