PSG star Kylian Mbappe says opponents move their defensive lines back 30 meters when he’s on the pitch to adjust to his pace.
Kylian Mbappe speed is scary
The French striker’s speed has been one of his greatest assets in his meteoric rise to become one of the best players in the world. Kylian, 22, says he’s working to control his speed as he closes to defenders to give him better control of situations and believes he could end up scoring 60 goals in a season.
What did Mbappe say?
The French striker said that he now knows that his speed is terrible. According to Mbappe, when he is not playing, the opponent’s block is higher, at the limit of the halfway line. When Kylian plays, he automatically returns to 30 meters, even for a team like Bayern Munich, who are known to play high enough. Against them, they lagged behind by 30 meters compared to the usual.
Since the World Cup he rarely gets into a one-on-one situation. Opponents, they do everything to avoid it. It was a little tricky in the beginning, but Kylian thinks he knew how to develop his game, in particular avoiding getting stuck along the line. With Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino Kylian Mbappe worked a lot on this. I had to improve the finish to fit my profile. When Mbappe arrives in front of the rear line, it is at 37-38.5 km / h. This is not exactly the same as a player who arrives at 26 km / h.
The French striker also said that he had to learn to slow down a bit as Mbappe approached the target to better control that speed. According to Kylian Mbappe, he was pulled into an area in practice that he shouldn’t hit, because then the corners are too small, since Kylian is too close to the goalkeeper. This is starting to come in because Kylian has scored quite a few goals this season by shooting very fast, even before the goalkeeper or defender has time to react.