It’s curious how divided opinions are perceived in Madrid fans regarding Kylian Mbappé, beyond the minority that still has bad blood over the Frenchman’s snub to Madrid in 2022 (that minority, which will become increasingly smaller as Mbappé decides matches, deserves a little analysis: it is the minority that puts very rigid moral principles before passion for colours; I do not belong to that minority nor do I envy it, but I deeply respect it, although I believe that when making ethical or moral decisions in football, as in war, we run the risk of being left without idols).
The numbers say that Mbappé has scored four goals in six league games (three from the penalty spot), one in a Champions League match and one in the European Super Cup final. But given the exceptional status of Mbappé, the numbers don’t add up: he is expected to have an impact on the game, to unblock matches, extraordinary plays to feed the nets. He has made several of the latter, perhaps the most descriptive at Anoeta: he got rid of an opponent with a bicycle kick and in two strides he was almost in front of the goalkeeper, who saved a dull shot. It is also a play descriptive of his start to the season: Mbappé shoots a lot, and he shoots badly or weakly or centered, but he shoots. He is a forward with an extraordinary ability to break away, a creator of spaces with a prodigious physique who has gradually become more comfortable with his teammates until inventing, as this Saturday at the Bernabéu, valuable opportunities. Beyond that, this matchday he gave an assist to Vinicius and left Endrick alone in front of the goalkeeper with an extraordinary move. With his back to his marker, in the first half (that is, with Espanyol firmly marking Madrid and trapped in their own half), he made a couple of impressive breaks that left him alone.
Friends of Real Madrid, who I suspect connect with a good part of the fans, insist that he is not: that he is disconnected, that he has no aim and they are saving his penalties, that he does not defend. I am lazy to doubt Mbappé: it seems like a drama to me. Mbappé is a fascinating red button that Madrid has blinking all game and that sometimes it feels good to press. He drops down to unload, pins central defenders, drops down the wing and easily gets rid of his defenders without the ball (in the goal against Stuttgart his marker does not even compete: he sees him start and lets him go alone). Sometimes he seems to withdraw from games to get rid of, in reality, the obsessive gaze of the opposing defense; other times – the first games especially – he simply seems to play attacked by necessity, something that he has not yet gotten rid of if one looks at his anxious finishing. Hence, there were no concessions to Endrick or anyone else on the penalty: the beast demands food to stop being hungry and be able to satisfy itself.
His adaptation, so different from Bellingham’s and so similar to Zidane’s, may seem exactly that: numbers for the moment. But over time his performance will become more suffocating for the rivals and his presence on the field more constant for Madrid, especially outside the area. Mbappé, today, is one of those players in whom his rivals trust more, going crazy trying to mark him, than part of his fans. He is more feared by the others than loved by his own, while Madrid plays with four forwards so different that it does not care, today, if Mbappé scores a penalty goal against Espanyol instead of scoring the four he could have from play. He is almost always at the end of the numbers, and at some point in the game.
