Real Madrid Face Audacious Backlash Over Kylian Mbappé Decision

ESPN FC’s Craig Burley didn’t hold back, criticizing Real Madrid for changing their successful formula to accommodate Mbappé.

Burley said, “When somebody’s getting caught offside as much as that, and we’ve talked about it all game, ridiculous in the end. Ridiculous. To continue to be in offside positions, when you have that level of understanding of the game and experience. He wasn’t the only one, but the biggest culprit.

“I suppose at Real Madrid it’s happened a lot. You sign these Galacticos, these big stars, you’ve got to sort of find a way to get it right. But they’ve basically taken, again, another side that was fluid and very successful and ripped up that blueprint and moved a load of people around to try and make it work for Kylian Mbappe.

“And yes, they’re only a few points behind, but we’ve seen all the performances, we’ve seen the games. Thus far, it is not working.

“They had no midfield runners to try and break an offside trap, and they had one guy who was trying to break it for 95 minutes, and he couldn’t do it.”

It’s been a challenging start for Kylian Mbappé at Real Madrid. If he can’t turn things around soon, he risks being compared to Eden Hazard, whose move to Real Madrid from Chelsea ultimately fell flat.