100 days of an unrecognisable Mbappe

It has been 100 days of Kylian Mbappe at Real Madrid. A 100 days since the French striker debuted in the UEFA Super Cup final against Atalanta, and what better way to start than by scoring and winning a trophy in your first match for your new club. Fans could not have asked for a better end to the prolonged transfer saga, which dates back to 2017, when Mbappe was only 18 years old. Real Madrid and Mbappe were seemingly the perfect match. But after 99 days since that glorious night in Warsaw, the feeling has completely shifted and, apparently, so has Mbappe.

On his own, 8 goals, 2 assists and a UEFA Super Cup would easily be seen as decent haul. But it is the comparisons to his collogueses up-front which reveal the truth. Robert Lewandoski is 8 goals ahead in La Liga standings, his teammate Vinicius has scored 4 more goals than him, but the most telling comparison is to Mbappe himself. In his 7 years at Paris Saint-Germain, only once he had achieved less at this stage - 7 goals in the 2021/22 campaign. To make a more recent example, Mbappe had double the goals he has now in his first 16 matches last season.

Within two years, Mbappe has gone from scoring a hat-trick in a World Cup final to being unable to step up for Real when most needed, ghosting in their recent Champions League defeats - against Lille and AC Milan. That said, there is a mitigating factor that the Frenchman can take advantage of in order to defend himself: his preferred position in attack is being sacrificed by Ancelotti, who prefers to maintain Vinicius on the left-wing. 

The change in position has heavily impacted Mbappe and that can be noted in the decrease of his signature goals, which see him breaking from behind with speed and calmly finishing in front of goal. His tendency of being caught offside has been subject of critiism but less attention has put on his errors in front of goalkeepers. From his 78 shots in total (4.9 per match), 35 have been on target  (44.9%) and only 8 have gone in the back of the net (1 in 9.75 shots). Additionally, 2 out of 3 of his shots end up in the hands of the goalkeeper (34.62%) or blocked by defenders (32.05%). Overall, the numbers are clear. Mbappe is not made to be pure 9 and the feeling seems to be mutual amongst 'Madridistas'.

His dark period at the Spanish capital has reflected elsewhere. The Monaco youth product is facing troubling times with his national team after missing out on consecutives international breaks, as reports now claim Dechamps is set to meet up with him to discuss the future of his France captaincy. Mbappe has been targeted with heavy backlash for his ongoing trial with PSG over outstanding bonuses and controversial trip to Sweden, raising questions over his commitment to the French national team.

Mbappe is currently on a run of four games without scoring, thus getting tentatively closer to reaching the 6-game mark - the worst of his career in the 2021/22 season. While that may be worrying, fans can find comfort in the fact that in the same season he registered his longest goalless run of games, Mbappe ended up scoring 39 goals in 46 matches. By those standards, the Real Madrid forward could very well finish the campaign with 50 goals.