"What is he even good at", "No one has ever seen him have a good game" - Fans slam Real Madrid star despite win over Dortmund
Fans on social media have slammed Real Madrid defender Ferland Mendy for his poor performance during Los Blancos' victory over Borussia Dortmund. The sides clashed in the UEFA Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday, October 22, with the hosts securing an incredible 5-2 comeback win.
Dortmund shocked the Bernabeu by taking a 2-0 lead in the first half through Donyell Malen (30') and Jamie Gittens (34'). However, Los Blancos mounted an astonishing comeback in the second half with Antonio Rudiger (60') opening the scoring. Vinicius Jr. scored a second-half hat-trick (62', 86', 90+3') and Lucas Vazquez got on the scoresheet as well (83').
Despite spending the entire 90 minutes on the pitch, Ferland Mendy was unable to impress. He did not win a single tackle in the game and made three recoveries. In attack, he managed just one cross, which did not reach its target. He lost two of the three duels he contested and was completely sold by Serhou Guirrasy in the build-up to Dortmund's opener.
Mendy's underwhelming performance was noticed by the fans, who took time out of their celebrations to lambast the full-back. Here are some of their comments on Twitter (now X):
"What is ferland Mendy even good at? Even luke shaw is better than this Real Madrid brother," one fan complained.
"No one has ever seen Ferland Mendy have a good game," another fan claimed.
"Marcelo to Ferland Mendy, massive downgrade," a third added.
"Ferland Mendy has looked completely lost for Madrid. I know just the guy Carlo Anchelotti needs at left-back," a fan said.
"Then there is Ferland Mendy that has no footballing ability whatsoever," a fan wrote.
"He’s so bad. I don’t know why people hype him up to be so good he’s so mid at defending man. HORRIBLE! We face Barca in a few days lol," another fan added.
"What did we do to deserve mendy?" a fan asked.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has called for more goals from Los Blancos super striker
Carlo Ancelotti has asked Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe to find the net more often, rather than focus on pressing when off the ball. The former Paris Saint-Germain forward has scored eight goals in 13 games this season, failing to find the target against Borussia Dortmund.
Speaking ahead of the game, the manager said (via Reuters):
"I want Mbappe to score goals, I prefer he scores rather than pressing. The centre-forward’s role hasn’t changed, I ask the same of him that I asked of (former Real Madrid striker) Karim Benzema."
"Mbappe needs to position himself well and be smart every time we recover the ball to make a quick transition."
Notably, the shining start against Borussia Dortmund was Vinicius Junior, who scored a hat-trick for Real Madrid in their comeback win. Mbappe will hope he can start finding the net on a more regular basis for Los Blancos this season.
Note: The above stats have been taken from FotMob at 22:25 (GMT+1) on October 22. The platform may change these stats as per their prerogative.