How To Defend Against Kylian Mbappé – Tactical Analysis

Who Is Kylian Mbappé?

Kylian Mbappé is one, if not the most talented player of his generation.

He revealed himself to the world at a very early age during the 2016/17 season with Monaco, where his club won Ligue 1 ahead of Paris Saint-Germain and reached the UEFA Champions League semi-finals.

He joined PSG the following year for the crazy sum of 180 million euros (a loan with a purchase option) and became the second-largest transfer in football history, behind Neymar‘s.

In the same year, he won the World Cup in Russia with the French national team and shone with his exploits, like those against Argentina.

The 21-year-old prodigy scored a goal in the final against Croatia, becoming the second-youngest goalscorer in a World Cup final behind Pelé.

Many defenders have bad memories of the matches against Mbappé, as the young PSG player can be a real poison for the defences.

He combines exceptional ability to eliminate his opponent with clinical play in front of the goal.

In addition to his outstanding Ligue 1 stats since his debut in 2015/16 (80 goals or one goal every 103 minutes), he is the top scorer under 21 in UEFA Champions League history with 19 goals.

After all that, it clearly seems difficult to stop the young French striker, or at least defend against him.

This article will obviously not present a miracle solution for defending against Mbappé, but rather some ideas on how to limit his impact and influence in the game.

In this tactical analysis, in the form of a Kylian Mbappé scout report, we will focus on his contribution in the last 30 meters and on how to reduce his field of expression on the football pitch as much as possible.

Before thinking about how to defend against him, you need to understand him and know his strengths.

Kylian Mbappé Style of play

Mbappé is a player with great explosiveness and an outstanding pace.

The quality of his support allows him to accelerate very well in the first meters.

We regularly see the young PSG striker nearly full stop, then make a sudden acceleration that leaves the defenders in the dust.

He has perfect control of his body, and his changes of pace are fatal for his opponents.

The PSG striker also has an outstanding balance, which allows him to be very effective on fake shots and changes of direction.

In addition to being an incredible athlete, Mbappé has good technique and a large skill set.

He is not an excellent passer, but the quality of his runs and off-the-ball movements puts him in a good position to make assists (22 assists in Ligue 1 since his transfer to PSG).

Mbappé has a rather peculiar dribbling technique, but it proves to be very effective.

His dribbles are generally long and include ample gestures.

If you compare him to Jadon Sancho, another great talent, there are some differences.

Sancho tends to make short dribbles, keeping the ball very close to his foot, while Mbappé is rather the opposite.

Even in small spaces, Mbappé can allow himself longer dribbles or ball controls, as his explosiveness, coupled with very good support, still allows him to be first on the ball.

But it’s in the big spaces that Mbappé is the most efficient.

In the picture above, you can notice the speed of execution of Mbappé, who very easily eliminates Marcelo of Lyon.

He draws the Brazilian defender inwards and eliminates him with a fake shot to reach the goal.

Everything is done so quickly that it is tough for the Lyon player to defend, given the significant athletic gap between the two.

There’s also the mental part, which is not to be overlooked when we talk about this phenomenon.

Mbappé has the soul of a winner.

He detects opponents’ weak points and always seeks to exploit them.

For 90 minutes, he will focus on his direct opponent and do everything to take the psychological ascendancy over him.

The former Monaco player has a rage to win and an unfailing determination.

His incredible ambition off the pitch is evident when he plays football.

When you defend against Mbappé, you have to be psychologically ready and focused at all times.

Kylian Mbappé Position & offensive pattern

Mbappé has primarily played in two positions in PSG’s tactics this season: left winger and centre forward in the second half.

Whatever his position, the 21-year-old wonderkid is very mobile and roams from his position.

As you can see on the heatmap, Mbappé loves to start from an off-centre position and cuts inside, especially in the left half-space.

He is excellent in large spaces, and the fact that he starts from a more off-centre position allows him to free himself from the opposing axial density.

As you can see in the graph above, Mbappé improves his team’s game more by running than by passing.

We notice, in particular, this tendency to carry out its offensive actions in the left half-space.

Mbappé can penetrate this area with the ball at his feet just as well as he could if he were to run there without the ball.

He completes 4.84 progressive runs per 90 minutes and is one of the best in this area in Ligue 1.

The former Monaco forward is also the player who takes the most dribbles, with 9.29 per 90, and has a 54.49% success rate.

The graph on the right shows what Mbappé does after his dribbles.

Being naturally attracted to the opponent’s goal, the 21-year-old wonderkid always tries to get into a striking position.

He is very good at it and has good speed in the dribbling and shooting sequence.

This season, only 14% of the French international’s strikes were out of the box.

He will always try to get into the penalty area to increase his chances of scoring (0.19 of npxG per shot this season, one of the best in Ligue 1).

It remains clear that there is no exact science to stop Mbappé, and it is very difficult for defenders to contain him.

In addition to all the qualities mentioned above, the former Monaco player is very intelligent and can vary his game or adapt his positioning to leave the opposing team in total uncertainty.

However, certain behaviours, initiatives, and types of defence can limit Mbappé’s impact within a match.

Kylian Mbappé Man marking

The most difficult and important thing for a defender against Mbappé is to manage his distance from him.

The 2018 World Champion must be given very little space, and he must never be able to turn around or accelerate.

You must not be too far away from him to be able to intervene if he receives the ball, nor too close so as not to be caught in the depth or on his first touch.

This “good” distance offers the defender several possibilities until the last moment.

If Mbappé receives the ball back to goal, for example, the defender is close enough to him to intervene on the passing time.

If, on the other hand, the young forward makes a movement in-depth, the defender might be able to compete on the run as he starts with a bit of a head start.

In the above action, Axel Disasi is at a good distance from Mbappé, able to intervene if the latter receives the ball on his feet but also to contain him in the depths.

Note the interesting orientation of Disasi’s body, especially his shoulders, which are pointed toward the young PSG player to anticipate a possible run in-depth.

It’s very important that Disasi keeps this safe distance as he is part of the last line in Reims defence and therefore has space in his back.

Defending on Mbappé also means adapting this distance according to the game action.

If Mbappé drops deep to participate in the build-up play, the defender marking him can be very close, as his teammates will cover the depth.

Individual marking appears to be a suitable solution against the 21-year-old player, provided the defender is skilled at anticipating and reading the game.

Thiago Silva‘s match against Mbappé in the 2017 League Cup final is a prime example of how to effectively manage Mbappé.

Obviously, the young PSG striker has improved significantly since 2017, both athletically and mentally.

But the way Silva left him very little space to express himself throughout the match was remarkable.

It was an important psychological factor that day, as Silva had put a lot of physical commitment and pressure on Mbappé, showing great dominance.

The above action takes place during the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie between Dortmund and PSG.

The German team plays with a three-man defence featuring Łukasz Piszczek, Dan-Axel Zagadou, and Mats Hummels.

During this phase of PSG’s possession, Mbappé drops deep to break Dortmund’s axial density and assist his teammates in the build-up.

But, being covered in depth by Hummels, Piszczek can follow Mbappé very closely.

If Mbappé receives the ball on his feet, Piszczek can intervene directly on the passing time.

If Mbappé suddenly makes a deep run, he will be managed by Hummels.

With so little space, it’s not very easy for Mbappé to utilize his qualities with the ball.

The 21-year-old Frenchman does not excel at playing back to goal or in duels, and if he roams from his position, it is mainly to destabilize the opposing defence and attack other spaces.

A man-oriented defense (where each player controls the space in front of them and marks very closely any player who enters their zone) can always keep a player at a good distance from Mbappé and avoid creating holes inside the block, as a strict individual marking system could.

However, for this to work, the space left by the defender who follows Mbappé must be covered by another player, because if the young PSG attacker gets free of the marking due to his speed (or fake runs), it could have serious consequences.

For that, defenders must be able to anticipate and read the game well.

Kylian Mbappé Reducing space

As a defender, you will sometimes have no choice but to defend on Mbappé over an ample space, where he is the most efficient.

You remember the penalty he got against Argentina in the Round of 16 at the World Cup, where he ran all the way up the pitch on a counter-attack.

As Mbappé has a highly developed ability to analyse the situation, the defender must keep their intentions hidden.

As far as possible, he should force Mbappé to move to an area where he will be less effective and dangerous.

In the above action, Virgil Van Dijk will contain and control Mbappé very well.

In a counter-attack situation, the former Monaco player is in a one-on-one with the Liverpool defender.

Van Dijk defends by backing away with the will to open a little space for Mbappé to close a bigger one.

The Dutch defender directs his body and adapts his distance to Mbappé to close off the centre of the pitch.

Moreover, by staying on his feet, he saves time and forces Mbappé to make a decision, as two Dutch players return to defence.

Mbappé is then in a situation where he can only continue his run straight ahead.

Van Dijk gave him a little space, but above all, he controlled all the space behind him.

The Liverpool defender showed a lot of patience, calm, and did not rush to optimize time and space.

When Mbappé has to make a decision, space is already very narrow.

Mbappé will still be able to get into a striking position thanks to his speed, but Van Dijk‘s anticipation and reading of the game allow him to time his tackles correctly.

When you know that Mbappé is so good in the big spaces, it’s important to understand how to reduce his spaces as much as possible.

Van Dijk’s ability to leave no clues about his intentions put a lot of pressure on Mbappé.

He made him move where he wanted him to move.

Conclusion

As this analysis shows, the defender’s athleticism is crucial for limiting Mbappé’s impact and defending against him.

Faced with the 21-year-old phenomenon, an agile defender with good support and acceleration will make his task more difficult.

But there’s another thing that comes into play for the defender in this duel: not to suffer and to trap Mbappé by putting him in conditions where he will be less effective.

However, Mbappé has consistently demonstrated throughout his career an incredible capacity for adaptation, which often enables him to find effective solutions.

As Thierry Henry once said in an interview, Mbappé is not only an incredible forward but also a very thoughtful player, and that’s what makes him so strong.