From our other sites
The story
Real Madrid’s Mbappé has hit back at critics who say he doesn’t pull his weight defensively, pushing back in an interview with France Football magazine. Reports of his remarks — to the effect that “there’s no way a player who’s scoring goals should be the problem” — split opinion on 5ch’s celebrity/sports board (Geinou Supo Sokuhou+). Some posters defended him, arguing that a player delivering results in front of goal should naturally be excused from defensive duties, while others countered that the argument rings hollow given the team hasn’t been winning titles — with some even pulling up Takefusa Kubo’s defensive stats for comparison.
Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé is pushing back against claims that he lacks defensive awareness.
[Highlights] Real Madrid’s four-game winning streak ends as Betis’ keeper shines | Betis vs Real Madrid
Mbappé has long faced criticism for not pressing hard enough up front, but he pushed back in an interview with France Football, suggesting that it’s precisely because he’s been a standout performer for so long that people go looking for things to nitpick.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
( ｰ`дｰ´)ｷﾘｯ (smug "there, I said it" face)
That one line was totally unnecessary. No need to go out of his way to provoke the haters.
Playing him and Vinícius together is just the wrong call.
If you have to pick one, it's obviously Mbappé.
Just put Mbappé at left wing and sign a proper center forward who can actually press, hold up play, and do the dirty work.
Well, the netizens ripping into [Japan coach] Moriyasu don't exactly look happy either.
Especially in knockout football.
Don't his teammates get annoyed by this kind of thing?
Guess he's just like Messi in that regard.
Re: #17
Messi is respected by his teammates and by the national team's fans.
Mbappé is disliked by both his teammates and the fans.
It's a totally different situation.
Mbappé: "At least I'm running."
Messi had a get-out-of-jail-free card at Barça where he spent all those years, but when he kept strolling around at PSG the same way, his standing got shaky.
Mbappé doesn't have that kind of status at Madrid yet, so if he keeps this up he could end up in a rough spot too.
Rodri, a Madrid native, ended up going to Barcelona instead. Well, he wouldn't have fit Mourinho's style of football anyway, and he turned out to be a fantastic signing for Barcelona.
With a past-his-peak Mbappé around, neither Real Madrid nor the French national team can win a single title anymore.
He's such a headache for any manager.
Mbappé's defensive stats
Apparently there's a Japanese player out there who doesn't even score and defends even less than Mbappé.
Kubo and Mbappé are pretty much the same then.
Teams visibly get weaker with these two around.
Kubo's numbers are actually better, no?
Though beating Mr. Mbappé at this isn't exactly something to brag about.
s://youtu.be/U4PSycQWl2s?si=UakSGdfqljgS1x49
So PSG, after Mbappé left, went and won back-to-back Champions League titles after all.
Him leaving really made a huge difference.
In Japan, defending and hold-up play get valued more than actually scoring.
I remember it becoming news just because he actually defended during the World Cup lol
Mbappé just can't defend.
No no, having "no sword" at all is the strongest style (a martial-arts pun on "swordless style" being the ultimate technique).
If not, what was even the point of bringing Mou in?
If anything, it's the reason Rodri didn't join Madrid.
Mbappé is a signing brought in by the club president, not someone Mourinho actually wanted.
When it comes to Mbappé, the president's wishes take priority over Mourinho's.
It's the same thing that happened at Manchester United, when Mourinho said he didn't want [Anthony] Martial because he wouldn't defend, and the board overruled him and made him play him anyway.
Even peak Messi and Ronaldo were given a defensive pass so their overwhelming scoring ability could be maximized, and they got criticized the same way whenever the team lost.
It's just that Mbappé's personality makes him an easier target for hate.
Under Mourinho, Cristiano Ronaldo was actually made to defend, though.
Japanese players can't win because they don't shoot.
Without realizing this, they just keep endlessly passing the ball around.
They finally noticed shooting is a thing recently and started doing it lol
Background and Points of Debate
Mbappé is a player who has long carried a reputation among European media and fans as someone who “scores but doesn’t defend,” and this latest remark comes from an interview with France Football magazine. Similar “exempt from defending” debates have followed peak-era Messi and Ronaldo as well, and within the thread, the defense that “it’s unfair to criticize a player who’s delivering results” was matched roughly evenly against the counterargument that “the excuse doesn’t hold up when the team isn’t winning titles.” Some posts even brought up images of Takefusa Kubo’s defensive stats for comparison, and it’s worth noting that opinions differed over how to interpret those numbers. There was also discussion of a more structural factor — that managers may find it harder to enforce defensive discipline on players signed at the club president’s initiative — suggesting the issue isn’t purely about individual player attitude.
※This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Geinou Supo Sokuhou+) thread “[Soccer] Mbappé, on claims he doesn’t defend: “There’s no way a goal-scoring player should be a problem. I don’t accept that kind of opinion.”“
Leave a Reply