Jean-Pierre Papin, legend of OM and Ballon d'Or 1991, is a rare man in the media. Discreet, respected, it is not the type to seek easy controversy. So when he decides to give his opinion on Kylian Mbappé, we expect a dubbing. It is quite the opposite that occurred. Guest of the show Rothen ignites On RMC, “JPP” released the scalpel. And the diagnosis is severe.
Analysis or spades? Papin puts the game of Mbappé in pieces
According to Papin, despite his obvious qualities, Mbappé will never be one of the greatest in history in the center-forward post. The reason? Two “unacceptable” defects. The first: his inability to be a real “surface number 9”.
“That, you have it where you don't have it”he asserts, explaining that Mbappé did not “The ability to stop and stay where you have to be”. The second: his head game. “He doesn't like to go to contact in the air field, it shows. »»
In appearance, it is a technical analysis. But between the lines, you can detect something else. Perhaps a form of bitterness. That of an old big scorer who looks at the new generation with a certain skepticism. By affirming that the sense of the goal on the surface is an innate donation, it closes the door to any progression for Mbappé in this area. A way of saying “He will never be like me”.
Papin cools the debate: Mbappé will not be a historic center forward
A cash sentence
This outing is reminiscent of those of other legends of French football. Thierry Henry, Christophe Dugarry, Bixente Lizarazu … They all, at one point or another, sent a spike to the star of Real Madrid, criticizing his attitude, his ego or his game. Papin, usually if measured, joined this club “old” who seem to have trouble with the status and the aura of Mbappé.
Is it jealousy? Simple nostalgia for a bygone era? Difficult to say. But by leaving its usual reserve to target as precisely the weaknesses of that which everyone sees as one of the best of his time, Papin threw a pavement in the pond. He had a little pleasure, that of recalling that even the biggest talent still has things to learn. Especially when the lesson comes from a golden ball.
