Ex-PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino explains what Kylian Mbappe must do to become unstoppable
Kylian Mbappe lit up the World Cup with a brilliant display against Poland in France's Round of 16 tie. The star forward stole the headlines, but his former boss Mauricio Pochettino has identified an area where the Frenchman still has room for improvement.
Pochettino worked with Mbappe at PSG, where he won the Ligue1 title and Coupe de France. However, he did not deliver the most coveted trophy for PSG, the Champions League, and was sacked by the club.
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Pochettino was on BBC this week discussing France's win over Poland in the FIFA World Cup. The former PSG and Tottenham boss believes Mbappe, who scored twice and assisted once in the match, can improve his understanding of space on the pitch.
"It's easy for him. That is so easy for him [to beat defenders]. What he needs now to be a really, really complete player is to read better the space, when he needs to go inside, how he needs to receive in between the lines, use the pocket […] He needs to be more involved in the game," said Pochettino.
Pochettino urged Mbappe to add more variety to his arsenal, possibly in the mould of someone like Lionel Messi. He added:
"Of course, he is a great talent, we can see [that], but [his decisions] are all similar actions. When he has time with the ball and space to run, he's impossible to stop but afterward, he needs to be more involved. He needs to be a more complete player."
Kylian Mbappe is not hard to manage, but not mature enough, according to Mauricio Pochettino
The issue of managing "egos" at PSG has always been considered a major one, and Pochettino had to balance a side with Neymar, Mbappe, and Messi in it.
The Argentinian manager was asked whether Mbappe was difficult to manage, but he denied any such rumors.
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The former PSG manager said:
"He's [Kylian Mbappe] 23 and already won the World Cup, he's an amazing talent. The problem is sometimes you need to manage yourself because we are talking about a top three, top five best player in the world. It's not easy for him to manage himself because he's not mature enough, he's still a child. But I think he's doing well. Sometimes people talk too much, but I don't think it's like this."
Pochettino is still without a club and is waiting for the right chance before penning a contract.