Real Madrid legend Karim Benzema has said Kylian Mbappe does not excel at playing through the middle, which is keeping him from making a tangible impact. He also advised against moving Vinicius Jr. from the left of the field, saying the Brazilian was consistently making a difference.
Kylian Mbappe Has Yet to Live Up to Expectations
Amid mega fanfare, Mbappe was officially unveiled as a Real Madrid player in July. He joined the club as a free agent after running down his contract with Paris Saint-Germain. Everyone expected the Frenchman to take the Real Madrid attack to new heights, but that has not been the case.
Since Mbappe is operating through the middle, Jude Bellingham has had to drop down to midfield, which has robbed him of the opportunity to lurk in and around the box. As a result, Bellingham, who scored 23 goals and provided 13 assists last season, has only registered three assists in 11 games this term.
Things would have been fine had Mbappe kept his end of the bargain, but the 25-year-old has been below expectations, scoring just eight goals in 14 appearances. He suffered one of the worst nights of his career on October 26, as he veered into an offside position on eight occasions during Madrid’s 4-0 loss to Barcelona.
Karim Benzema Explains Why Kylian Mbappe Is Struggling at Real Madrid
Former Real Madrid No. 9 recently had a chat with El Chiringuito TV, where he discussed Mbappe’s struggles in the Spanish capital. The five-time UEFA Champions League winner said (via 90min):
“The problem for me is that Mbappe is not a center forward. Every time he plays for France as a ‘9’ he is not good, it is not his position. The problem is that on the left there is another player who is at the same level as him. You can’t put Vini on the right or as a centre forward, where he makes a difference is on the left. Let’s see how Ancelotti does that.
“Mbappe is not a ‘9’. There is a lot of pressure at Real Madrid, this is not PSG. A piece of advice? He shouldn’t give up. I don’t think Ancelotti is going to move Vinicius, he’s the best in the world right now in that position. Mbappe has to get it into his head that he has to be a ‘9’ and forget about the left. He’s been very good on the left and now he has to be good somewhere else.”
Benzema also had a difficult time adjusting to life at Real Madrid, but the Al-Ittihad superstar insists that Mbappe’s situation is not the same.
He added:
“My situation in my first year and Kylian’s is different. I was 21 and he is 25, it’s not the same. He knows that there is a lot of pressure at Real Madrid. If you don’t score a goal in two or three games, they’ll kill you. He has to learn to live with that. He has to put up with that pressure.
“Every game is new and you have to score goals, they brought him for that and he has the level for it.”
Mbappe scored a whopping 44 goals in 48 matches for PSG last season. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for him to make the same impact at Real Madrid.
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