How right are Kylian Mbappe’s critics?

One of the most satisfying lines in sports is proclaiming that a superstar, maligned by vultures in the media and all-too-eager rival fans, has “answered the critics” in emphatic fashion, embarrassing the doubters and haters purely on the back of their superlative play on the pitch.

Fede Valverde recently made remarks along those lines in reference to Real Madrid’s newest superstar, Kylian Mbappe, who completed a move five years in the making to the Santiago Bernabeu to become the club’s highest-paid player over actual Ballon d’Or favorites Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior.

Although Fede is convinced that Mbappe has been a rousing success to this early point in his Real Madrid career and many around the club will echo a similar sentiment, there are plenty of fans around European football who remain less convinced.

Mbappe has scored five goals so far for Real Madrid through eight appearances, but, as his detractors will point out, more than half of them (three) are penalties. Those same critics, of course, used to pan Cristiano Ronaldo for scoring a lot of penalty goals, ignoring the fact that a prolific penalty record – Mbappe is perfect so far, by the way – is an achievement in itself.

In the same way we should not take goal totals at face value because they could be supported by goals not from open play, we should, then, also give credit to players who offer more than goals.

Coming into his first match at Real Madrid, many in the media looked at Mbappe’s track record at PSG and wondered if he could transition to being a superstar among superstars at Real Madrid when he struggled to do that alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar before being the unquestioned main man later.

So far, Mbappe has succeeded in that regard, averaging 1.3 key passes and 2.9 dribbles completed per game in LaLiga, which is the toughest league in Europe from an attacking perspective, by doing much of his best work outside the box and even off the ball.

Mbappe has built a great rapport with Vinicius Jr., and he should also get praise for accommodating other stars, too, as Fede Valverde and Rodrygo Goes are quietly having career years for Real Madrid, too.

The critics of Mbappe can’t have it both ways, and it feels like that’s what many of them are trying to do. They can’t, on the one hand, knock Mbappe for not scoring 8 goals in 8 games or having a scoring record like an out-and-out No. 9 like Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski, having come into the 2024/25 season with the mentality that Mbappe would fail because he would be too selfish and unwilling to work with the other Real Madrid stars.

Mbappe answered their criticisms by playing well with his teammates and being more of a fluid, creative striker while still scoring a decent enough amount of goals so far, and, we must remember, this is just the start of him getting used to his time in Madrid – a team notorious for slow starts to the season.

Under the microscope of criticism Mbappe was placed to begin the season, the Frenchman, then, has indeed answered his critics, and who better to judge that than one of the leaders of the team in Valverde?

Mbappe is the classic example of how superstar players, especially those at a club like Real Madrid, are ripe for the picking from the masses, who then cannot see the fallaciousness of their own arguments and do not have the capacity to humble themselves when those barbs are gracefully knocked to the turf.

Although the 25-year-old striker hasn’t been the second coming of Cristiano, anyone placing that burden on his young shoulders should have been ignored to begin with. He’s done very well to this early point in his Real Madrid career, and if there’s anyone to blame for Madrid not being in first right now, then it is Hansi Flick and his highly impressive Barcelona side.