Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe was at the receiving end of some harsh criticism after his team’s draw against Borussia Dortmund. PSG took on the Bundesliga giants in their final game of the UEFA Champions League group stage at the Signal Iduna Park. A 1-1 draw in the fixture saw the French side barely make the last 16 above AC Milan which attracted the fitting rage of former French footballer Christophe Duggary.
While speaking to BMF RMC Sport, the World Cup-winning star said, “I blame him for his attitude. He knew he was expected in this match, he had to be the leader of this team. His qualities cannot be called into question, but he did not set an example in pressing, counter-pressing…”
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Duggary did not just stop there. He went ahead and called out Mbappe’s efforts on the defensive side of things. According to him, Mbappe makes no effort to fall back and help his team in curbing a build-up play or a counter-attack of the opposition. He added, “I saw a Mbappé passive. He went through. He only harangued his teammates at the end to complain. I want to tell him that he should have done it before. I didn’t see him press Süle and Hummels. No replacement. I was very, very disappointed in his behaviour.”
Duggary expected the French star to overplay and add more to his team’s game especially considering how high the stakes were.
Christophe Duggary also drew comparisons between Kylian Mbappe and France legend Zinedine Zidane. He said, “I remember Zizou. When you saw him making so much effort, so much running, so much defending, you had to move. Zizou was a collective, he is an individualist.”
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While Kylian Mbappe might be one of the best attackers in the game, he has often been criticised for his lack of interest in defending when needed. It is a similar form of criticism that we often hear about some of the biggest stars in football.
During PSG’s golden era that saw the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Mbappe compete at the French club, several pundits were vocal about the trio not backtracking to help the team defensively.
Regardless of the drama, the French champions were able to scrape through the ‘group of death’ and will now draw an opponent from the likes of Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Manchester City, Barcelona or Bayern Munich. As for Mbappe, the French star will join the Parisians in their game against Lille on December 17, Sunday.
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