The arrival of Kylian Mbappe at Real Madrid was meant to strengthen the front line that already boost the likes of Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, and Jude Bellingham.
However, the France international has failed to live up to the hype that brought him to Madrid with the Spanish club failing to win match convincingly. Madrid are currently behind Barcelona in La Liga and needs to improve if they want to retain their title.
In a recent interview with El Chiringuito TV, former Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema shared his thoughts on Kylian Mbappe’s current challenges at Real Madrid.
Benzema who now plays for Al Ittihad spoke about how Mbappe, his fellow Frenchman, should approach his role in Madrid and gave insight into the expectations that come with playing for such a high-profile club.
Kylian Mbappe (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
According to Benzema, Mbappe struggle stems from playing in the wrong position. He noted that his countryman is naturally suited to playing on the left wing rather than as a central striker.
“The problem for me is that Mbappe is not a centre forward. Every time he plays for France as a ‘9’ he is not good, it is not his position,” he began saying.
“The problem is that on the left there is another player who is at the same level as him… you can’t put Vini on the right or as a centre forward, where he makes a difference is on the left. Let’s see how Ancelotti does that.”
Moving on, Benzema urged Mbappe to adapt to the ‘9’ role and fully embrace it. According to him, Real Madrid is not Paris Saint-Germain, where there might be more flexibility and less intense pressure.
“Mbappe is not a ‘9’. There is a lot of pressure at Real Madrid, this is not PSG. A piece of advice? He shouldn’t give up.”
“I don’t think Ancelotti is going to move Vinicius, he’s the best in the world right now in that position.”
“Mbappe has to get it into his head that he has to be a ‘9’ and forget about the left. He’s been very good on the left and now he has to be good somewhere else.”
Benzema also shared his personal experience to highlight the level of pressure Mbappe will face. He explained that there is no room for error at Real Madrid; fans expect constant results.
“My situation in my first year and Kylian’s is different. I was 21 and he is 25, it’s not the same. He knows that there is a lot of pressure at Real Madrid,” he noted.
“If you don’t score a goal in two or three games, they’ll kill you. He has to learn to live with that. He has to put up with that pressure.”
“Every game is new and you have to score goals, they brought him for that and he has the level for it,” he concluded.
