4 ms·
“Mbappe was really the star of this WC Final” This is the narrative, but it’s far from reality. Mbappe was invisible for 80 minutes, his refusal to track back
by ESMirro 4y ago
“Mbappe was really the star of this WC Final”
This is the narrative, but it’s far from reality. Mbappe was invisible for 80 minutes, his refusal to track back and defend in part the reason France were forced to sub off Giroud and move Mbappe into the centre.
He scored two penalties, admittedly that requires nerves of steel but it’s not particularly impressive given they’ve a high xG, and scored an excellent second goal.
Typically players are judged on their quality throughout the entire game, not a moment of quality in an otherwise drab performance, but this seems to be the modern way - the highlights are more important.
To that end Messi was involved in everything, created the second goal with an excellent through ball into space, scored twice, and set up numerous chances that Martinez was unable to finish. A far more impactful performance.
- dj_mc_merlin 4y agoIf we're gonna go that route then Emi deserves the hero title just for that save at 120+3'.. not just for how important it was, but how unlikely it was and what followed after.
- ESMirro 4y agoIt was a vital stop, and he absolutely deserved the golden glove over Lloris for it. I’m not sure I see how it counters my argument though - had Martinez let everything past him for the first 80 minutes (not that France actually had a shot during that time, but hypothetically) whilst an excellent Argentine attack kept it level, that save alone wouldn’t cement greatness as the rest of his performance was subpar. This is essentially the crux of my argument regarding Mbappe, he was far too quiet for far too long and didn’t play for the team often enough to deserve such plaudits.
- dj_mc_merlin 4y agoYes, you're right :) I'm still just star struck with how well he did the whole tournament, is all.
- ESMirro 4y agoI see what you were trying to say now, yes he was excellent and will go down in Argentine history thanks to his heroics in both the Copa and World Cup wins.
- coffeebeqn 4y agoThe second penalty was a hand ball blocking Mbappes excellent looking strike so I’d only take half a point off of that