Former France international Jean-Michel Larque – who holds the joint record for French top-flight titles – has crticised Kylian Mbappe for his recent performances, insisting the World Cup winner “has no place at PSG right now” as the striker seems to be more preoccupied with humiliating his opponents than playing productive football.
Goals from Mauro Icardi and Neymar convincingly secured a 2-1 victory for PSG and Mauricio Pochettino’s first piece of silverware on Thursday in which Mbappe received only a yellow card for his efforts.
Larque, a former PSG player and coach, insists Mbappe’s game needs to undergo radical changes if he is to continue being rated amongst the best players in world football.
“Kylian Mbappe has no place at Patis Saint-Germain right now,” Larque told RMC Sport’s Top of the Foot show.
“I’m not going to drill a hole in his skull and find out what’s in there, but he’s complicating things. He’s complicating everything he does. Why is doing rabonas? Why is he doing twelve stepovers if he’s just staying in the same place?
“The boy needs a detoxification, a cure for his football which is totally polluted with unnecessary moves. What gives a boy like him his strength is his speed, but we’re not seeing that anymore.”
Larque is hopeful that cure could come from Pochettino, and that the new PSG boss would have more sway over Mbappe than his predecessor and can get the 22-year-old back to his brilliant best.
“I’m going to see if Pochettino has more courage than Tuchel, or more of a hold of Mbappe,” he said. “I don’t know the little secrets of Camp des Loges, I don’t know if it was Tuchel who commanded Mbappe or the other way around.
“He needs to go clear his mind and watch some videos where he plays one-twos or drops deep for the ball. Today he wants the ball at his feet so he can ridicule his opponent. Obviously with his burst of speed he can get past opponents, but he will lose the ball in behind. I don’t have the stats, but against OM he lost an incredible number of balls.”