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Leader on and off the field – How Kylian Mbappe is setting the standards at Real Madrid
Kylian Mbappe is the centre of attention at Real Madrid, and rightfully so given how the player has made the team’s success revolve around his good form this season.
With Xabi Alonso arriving as the team’s new manager, it was unclear how the Frenchman was going to be placed in his plans or how he would adapt to the new system.
If the progress he has made so far this season is anything to go by, however, it has suited him to perfection and allowed him to flourish like never before at the club.
Such is his confidence, that Mbappe is now emerging as a leader of the team, both on and off the field, all in just his second season at the club.
Madrid Universal brings you three facets of Mbappe’s presence at Real Madrid that exemplify how he is growing to be a leader of the dressing room.
The goalscoring responsibility
If one is to talk about Mbappe’s leadership at Real Madrid this season, one need not look much beyond his numbers to see the responsibility he has taken up for the team in attack.
For a team whose attacking department seemed to be collapsing without a striker after Karim Benzema’s departure, Mbappe has well and truly stepped up and taken charge for Los Blancos. At this point in the season, he has scored over half of the team’s goals.
The player already has a staggering 13 goals and three assists in La Liga and nine goals in the UEFA Champions League – numbers that are outstanding given that he has only played 18 games and achieved the same from an xG of around 17.8.
His performances go a long way in urging his teammates forward, for seeing one man give it his all in the finish third is as much motivation as a dressing room can ask for. Mbappe has been a leader by example on the field.
A leader on the field
If Mbappe leading by example with his goals was not enough, his getting comfortable at the Spanish capital is also bringing out the inner vocal leader that he has been all his career.
In Real Madrid’s recent game against Elche, the Frenchman was seen taking up responsibility on the field when the team faced setbacks, vocally communicating and demanding better from his teammates and even urging them forward when hope seemed low.
He may not have got on the scoresheet that night, but Mbappe was seen speaking to the referee when the opposition goalkeeper was wasting time and even motivating and pushing the team to score an equaliser when Elche went ahead.
It was even caught on camera that Mbappe angrily reprimanded some of his teammates on the field, pushing them to do better both on an individual and group level.
Mbappe’s growing into such a vocal on-field leader, needless to say, shows his commitment to Alonso’s project and the club’s crest.
Responsibility with the press
Recent weeks have been filled with turmoil for Real Madrid, especially with internal clashes seemingly destroying the relationship between Xabi Alonso and some key figures in the dressing room.
The situation escalated to the point where some reports called out that players were hoping for Alonso’s sacking soon and that his disciplinarian attitude did not appease them.
Amidst all that turmoil, Mbappe’s poker against Olympiacos and the win that resulted helped Real Madrid make some progress in moving past the roadblock.
The Frenchman, however, spoke to the media after the game with great maturity and sent out a powerful message to all his teammates.
“I know people talk a lot from the outside. When you play for a club like Madrid, it’s normal for people to talk,” he began.
“We have to protect the players, the coach and everyone in the squad because, at the end of the day, we’re all in this together. At the end of the day we’re together and with all the Madrid fans,” he added.
Mbappe’s words, needless to say, come as arrows directed at individuals creating internal turmoil at the club and go a long way in demonstrating the leadership Mbappe is taking to help patch the team back together.
The responsibility he showed facing the press even went on to make an impact on the portrayal of the situation by the media.
Conclusion
Mbappe’s first season at Real Madrid was special enough on an individual level with the player walking away with the Pichichi award and the Golden Boot. This time around, however, his adaptation to the club is seemingly complete.
Now settled into his role as the team’s talisman, leading attacker and goalscorer, Mbappe is flourishing on the field and making use of the same to establish himself as a leader of the dressing room.
There is a long way to go for Mbappe, but his on-field performances, leadership and responsibility in handling the club’s situation with the media go a long way in helping Los Blancos find their footing after a mid-season rut.
Should Mbappe keep up the same attitude and passion towards the club, captaincy may not be too far off.
The derby weekend is here as Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are set to lock horns on Sunday afternoon at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.
After an eventful transfer window and a stuttering start, Atletico Madrid reaffirmed their position as genuine title contenders and have done decently well so far this season.
With four wins, a draw and a defeat to their name, they sit on 13 points after six games.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, have only had one defeat and are on 15 points after as many games, only behind Barcelona who sit on a perfect record.
Diego Simeone’s men had a shaky start to the season, but have picked up steam in recent weeks with seven goals scored and none conceded in their last two games.
Given their strong record against Real Madrid at home, they will look to take all three points tomorrow.
Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid.
A test away from home
It is no secret that Real Madrid’s form on the road this season has been poor, not necessarily for the results themselves but how the team have conducted themselves in away grounds.
For the first time in years, there appears to be a sense of uncertainty around Los Blancos’ ability to produce results away from home.
For long periods in the game, they appear willing to hand over the momentum, and the resultant pressure has seen them collapse.
A last-gasp winner from Carlos Espi handed them the win against Espanyol away from home, and they went on to lose against Real Betis in their second away fixture of the season.
Most recently, they bottled a 2-0 lead against Elche and again required a stoppage-time winner from Espi to take the three points.
Tomorrow’s game, in that sense, is extremely challenging, for it is not only away from home but against an opposition of high quality.
Playing Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano is as challenging as games get, and Real Madrid have an extremely poor record at the venue.
Since 2017, Real Madrid have only won twice at the Metropolitano with three defeats and three draws. Last season, they suffered a 5-2 defeat and the game went on to break the team’s momentum.
Heading into such a tricky clash with an ongoing crisis away from home makes Sunday’s clash very complicated for the Merengues.
Arda Guler has to return
After a long time, Jose Mourinho took the Yan Diomande experiment to the next level and handed the player back-to-back starts for Real Madrid.
Clearly, the new signing still has a long way to go in terms of his adaptation, but he has been promising as an attacking outlet in his few appearances.
Diomande started both against Rayo Vallecano and Elche, but there is a strong case to drop him for the Madrid derby and play Arda Guler instead.
The Turkish international was on the bench against Rayo Vallecano and played as a No. 10 against Elche, with Jude Bellingham rested. Now, with the Englishman set to return, the manager has a decision to make.
Mourinho has made it clear that he wishes to ease Diomande into Real Madrid’s dynamics to reduce the pressure on his shoulders. Fielding him from the start in a derby would contradict that idea.
Beyond that, however, Guler has shown far more utility and promise as an attacking and creative outlet than Diomande, making the right-wing decision quite clear for the manager.
Real Madrid with and without Guler have been two completely different stories this season, and the team will require every last bit of creative inspiration that he has in him to get past Atletico Madrid tomorrow afternoon.
There is also a case for Brahim Diaz to be brought in, and the Moroccan star is also probably ahead of Diomande on the pecking order. Guler, however, stands out as a top option even ahead of Brahim.
Eyes on Vinicius Jr.
For years, Vinicius Jr. has always utilised the big stages to make his statements, for he has been a player to speak through performances and not words.
For instance, he scored a stunning solo goal last season against Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup at a time when he was least expected to do so. At that point, he had not scored in 16 straight games, but the big moment called out to him.
It is clear that the Brazilian is not going through his best moment right now once again. The past few weeks have been hard on him, especially after he did well at the World Cup and returned to Madrid with higher expectations on him.
So far this season, Vinicius has only scored one goal in seven games. Beyond the goals, however, he has not looked like his usual threatening self on the flank and has not created half as many chances as he usually would.
Such is the player’s situation that his place in the team is being called into doubt for the first time in years. After all, Yan Diomande can play on the left and showed glimpses of his ability in the previous game.
All eyes, thus, will be on Vinicius on Sunday to see if he can step up to the occasion and make his presence felt when it really matters. He has always been one for the big stage, and tomorrow’s stage is the biggest yet this season.
