On May 21, 2022, Kylian Mbappe said 'no' to Real Madrid and decided to stay at PSG, renewing his contract and thus beginning a 'new era' for the Frenchstar in his hometown: much richer financially and feeling like a leader in the sport.
The Ligue 1 champion was clearly gamblingon him as the player who should lead the club towards the long-awaited Champions League, ahead of Lionel Messi and Neymar, as he had demonstrated throughout the course of the season with his superior performance on the pitch.
However, the months passed after signing his contract... and the season began. With the World Cup in Qatar on the horizon, Messi and Neymar opened their eyes, stretched their legs and woke up.
They recovered their usual level of quality and the Argentine has six goals and eight assists in 11 games; the Brazilian, 11 goals and eight assists.
Mbappé, Neymar y Messi, en un partido con el PSG.AP
Meanwhile, Mbappe continues to score (10 goals in nine games) but does not assist with zero assists this season.
"I play differently with France," said Mbappe after shining in this Nations League against Austria.
"They ask me to do different things in the national team than at PSG. I have a lot more freedom here.
"The coach [Didier Deschamps] knows that we have Giroud as a 'nine' who fixes defences, and I can go into space.
"In Paris it's different, that doesn't exist. They ask me to play as a pivot, and it's different."
'Isolated' from Neymar and MessiA few days ago, an image shared by 'Amazon' (on its TV channel) in France went viral as it could be seen how, while Mbappe received assists from Neymar and Messi, he did not give them back.
The image quickly 'exploded' and the tweet reached many corners of the planet, and while the data is correct, in the background there is more to it.
It's true that Mbappé has zero assists, not for Messi, nor Neymar, nor to anyone else, and Kylian is far from last season's numbers: 17 assists in total, of which four were for Messi's goals; five for Neymar's goals.
Incidentally, this 'associative map' drawn by Jesus Lagos shows the reality of the game beyond the basic numbers.
This is divided into two: passes from the middle third of the field to the final third of the field, and passes only in the middle third of the field.
Before analysing the green, yellow and red arrows (each colour corresponds to a player), it is worth noting an important point: based on the average positions, Mbappe is PSG's most advanced player, acting as the spearhead.
Therefore, it would be normal for him to receive more passes from his teammates than he gives as he is the main reference point in attack.
However, it should also be noted that last year he occupied the same role, when he recorded several assists.
Not everything is his faultIf you watch PSG's matches, you see that Mbappe continues to create chances and some players miss chances that he has created.
First, let's answer a question: What are expected assists (xA)? This is the probability that a given pass will result in a goal assist.
Mapa de pases del ataque del PSG divido por zonas del campo.Jesús Lagos / @Vdot_Spain
The indicator in question takes several factors into account: the type of pass, the end point of the pass or the length of the pass, and ultimately the quality of the chance created to be completed by the quality of the execution (xG).
Based on this we can check one thing: Mbappe's xA are down compared to last season: 0.31 per 90 minutes vs the 0.37 of the 2021/22.
That's not a huge change, but it is a big difference compared to the growth of Messi (from 0.33 in 2021/22 to 0.44 this) and Neymar (from 0.37 to 0.75 this season).
But he continues to generate opportunities and, therefore, we must come to a conclusion: Mbappe is not doing too badly.
According to data from Opta, the PSG man has created 11 scoring chances this season but none have ended in an assist, so hile he takes advantage of the assists he receives, his teammates do not.
His chances created are distributed as follows: four for Messi, two for Neymar and one each for Hakimi, Mukiele, Vitinha, Danilo and Ekitike.
Of these, three are considered 'big missed chances' and were poorly executed by Hakimi, Messi and Danilo.
Time to 'correct' itOne thing is clear: that Mbappe's assist count is at zero this 2022/23 is not worrying, at least for now.
He is more comfortable playing the role he has in France than the one Christophe Galtier has given him at PSG and he admits it himself, but he continues to score goals and create chances in Paris.
For now, the main difference between his game with PSG and the one he has in 'Les Bleus' is the position on the field and the role of his partner.
While at his club he occupies central positions, with Deschamps he continues to rely on the wing as a starting point, which is something that led him to absolute stardom last season.
Mbappe scores every 77 minutes, the best figure of his early career, but he is immersed in his own metamorphosis.
"The coach wants me to be a point of support, to serve in depth but also to be able to come and play and to serve as a link between Leo and Ney," he said after scoring against Juventus.
"I try to adapt as best I can to this new role and be decisive."
We'll see if, as the games and weeks go by, this superstar becomes the Mbappe that Galtier wants him to be... or returns to the Mbappe he was last season.
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