In the first half of the season, everyone had all sorts to say about Kylian Mbappé, and honestly, we can’t blame them for that because he was pretty awful. He failed to score in his first 3 La Liga games, was caught offside a record 8 times in his first Clásico, topped La Liga for big chances missed, and also missed huge penalties against Liverpool and Athletic Club. And that’s not even all.
In the midst of all this, he, the captain of the France national team, told Deschamps not to call him up for unimportant games and then traveled to Sweden to visit a nightclub after he had said that he wanted to skip the international break to get back to full fitness. All of this made everyone turn on him. As expected, rival fans mocked and made fun of him for everything that was happening, but even some of his own fans turned on him.
Real Madrid had waited for this transfer for so many years, and now that he had finally come, it felt like it wasn’t worth it. There was the whole argument that Mbappé was not a center-forward and he was only being shoehorned into that position. Many began to say he was nothing but a luxury signing who didn’t bring balance to the team and Madrid should not have bothered with him since they already had some of the best wingers in Viní and Rodrygo.
But we’re now in the second half of the season and all that talk has changed. Mbappé, who was the butt of all Real Madrid jokes at the beginning of the season, is now one of the best players in the team, and frankly, in the world. He is in red hot form and he seems to be going for every award possible.
How did this turnaround happen? What the HEAVEN is happening to Kylian Mbappé? Well, first of all, the truth is quality doesn’t just disappear overnight.
Mbappe has been one of the best players in the world for years. He has done it on the biggest of stages including the World Cup final, he has broken several records and won several more awards. This guy is generational, an anomaly, he wasn’t just going to forget how to play football overnight.
There are certain players who will shine in absolutely any system and Mbappé is one of them. He will create his own space and score his own goals if he needs to. So yeah, he was always going to come good for Real Madrid But if we decide to examine this critically, it is obvious that Mbappé needed some time to get used to football in Spain.
What you get in the French Ligue 1 is different from what you get in the Spanish La Liga, so it felt like there was a bit of a culture shock when he arrived. There’s usually a lot more space in the defense in France. He was so used to being free and making all sorts of runs, but he couldn’t do that so much in Spain.
Also, he has been playing in a position that he has said so many times is not his favorite, so he surely needed time. And due to the expectations being so high, a few games where he underperformed led to increased pressure from the fans. Now, the increased pressure from the fans, possible language barrier, and the difficulty in adjusting to a new environment, new style, and new system, all came together to bring out the worst version of Mbappé we had ever seen.
But being a top player and an experienced professional, he was always going to overcome it. It was just a manner of when. A lot of athletes usually need a full season to adapt and adjust to new systems, environments, and cultures, but not Mbappé.
He decided to lock in and turn his season around in spite of all the abuse he was receiving. The lowest of lows had to be when he missed the penalties against Liverpool and Athletic Club in the space of one week. Real Madrid went on to lose both games so it made everything 10 times worse.
Even fans who were trying to be patient with him lost it. As far as they were concerned, he was ruining the team. Many were calling for Ancelotti to relegate him to the bench.
But Mbappé kept his head down, and bit by bit, he started to repair his reputation by finding the back of the net more often. After missing those penalties, he went on to score against Girona, Sevilla, and Atalanta. But the fans were still so angry at him for those big games that they didn’t care so much about these smaller ones.
What really started to endear him to the fans once again was his performance against Barcelona in the final of the Super Cup in January. Real Madrid lost that game 5-2, but Mbappé was the only Real Madrid player who left that game with his head held high. Not only was he Real Madrid’s best player that night, he was one of the best players on the pitch, period.
He scored the opener, was involved in Madrid’s second, created a chance, forced a red card, won 11 duels, and completed 8 dribbles, the most of any player that day. It was a truly outstanding performance by every metric and he would have surely gotten more praise if the scoreline was different. But Mbappé didn’t rest on his laurels.
He got back to the grind immediately, scoring 6 goals in his next 3 games across all competitions, including a hat trick against Valladolid, his first in Real Madrid colors. Viní missed the league games against Las Palmas and Valladolid, but Madrid didn’t miss him at all because Mbappé was firing on all cylinders. From being labeled one of the worst signings of the summer only a couple months back, Mbappé is actively in the running for the Pichichi, second only to Robert Lewandowski.
In his first 30 games for Real Madrid, Mbappé scored 21 goals. He also became the first Real Madrid player to score 15 goals in his first 19 La Liga games since Cristiano Ronaldo. Not bad at all.
With Real Madrid sitting at the top of La Liga, in the quarter finals of the Copa del Rey, and almost guaranteed a place in the playoff rounds of the Champions League, this could still go on to be a great season for the club and for Mbappé. If they end up winning even just 2 of those trophies and Mbappé finishes as La Liga and maybe the Champions League top scorer, he would definitely be in the conversation for the Ballon d’Or, especially with how he’s playing now. After the poor start he had, many people wrote him off, but here’s the thing – you just never write off a player like Kylian Mbappé.
They might be down, but never for too long. Anyway, how do you guys think the season will end for Mbappé? Will he win the Pichichi?
European Golden Shoe, maybe? Will he win his first ever Champions League and Ballon d’Or this season? What do you think?
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Catch you in the next one. Bye!
