Real Madrid are currently trying to work out why one of the best forwards in the world looks so very far from the first 9 years of his professional career. Kylian Mbappe does still have nine goals for Los Blancos this season, but just two in his last nine appearances, which date back to September.
One of the problems that has been picked up on is the difficulty that Mbappe is having to beat players: the French forward has been characterised by his abilty to glide past defenders with lightning pace, allowing him to work so many shooting opportunities. While Mbappe has not looked slow, the electric pace that scares defenders has been seen only on occasion this season.
According to Reliefthis cannot come as a complete surprise to Los Blancos. They claim that before Real Madrid tied up the signing of Mbappe, they had received information that physically, Mbappe was on the decline. The data in the report showed that year on year since the 2018 World Cup (when Mbappe was still a teenager), he has been going downhill in terms of distance covered, high intensity efforts, sustained speed amongst other measures.
In 8 of #RealMadrid‘s last 11 games, one or more players have left the pitch injured. (Diario AS) pic.twitter.com/6sAJOuKShk
— Football España (@footballespana_) November 30, 2024
This in no way impacted their decision to sign him. Goals, assists and the star power that Mbappe would bring to the club weighed much more than any data on his physical performance, as is logical. It is something that is being seen this season though, with Mbappe averaging the least distance covered per game of any Real Madrid player, at 8.9km per game. The likes of Jude Bellingham and Fede Valverde are the top end of the scale at 10.4km and 10.2km respectively, while Vinicius Junior averages 9.6km.
Regardless of the data, not signing Mbappe on a free would have been a strange move. That said, it does perhaps mean that Mbappe is having to learn to slighly adjust his game. In a team beset by injuries, and without finding the formula in attack, that looks a lot worse than it might in other circumstances. While his physical shape might be an issue, his confidence is no doubt the issue for Carlo Ancelotti right now.
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