Kylian Mbappe is in a difficult situation. He has been less effective for a year now. These are the views ofDidier Deschamps himself during a relaxed interview in which he spoke with Lizarazu for TF1 about the problems that today’s players have to face compared to those of his time: the calendar, social networks and pressure affect the physical and also the mental. Although at that time the talk was more generic, when it came to Mbappe, the coach, who is not comfortable talking about the reasons for the discard, also got wet about the fact that Kylian is playing as a 9 in his club and in the national team and this may harm him: “He has been less effective in 2024, but I see no reason to think that he will not return to his level. He is going through a difficult time, but he has everything to return. He can play in several positions and, although you are going to tell me that I’m crazy to put him as a center forward, with his last two coaches at his club (Luis Enrique and Ancelotti) he has played as a center forward as well.”
The reality is that Mbappe’s slump, beyond his physical condition and the fact that he has changed clubs and needs a process of adaptation, also coincides with his position as a reference point. Karim Benzema, in his interview on El Chiringuito, was the most forceful in this regard when analyzing his role at Madrid and the fact that he is not at his level: “For me, the problem is that he is not a center forward. Mbappe is not. Every time he plays with the national team as a ‘9’ he is not well. It is not his position. But the problem is that on the left there is a guy who is like him. At the same level, Vinicius. So there is a problem… He will have to get into his head that he is a 9″.
Deschamps, for his part, has followed Mbappe’s adaptation with Ancelotti. “He clearly does not have the profile of Olivier Giroud, then it depends on the opponent you are facing. It is clear that he has more preference for the left side, even the right, where I have seen him develop in recent games with Madrid. Then it is a question of balance and giving freedom to the players.” As the France coach says, Kylian has been seen a little more on the right and, without going any further, his assist against Dortmund for Rudiger’s shot came from a good move on that side.
You’re going to tell me that I’m crazy because he plays as a No.9, but with his last two coaches he has played in this position.
Condemned to play as a number 9?
The truth is that both in France and at Madrid, Kylian seems doomed to assume that he will be the No.9. Giroud has already retired and there are no strikers like him in the group. Neither Kolo Muani nor Marcus Thuram are, and the coach has almost always preferred the Madrid player as a reference point, also to save him defensive efforts in the Euro, where he was no longer at his best. A similar situation occurs at Real Madrid with the departure of Joselu, who was not a starter, and before that with Karim Benzema. The other No.9 is Endrick, but the problem has already been explained by Benzema: to put another No.9 and throw Mbappe to the left you have to move Vinicius. However, Real Madrid’s coach already said it even last season, before Mbappe’s arrival was confirmed, and he confirmed it again in pre-season: “He has played more in that area and will continue to do so,” he said in August.
What Ancelotti asks of him: the role of Benzema
Mbappe has entered a slump at Real Madrid as his numbers show. He has gone four games without scoring: two in LaLiga and the last two in the Champions League. Since his absence in the derby due to injury on September 29 and agreeing with Deschamps not to go to the two matches last October to recover, he has scored just once, against Celta Vigo. And this is despite the fact that before the derby he seemed to have woken up, with five goals and an assist in four LaLiga games. That rest certainly did not have the desired effect. His controversial trip to Stockholm, while he had permission like the rest of Ancelotti’s group without international commitments, was not well received by some media and French fans for not having gone to Deschamps’ call.
But it seems that Mbappe will have to stay afloat as a No.9 unless Carletto looks for another solution before facing Leganes and then Liverpool at Anfield. However, his initial idea was explained not long ago, when he was asked if he is also going to ask him to defend, in line with the private conversation that appears in Luis Enrique’s documentary in which the coach asks him that he has to defend like Jordan to be the best. “Let him score. I prefer him to score goals than to press. The position of centre-forward has not changed much. I ask him the same thing I asked Benzema. Position yourself well to be ready”.
A long-standing problem
Mbappe has accepted his role as a No.9 with much more diplomacy than in previous years. His complaint in October 2022 with Galtier, then PSG coach, caused some controversy, when the striker admitted that with France he felt more comfortable having Giroud as a No.9: “I play differently with France. I am asked to do different things here than at PSG. Here I have much more freedom. The coach knows that we have Giroud as a No.9 who fixes the defenses and I can go into space. In Paris it is different, that does not exist. I am asked to be a pivot and it is different”. On social media, after a draw against Reims, he posted a photo of the match with the following: “Draw #thisisparis #pivotgang”.
