But where is Kylian Mbappé? This is one of the many questions that observers were asking themselves on Friday evening, after the stinging defeat of the French team against Italy (1-3), in the group stage of the League of Nations. Once again transparent, the captain of the Blues put in a performance in line with those offered during Euro 2024. A more than mediocre match for the Bondynois, and now a certain concern shared by a good number of observers.
Saturday in The Teamthe new Real Madrid striker was left with a scathing rating of 3/10. And the day before, some of the journalists and consultants of the sports media were even more severe. The question that needs to be asked is: ‘Will we ever see Mbappé again?’ ” asked Hugo Guillemet. And the journalist continued: ” At the Euro, the excuse was his athletic form, I hear. But since he’s been at Real, we know he’s in good shape, Deschamps said it in a press conference, he’s better, he’s in good shape, he’s very happy with his athletic and physical form. And in fact, what we see in tonight’s match (Friday) is that the touch of the ball is catastrophic. (…) The controls are missed half the time. The personal initiatives are unfortunate. So it seems complicated to me. »
“Where has the competitor Mbappé gone?”
Same story for his colleague Olivier Ménard: “ I’m starting to doubt. Will our ‘Kiki’ come back? “No better for Ludovic Obraniak: ” Where has the competitor Mbappé gone? The one who told us: ‘You don’t talk to me about age’. When you criticized him: ‘Aren’t you happy? It’s tripled’. Where is that man who shut us up every time we could criticize? I sense he is demotivated. He is no longer concerned. ” A serious concern that was also shared by Giovanni Castaldi, the latter referring to a reflection expressed by a certain Michel Platini a few years ago.
Referring to a Kylian Mbappé who was then in full bloom, the legend of French football calmed the ardor and sent a little message. It reminds me, and it’s starting to date, from memory it was just after the 2018 World Cup. Michel Platini, when there was a lot of passion about Kylian Mbappé, said: ‘OK, there is speed, but I advise Kylian to work on something else right now, because the day he no longer has his speed, he will be in a lot of trouble.’ And Giovanni Castaldi concludes: ” I can no longer understand the player he is. »
“There is something wrong”
Finally, Bertrand Latour tried to dig a little deeper into the issue, questioning Kylian Mbappé’s mental state. I think there is such a gap in level between the player he was and what he has been showing us for the past few months, any sporting conclusion is not reasonable. Something is at stake, which I cannot bring to you here. He cannot have become so fake (…), there is no more flame, no more magic, it cannot be linked only to his positioning. Either he is fed up with football, or he has an overdose because he has done so many things. (…) There is something wrong, I do not know what it is, he will probably never say it, or after his career, but there is a problem. »
