Mbappe has his collection of stinkers in the CL, and not just for PSG ether if we're being honest lol
I love hear stats. How many directly left to goals. And did they add the crucial penalties he took when clearly he shouldn't? He's a very good player, just not top tier.
He was a very good player this year, not top tier, but lots of world class players have weird periods. Three world class seasons in a row is a lot of seasons for a player that is not top-tier. I think people are just less forgiving because he's essentially Neymar lite and plays like trash for Brazil.
Jr is an amazing player. We just need him to get back to playing soccer, he can comment on ESPN FC about all the mistakes after he retires.
BdO snub made him the player he’s this season. Total lack of awareness in final third and lethargic while tracking back.
Videos going around the internet of Vinicius telling the team they are losing the ball too easy and that they need to just give him the ball instead. We get a foul called, Vini just grabs the ball and plays on his own, loses the ball, the interception in our area results in a shot on goal that Courtois saves, Courtois responds:
Once again, if an astronomical offer arrives from Saudi, we need to consider it with extreme diligence. I am highly skeptical that Vinicius and Mbappe will ever be able to form an effective understanding (they just dont have the IQ) or that they will defend from the front consistently.
People actually think behavior like that is fixable? Just think about how many idiots you’ve played with on your Sunday league team that do the same thing and never change.
I really hope Xabi can reprogram his software. I’m just pragmatic and have seen that by the time someone is 7 years into a pro career, 25 years old, they are pretty much who they are. Minor tweaks or additions to their game are what happens with great players at this age, not full blown regression like Vinny.
So players are who they are and don't change at Vini's age, with the lone exception of Vini whose obviously not who we thought he was after 7 years at the club but has revealed his true character and identity only in the past 6 months. Makes perfect sense but it also makes me very concerned about Mbappe. The guy came here at 26 years if age with a reputation for being a lazy, spoiled, greedy, petulant, backstabbing, mercenary who lost a step and isn't motivated to improve anymore - things could get ugly when that side of his personality rears it's head.
Mbappe instantly outperformed Vinicius in every attacking metric, and equaled him in off ball contribution. If I'm Vinicius I'm getting Benzema on the phone to understand how he navigated his career alongside Ronaldo. Vinicius can unlock a ton of potential, I feel he'll be letting himself down if he doesn't.
Mbappe can also get on the phone with Benzema and ask him how he navigated his career alongside Vinicius. It wasn't even that long ago that Neymar was talking about Mbappe as if he were some jealous ex. Mbappe has been the best player this season but his pichichi has the same value as getting knocked in the quarter finals of the UCL. Great player but until the club is winning titles his signing will always be seen as a failure.
Oh really? Ronaldo was signed in 2009/10, didn't win UCL or La Liga in first 2 seasons. So first 2 seasons were a failure for Cris?
Vinicius was playing towards Benzema and that's what he'll have to do with Mbappe once more. The only question is if he'll be able to do so now that he got a taste of the spot light
That's the question. It's clear he needs to be Mbappe's Benzema....and he has all the tools to do so. When he wants to he has a phenomenal final pass. They can easily become the best one-two punch in the world...especially now that we are getting better full backs which should help them a lot.
Its not that Vinicius is selfish and refuses to pass to Mbappe, its been the opposite all season. Its simply that he plays in a specific direct and instinctive play rather than methodical and cerebral. You can't just decide to play like Benzema, you need a whole bunch of attributes for that. Thats why I don't think it will work.
This is why i hate how the Luis Enrique footage is being handled in the media by the way. There's a video where Flick does this wonderful power point presentation, and then asks "any questions?" from the team and Kimmich said "this doesn't work, and we as players don't like it". Flick keeps trying to explain but Kimmich is clear, this does not work, and the team is worse playing this way, you need to change your approach. These battles happen in locker rooms and teams.
I don't mean stylistically play like Benzema obviously. There is no 9 in the world on even close to Benzema in terms of pure football.... no one even in the conversation imo. I'm just saying that Benzema understood that the Alpha 1 was Cristiano and that the primary goal scorer was Cristiano. Accepting that fact ensured that Benzema didn't show "anxiety" about his role relative to Cristiano... Vini seems a little threatened by Mbappe maybe....my point is that, that may have affected his mental state this season. You lose the Bdor... you "lose" your place as the technical leader of the team....etc.
Nonsense. Vinicius doesn't need to do anything but be himself. It's all this playing for Mbappe b s. that threw him (and the team) off it's game. 2 CL, 3 la ligas playing with Benzema, Bellingham and Joselu show he can play with just about anybody that wants to play. But someone who won't share the ball is always difficult to play with, someone who is only playing for themselves don't make good teammates and therefore cannot be good players.
I read the 5 fans from Valladolid have been sent to 1 year in Prison for 2022 racist incidents vs Vini. That's pretty insane.
Ronaldo joined a team that was still collecting round of 16 trophies. He also scored the winning goal for the CDR title in his second season. I’ll hedge again: Mbappe is a phenomenal player, BUT he joined a team that didn’t need him. It’s an ugly narrative but it’s the one that will stick if next season goes similarly.
The expected argument. So we're all gonna pretend like Ronaldo didn't join that round of 16 team ALONGSIDE Kaka, Benzema, Xabi Alonso, Arbeloa and others? And like he didn't get Di Maria, Ozil and Khedira next season? And they still didn't win league or UCL? So he got Coentrao and Varane next season? So basically a full team revamp before League or UCL. This is a very dumb argument from both sides, I'm just playing along. My actual point is that this team needed Mbappe. There were cracks last year and years before that. Kroos leaving,Modric aging, whole defense being out. It's all hypotheticals but I don't think this team would've performed this good without Mbappe.