At a glance
- Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe confessed that he defends less than his teammates.
- At the same time, he claimed that when he does, it has an influence on the rest of Alvaro Arbeloa’s side.
- The Frenchman also named what he believes to be the easiest position in football.
Appearing on Aurelien Tchouameni‘s “The Bridge” podcast, Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe confessed that he defends “less than others”.
“Sometimes that can be a problem, but when I do it has a real impact on the team. At Madrid you can tell that when I press the others do too, and although I am often criticised for it, it doesn’t bother me because I consider it constructive criticism,” Mbappe further explained.
Possibly risking the ire of teammates such as Eder Militao, Mbappe also named the position that he believes to be the easiest in football.
“In my opinion, it is that of a centre-back. You’re covered from all directions, you can even play in a three-way defense. It’s the only position where you see 40-year-old players who are still in Europe, in top clubs. A 40-year-old striker is finished,” Mbappe claimed, when asked for an opinion on the matter.
Kylian Mbappe leaves a lot to be desired defensively
Though his 45 goals in 44 matches for club and country in 2025/2026 are that of a player at his peak, Mbappe could still do better on the other side of the ball.
As shown by Whoscored?, he’s averaged just 0.1 tackles across 3274 minutes this term and onlu 0.2 interceptions while described defensively as “very weak”.
It remains to be seen if Mbappe’s shortcomings in trying to regain possession end up costing Madrid once again in La Liga and the Champions League, where hardworking FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich are the immediate opposition in those competitions respectively.
It’s believed that his lack of commitment was a point of friction with Paris Saint-Germain’s Luis Enrique before his free transfer to the Bernabeu, but Mbappe stressed he has no ill feeling towards the demanding Spaniard.
“He’s a great coach,” Mbappe insisted. “He truly says what he thinks. Unfortunately I had him in the last year of my contract with PSG, and it was a rollercoaster. I couldn’t really enjoy it.
“When I made the decision to leave, I barely played in the league in my last four months. I enjoyed myself as a fan and tactically, because I’m a football lover. But in my situation at the time, I couldn’t truly enjoy it. He’s a coach who knows a lot about football,” Mbappe concluded.
If Madrid manage to get past Bayern Munich in the UCL quarterfinals, Mbappe and Luis Enrique could do battle in the last four providing holders PSG also see off Liverpool.
