Author of eight of Luis Enrique’s PSG 12 goals, Kylian Mbappé however did not deliver any assists and dribbled less than in the past.
All eyes will still be on him. Kylian Mbappé will – unsurprisingly – be PSG’s main weapon during the Ligue 1 Classic against OM, Sunday September 24, at the Parc des Princes. Since the start of the season, two thirds of the capital club’s goals have been scored by the latter (8/12), while offensive recruits Randal Kolo Muani, Ousmane Dembélé and Gonçalo Ramos are still silent.
The dependence on Kylian Mbappé is one of the last vestiges of PSG last spring, which the summer was responsible for burying. Who says more Neymar or Lionel Messi, says even more space and light for him. “No, there is no Mbappé dependence on PSG, however brushed aside Luis Enrique on Saturday at a press conference. Kylian is a leader, with a positive mentality, always with a smile on his face, it’s very important for Paris Saint-Germain to have a leader of such caliber.”
His football has changed
Exemplarily efficient, the leader has been leading the way since his very first match, in Toulouse, a month ago. Since the start of the Ligue 1 season, Kylian Mbappé has scored an average of 1.8 goals per match (seven in four appearances). A frantic pace that he will struggle to maintain throughout the season. In front of goal, he is also sharper, finding the net every 2.6 shots, compared to one goal every five shots last season. Another indicator helps confirm this impression, the “Expected Goals”. This statistic assigns a value from 0 to 1 depending on the dangerousness of each shot (1 very dangerous, 0 low dangerousness). Based on these figures, the world champion scored 3.4 goals more than expected in all competitions in 2023-2024: his strikes resulted in eight goals, while the indicator predicted 4.6.
Under Luis Enrique, Kylian Mbappé returned to the left wing, after occupying a more central position under Christophe Galtier. But, paradoxically, he has never been such a lethal attacker. In the Spaniard’s game plan, the Parisian block plays much higher up the pitch, which reduces the possibilities of finding the best scorer in the club’s history launched behind the defense. While he shone in this form of play, the Parisian number 7 found a new way of expressing himself.
The one who will celebrate his 25th birthday in December and who is already in his ninth season in Ligue 1 is seeing his game evolve. If he has never been clumsy against the opposing goalkeeper, Kylian Mbappé is becoming more and more of a cold scorer than a twirling winger. The drop in his dribbling attempts (4.9 per match, he only did worse in 2018-2019 with 4.5) reflects the visual impression left at the start of the season: on paper left winger, Kylian Mbappé actually realigns himself most of the time, leaving Vitinha and Lucas Hernandez to liven up his lane, like against Dortmund.
Closer to the goal, less in the wind
Known for his ability to pierce the pitch, the Frenchman spends less of his time carrying the ball forward. Only 46% of his runs with the ball are vertical, his lowest ratio under Parisian colors (in 2019-2020, this ratio peaked at 59%). The explanations are to be found in the change in the nature of the matches for PSG which, under Luis Enrique, is playing a game of occupation, governed by two principles: confiscation of the leather and recovery as high as possible as soon as the ball is lost.
Kylian Mbappé has fewer spaces to swallow, but this brings him closer to the opposing goal. He also touches 19% of his balls in the opponent’s area (a higher ratio than in each of his three previous seasons in Ligue 1), while touching the same number of balls as last season (57 per match). . If he still participates in the creative circuits, his style of play has become sanitized. Less dribbling therefore, but also fewer risky passes (he has 88% successful passes, while his ratio fluctuated between 76 and 81% in previous seasons) and no decisive passes for the moment.
The trend that emerges from this sample of five meetings still needs to be confirmed. In the first steps of its new era, if we are to believe its communication, Paris Saint-Germain will rely in all cases on Kylian Mbappé. But he will have to find the solution to distribute the threat in his offensive trident.