The France captain has spent months at the centre of a pressing-numbers row, and he chose a magazine interview to answer it head-on.
“A player who scores goals will never be the problem of a team, because no team has ever won titles without scoring goals,” Mbappé said in the interview.
He is not pretending the criticism is invented. He is refusing to be spooked by it.
“I have a healthy relationship with criticism, because there is criticism that is constructive and others that are more stupid, but that doesn’t scare me.”
Read also: Five games, five assists: Flick must be happy with the summer signings
Mbappé traced the scrutiny to the shape of his career, arguing that the more familiar a player’s strengths become, the more attention shifts to what he does not offer.
“It is human to look at what someone does not do.”
The Dembélé and Raphinha comparison
The row had sharpened days earlier at Ciudad Real Madrid, where Mbappé was pressed on why he and Vinicius Junior are not producing the off-the-ball numbers of Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembélé or Barcelona’s Raphinha, both praised for their pressing.
“Just me and Vini?” he replied at the pre-match press conference.
Read also: Arsenal struggles with injuries
“Of course we have to improve, that’s standard for any player. But I could easily play naïve and say that I score far more goals than the two players you mentioned, and that they need to score more to reach my level. Every player is different.”
He also broadened the responsibility, pointing at the squad rather than at himself and Vinicius alone.
“Everyone at Real Madrid needs to step up defensively to help the team concede fewer chances and goals, just as we need to manage possession better and build more opportunities.”
Mourinho’s Champions League opener
The debate is landing in the opening weeks of José Mourinho’s first season as Real Madrid head coach. The Portuguese manager was named on a three-year deal in June.
Read also: Niemann's course-record 65 leaves McIlroy chasing at Doonbeg
His first Champions League night in charge ended in a 2-1 win over Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabéu on Tuesday, 8 September, with Mbappé scoring the 14th-minute opener.
That took the France forward to five goals in his first five matches of the campaign, and he has been named La Liga’s Player of the Month for August after continuing the form that produced 91 goals in his first 108 games at the club.
Read also: Alonso says 'yes' to a WEC seat at Aston Martin, but ties his 2027 call to F1's new rules
