In an interview given to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, Jorge Valdano, Real Madrid legend, believes he has identified the origin of Kylian Mbappé's difficulties adapting to Real Madrid by pointing out the too low cultural weight of football in France.
Jorge Valdano is a voice that carries weight in the Real Madrid environment. Former player of the club (1984-1987), he also became its sports director in the 2000s and remains a very diligent follower of its news. The 69-year-old Argentinian gave a long interview to the German media Süddeutsche Zeitung in which he draws a harsh observation on Kylian Mbappé's difficulties in adapting to Real. By pointing out the too low cultural weight of football in France.
He highlights the low number of DAZN subscribers
“It’s a question of adaptation,” says the former striker. “Mbappé left his country, France, for the first time, and this took him sociologically out of his comfort zone. This perhaps led him to a process of anxiety, and anxiety is the great enemy of the footballer.”
“In France, football does not have as much cultural importance as here in Spain,” he continues. “This is simply seen on the DAZN television channel, which has perhaps between 100,000 and 200,000 subscribers in France. Real Madrid, on the other hand, is not only the news leader on Sundays, but also Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.”
Valdano also deplores the new profiles of today's stars, more physical and perhaps less unpredictable and romantic than in his time. He finds football “more academic”. “Coming from a laboratory, so to speak,” he adds. “This is what Kylian Mbappé and especially Erling Haaland embody. He is an almost robotic figure who is dazzling but who has a different journey from all those who preceded him.”
“When I was still playing football, I always said that the only thing I missed as a footballer was the extra centimeters I had,” he concludes. “Now someone appears who is 15 centimeters taller than me and, lo and behold, nothing about him is too much. Otherwise He uses his physical structure in his favor. But as much as I believe that this marks a direction, no academy 'still managed to reproduce what the streets taught.'
