“Mbappe has an oversized ego”, says former PSG player

Former Monaco and PSG player Jerome Rothen has gone on record to say that Kylian Mbappe has an “oversized ego” and that he must be put in check. Kylian Mbappe record zero goals and assists in the Euros and following France’s exit courtesy of Mbappe’s missed penalty, he has faced a lot of slack from the media.

Let’s get it straight, Kylian Mbappe had a poor tournament. He not only had bad numbers during the Euros, but didn’t play very good football in general. His best performance was probably in France’s tournament opener against Germany where he scored an offside goal and looked quite threatening against Germany’s slow defence.

Mbappe’s league campaign was his best so far on a statistical level. The golden boy scored 42 goals and registered 11 assists in just 42 matches for PSG. Although his league season was prolific, he wasn’t decisive. He led PSG to the Champions League semi-final following world class displays against both Bayern Munich and Barcelona, but couldn’t make a telling difference in Ligue 1, which is a bare minimum for PSG in today’s day and age.

France were massive favourites for the Euros given their recent history in the last 2 major tournaments and the fact that their squad was superior to any other squad. Kylian Mbappe’s performances during the group stage were average to say the least but the real criticism started when he missed the final penalty during the shootout against Switzerland which led to France being knocked out.

Following the grim showing in Bucharest, Rothen was a little more circumspect, explaining: “If he’s got an attitude like that, it’s because the door has been left open to him to do so. Deschamps has open a lot of doors that he never usually opens.”

Rothen also pointed particularly to the fact that the PSG man was charged with free-kick duty for France.

“Is he aware that he doesn’t have the quality of some players in the squad on set pieces?” Rothen questioned. “Maybe he scores them in training. But I watch all Mbappe’s matches.

“Do you remember a magnificent free-kick from 25 metres out?

“On the other hand, I remember Griezmann, Pogba. That’s two already, a left footer and a right footer. So, what is Mbappe doing there?”