Henry's dig at Mbappe: “He never runs, Bellingham is playing as a striker and as a midfielder”

Real Madrid is not going through its best moment after the defeat against AC Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu (1-3). A result that added to the 0-4 defeat by Barcelona in the previous match, has made players such as Thierry Henrycriticize on CBS Sports Golazoagainst who for him is one of the causes of this poor performance: Kylian Mbappe.

Bellingham is trying to do what his No.9, Mbappe, is supposed to do

Thierry Henry

Henry harshly criticises Mbappe

Henry began by calmly analyzing the game: “I think the team is frustrated with him, which I can understand, it’s not easy. We have to give him time but at the same time he must learn to play as a 9, to have the desire and willingness to project himself.” But soon something changed and he was very critical: “Bellingham is trying to do and what his 9, Mbappe, is supposed to do,” he said harshly.

And those words were not going to stay there and he explained the situation he was seeing in Real Madrid’s game: “It is almost always Bellingham who tries to make the runs, make the team play. It is still him who tries to break the lines”. A situation that he wondered about while watching a play: “Who is running and trying to get to the goal? It’s Bellingham, not your number 9. There’s frustration. Look at the number 9! Once again, your 9 is not there. I’m not going to be, but your 10, yes. I know it can happen sometimes, but it can’t be all the time. That’s what I’m trying to say. I know he’s not a number 9 and that’s not what he likes to do, but do you think Bellingham likes to make these runs? Stretching the team? He does it because desire and will speak“.

I don’t think they play well as a team

Thierry Henry

“I don’t think they play well as a team. But with the ball he (Mbappe) must also do it, much more. He (Mbappe) will improve because it can’t be worse than that. We don’t ask him to hold the ball like Didier Drogba, we don’t ask him to take the ball and dribble everyone, but to project himself when the team is high; whether you’re a winger, 9 or 10, you can run, even Rudiger did it in the first half,” he concludes.