Kylian Mbappe | PSG

I strongly disagree with the last clause of your final sentence (because it makes no logical sense) but understand the first part of your post. I just can't relate to it. Feck everyone else. All the enjoyment I get from football is from watching my own team play well (with occasional schadenfreude from watching rivals play badly)

My POV comes from experience, I have always had little satisfaction in beating a diminished or clearly inferior opponent. I like competition and I like strong competition otherwise I'm borderline miserable.
 
If I remember correctly Lequipe and other media changed it to Le Classique because there were complains about the fact that a french game had no business being named in spanish and that it wasn't even the equivalent of Real Barcelona.

Not surprised that they have tried to make it a big event considering OM & to a lesser extent, OL, are the two most followed clubs with passionate support. PSG obviously more of a recent phenomena in that regard and well, it's Paris and they like to have the headlines
 
Kylian Mbappe scores again!

(To the tune of the Martial chant)

In all seriousness, he will come good in the long run. He has too much talent not to.

Mario Balotelli had bags of talent!

Attitude has to be right!

Not that I am comparing his situation to Mboops....I have no idea how he is doing at PSG. Dont watch Arabic Football
 
Not surprised that they have tried to make it a big event considering OM & to a lesser extent, OL, are the two most followed clubs with passionate support. PSG obviously more of a recent phenomena in that regard and well, it's Paris and they like to have the headlines

That's not how it is. The Marseille vs Paris marketing tool has been used in early 2000s because it's supposed to represent the divide between Paris and the province, it's completely fake and has nothing to do with PSG liking the headlines. Also Marseille have historical rivals in Nice, Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne or even Monaco, then you can add Lyon in the 2000s. Lyon aren't really followed outside of their region which isn't really problem when it comes to high profile games because they have one of the historical rivalry with Saint-Etienne.

If France had a classique, it would have to be OM vs Bordeaux or Saint-Etienne vs Lyon.
 
That's not how it is. The Marseille vs Paris marketing tool has been used in early 2000s because it's supposed to represent the divide between Paris and the province, it's completely fake and has nothing to do with PSG liking the headlines. Also Marseille have historical rivals in Nice, Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne or even Monaco, then you can add Lyon in the 2000s. Lyon aren't really followed outside of their region which isn't really problem when it comes to high profile games because they have one of the historical rivalry with Saint-Etienne.

If France had a classique, it would have to be OM vs Bordeaux or Saint-Etienne vs Lyon.


What I find crazy in all that is that despite not winning the title since 1981, St Etienne are still tied for the most league titles won. 10, joint with Marseille.
 
This in a time when forwards are viewed on their productivity. Is Ronaldo better than Neymar now if you take away productivity?
No Ronaldo is better mainly because on decisive moments he is there and wins his team matches for me. That's why I think Ronaldo is comparable to Messi even though on ability Messi surpasses him imo.
 
Mario Balotelli had bags of talent!

Attitude has to be right!

Not that I am comparing his situation to Mboops....I have no idea how he is doing at PSG. Dont watch Arabic Football

Mbappe actually seems to have his head screwed on and has been praised for his overall attitude and work rate, so not sure the Balotelli comparison is relevant in this case.
 
Why is it so weird to hope that talents at other clubs getting massive hype don't end up living up to that hype? I personally hope that every young prodigy at every club that isn't Manchester United hits a plateau as soon as possible and stays there for the foreseeable future.

That said, drawing long term conclusions about how good a teenager may or may not turn out to be after a month or two of poor form is absolutely ridiculous.
That is maybe how you watch football, Im a fan of United and Ajax but also generally a fan of football. I like to see excellent footballers.
 
What I find crazy in all that is that despite not winning the title since 1981, St Etienne are still tied for the most league titles won. 10, joint with Marseille.

Well, historically the french league has mostly been a close battle, it wasn't an easy league to dominate because at the exception of the last two decades, the league always had 3 or 4 contenders mainly Marseille, Saint Etienne, Monaco, Bordeaux and Nantes then you have clubs like Lyon, Nice and PSG who have been periodically very good.
 
The title is definitely missing a #FrancisJeffersExpensiveFlopLOL

:D

Played 12, scored 4 and set up 4. Not bad at all.

You're right not to mention that the 18-year-old player just joined a new club and now plays on the wing in a different role than last year.

Great young player but the hype was way over the top. People were saying he is world class already which he is not. Maybe it is just a run of bad form or maybe last season was a case of being a new talent and not knowing what to expect. Managers and defenders now know a lot more about him. It will be interesting to see how he adapts to changing what he does when his usual stuff doesn’t come off.

People saying he is levels above Rashford were exaggerating. Mbappe is a great talent but he isn’t way ahead.

Played 12, scored 4 and assisted 4.

Rashford: Played 15 scored 7 assists 5

Not the same age. Not the same positioning. So, I don't understand the comparison.

:lol: Wow, he must be so tired. 18 year olds so famous for poor fitness levels. I hear all the mid twenties players in the PL need resting, they're all too tired.

Get the excuses in. Rashford has just turned 20 today and he is the only player to play in all of our games.

Sure, he isn't tired but I don't expect a 18-year-old player - joining a new club - to be absolutely brilliant week after week in his first 4 months.

Also the management of under 20 players has to be cautious. Henry at the age of 18 was treated as a super sub even if he was always decisive.

A "tired player" is a very very relative notion. He just needs to sit on the bench, refresh his mind and keep in mind he has some work to do.

It wpuld be a bad idea for the coach and M'bappé to have no internal competition for the right-wing forward position. Emery has to involve other offensive players.

A lot of people waiting for him to do bad here it seems.

Yes!

His game against Marseille was shit and there is no defending, it wasn't just about being tired.

But he is young and certainly don't have the fitness to play game after game 75 or 90 minutes.
The club play him too much I think, it's not because he cost 180m that you have to display him on every games, we have Neymar for that. He should rotate more with Di Maria.

I'm disappointed by Unai Emery regarding his management skills. A truly smooth talker in hindsight.
 
Mbappe actually seems to have his head screwed on and has been praised for his overall attitude and work rate, so not sure the Balotelli comparison is relevant in this case.

The point is that talent alone wont be enough at the elite level!
 
The point is that talent alone wont be enough at the elite level!

I made the same point using the same player as an example this summer. I will also add that at the elite level, you need to use players in their best role if you want to have the best out of them.
 
Balotelli never was a top tier prospect, though.
 
He's been crap for two games on the trot? Give him a break. Honestly I would enjoy seeing PSG's £150m signing flop but there isn't any real sign of that happening yet.
 
I made the same point using the same player as an example this summer. I will also add that at the elite level, you need to use players in their best role if you want to have the best out of them.

I deeply think it's great for him to play on the wing: it would make him a complete player in the mid run. At the age of 20-21, M'bappé will play as a CF for sure IMO

Think about Henry who started his career on the left in Monaco and Italy.

That said, Henry is untouchable :drool:
 
I deeply think it's great for him to play on the wing: it would make him a complete player in the mid run. At the age of 20-21, M'bappé will play as a CF for sure IMO

Think about Henry who started his career on the left in Monaco and Italy.

That said, Henry is untouchable :drool:

It's not particularly good for him because that's where he comes from. Henry was a striker who gained time wide as a young player, Mbappé was a wide player who learned to play in the middle and showed that he was a lot better there. The situation is fairly simple, you can play Mbappé wide but don't expect to have the best of him.
 
The situation is fairly simple, you can play Mbappé wide but don't expect to have the best of him.

Sure. Look at Cavani, he was on the wing when Zlatan was King of France and you know Cavani wasn't fantastic there.

That said, M'bappé is still learning the job and developing some skills likely to be extremely beneficial in the midterm. M'bappé has a strong appetite to learn IMO

Everybody knows he is destined to be a CF in the future.
 
Sure. Look at Cavani, he was on the wing when Zlatan was King of France and you know Cavani wasn't fantastic there.

That said, M'bappé is still learning the job and developing some skills likely to be extremely beneficial in the midterm. M'bappé has a strong appetite to learn IMO

Everybody knows he is destined to be a CF in the future.

I don't think that you are getting it. Mbappé needs to gain experience in the middle as a CF because his formative years were at winger. He is the opposite of Henry who expended his game by being used wide, when you use Mbappé wide, you narrow his horizon and you do it knowing that it's not even where he is at his best.
 
No Ronaldo is better mainly because on decisive moments he is there and wins his team matches for me. That's why I think Ronaldo is comparable to Messi even though on ability Messi surpasses him imo.

So Ronaldo is productive in the big games. Still talking about productivity.

Not the same age. Not the same positioning. So, I don't understand the comparison.

So Rashford is 14 months older, which doesn't mean much. Especially when Ronaldo is 2 years older than Messi yet every man and his dog has been comparing the two for years.

Rashford plays on the left of the front 3. M'bappe has made most of his appearances on the right of a front 3 for PSG. So they play on the opposite side of a front 3 so yeah that is pretty much the same position. M'bappe is a great young player but you are just trying to find excuses for him being slightly off form lately. M'bappe has more talent and is slightly better but Rashford has worked extremely hard to be this good.
 
That’s more than Lingard in the whole of last season but then Jesse runs about a lot brilliantly......
I knew we shouldn’t have spent 150mil on Lingard.
 
So Rashford is 14 months older, which doesn't mean much. Especially when Ronaldo is 2 years older than Messi yet every man and his dog has been comparing the two for years.

Rashford plays on the left of the front 3. M'bappe has made most of his appearances on the right of a front 3 for PSG. So they play on the opposite side of a front 3 so yeah that is pretty much the same position. M'bappe is a great young player but you are just trying to find excuses for him being slightly off form lately. M'bappe has more talent and is slightly better but Rashford has worked extremely hard to be this good.

I'm not looking for excuses and I'm not worried. Just hope both will reach their full potential.
 
So Ronaldo is productive in the big games. Still talking about productivity.



So Rashford is 14 months older, which doesn't mean much. Especially when Ronaldo is 2 years older than Messi yet every man and his dog has been comparing the two for years.

Rashford plays on the left of the front 3. M'bappe has made most of his appearances on the right of a front 3 for PSG. So they play on the opposite side of a front 3 so yeah that is pretty much the same position. M'bappe is a great young player but you are just trying to find excuses for him being slightly off form lately. M'bappe has more talent and is slightly better but Rashford has worked extremely hard to be this good.
If Neymar scores 30 goals in the group stage and does nothing in the QF's whilst Ronaldo scores the decisive goal in all the importsnt matches in QF's and nothing in group stage, Neymar would be more productive but Ronaldo would have a better tournament imo. And not only goals but creating, being dangerous oppoesed to tough defences etc etc.
 
I saw his last game and he certainly wasn't crap. I remember one amazing run where he almost ended up smashing it in the right corner, but it hit the net on the outside after passing 3-4 players. That run alone shows his qualities and undisputed, ridiculous talent. All players have "bad" runs, attempting to play him down is just utterly futile. Being so young certainly dictates that he will struggle with consistency, but over the next 2-3 years he will only develop and pick his battles carefully. Comparing him with Rashford is also a bit lame, as Mbappe does things Rashford would not be able to. That's not saying Rashford isn't a hell of an exiting player too!

You often see the greatest players having their own, unique ways of doing stuff - often things that haven't been seen before. Messi's touch and way of running past multiple players before passing/shooting into the corner (hard to describe, I guess you know what I'm trying to say), Ronaldo's stepovers and inside click-passes that he made his own, Zidane's turns and Ronaldinho's everything. Mbappe has that too, in the way he dribbles and leaps past players with extreme pace, his shift of tempo before leaving players behind him. A bit like Pogba actually.

I am not getting into this contest about Mbappe and Rashford, I just hope both of them stay fit for 15 years, because Messi and Ronaldo are leaving behind huge shoes to be filled.
 
:lol: Wow, he must be so tired. 18 year olds so famous for poor fitness levels. I hear all the mid twenties players in the PL need resting, they're all too tired.

He must have (excuse my presumption but work filter won't let me look up his stats) played every game he could last season for monaco in a breakout season, including extra games for the champions league, and internationally.
Asking a growing 18 year old boy to compete at the best of his ability with not much experience, plus the saga of transferring clubs, residency, and swapping your life around would be tiring for the fittest of 18 year olds, and this is where burnout applies, most people forget that they have lives outside of football which require time and energy, it can be mentally as well as physically exhausting.
 
I still think Right Wing isn't the best position for him.
 
Aye, I hope he’s a massive flop and doesn’t help PSG dominate the Champions League for years to come.

What sort of Manchester United fan am I @Sammyjunn. I should hang my head in shame.
Ridiculous post and completely irrelevant, if you want to see a young player flopping, thats on you. I wont judge you for that if thats how you experience football.
 
He must have (excuse my presumption but work filter won't let me look up his stats) played every game he could last season for monaco in a breakout season, including extra games for the champions league, and internationally.
Asking a growing 18 year old boy to compete at the best of his ability with not much experience, plus the saga of transferring clubs, residency, and swapping your life around would be tiring for the fittest of 18 year olds, and this is where burnout applies, most people forget that they have lives outside of football which require time and energy, it can be mentally as well as physically exhausting.

Lot of excuses in there. Lots of players transfer clubs and residency. Especially at a young age. In fact it happens more at a young age than an older age when they're transferred between clubs, farmed out on loan, come back, reloaned elsewhere etc. It's a poor excuse, it doesn't put everybody into bad form. Other kids are playing every game for their club too.

It's okay to just say someone is having a run of bad form, it happens to all players. No need to invent excuses and make out that they have more of a significant effect than they actually do.
 
Lot of excuses in there. Lots of players transfer clubs and residency. Especially at a young age. In fact it happens more at a young age than an older age when they're transferred between clubs, farmed out on loan, come back, reloaned elsewhere etc. It's a poor excuse, it doesn't put everybody into bad form. Other kids are playing every game for their club too.

It's okay to just say someone is having a run of bad form, it happens to all players. No need to invent excuses and make out that they have more of a significant effect than they actually do.

Some say his current form is poor. If this is the case, then there could be some reasons for that, no?

Who are these numerous 18-year-old players who operate at the highest level and don't need "excuses"?
 
The reactions here are weird, plenty of people wanting him to fail when he's simply not going to.

He's not struggling either, he's been fantastic so far for PSG.
 
The bottom remaining 13 of the PL are way better than the remaining 13 of Ligue 1.
From what I can see the bottom of EPL are losing almost every game 4-0 against half decent teams, there's little to suggest that they're much better than in other European leagues.
 
The bottom remaining 13 of the PL are way better than the remaining 13 of Ligue 1.
We shall never know.

The only reason people call it " the best league in the world" is because of the "strong"competition within the top 6/7.

Last nights footballing showcase (Newcastle vs Brighton?) was a pretty accurate display of the bottom clubs.
 
We shall never know.

The only reason people call it " the best league in the world" is because of the "strong"competition within the top 6/7.

Last nights footballing showcase (Newcastle vs Brighton?) was a pretty accurate display of the bottom clubs.

Burnley v Newcastle, and yes, it was terrible. I totally agree with you.

The top teams in the PL are class. The rest are garbage but Sky and BT do a terrific job of talking it up.