Ancelotti annoyed by debates on Mbappé's mental health

On the eve of a trip to Leganés in La Liga, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has brushed aside rumors of psychological problems with his striker Kylian Mbappé.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti judged on Saturday that it was “ugly” to “speculate” on the mental health of Kylian Mbappé, absent from the France team gathering for the second time in two months and involved in extra-sporting affairs. “What a question… I don't have the impression that he has mental health problems. I see him happy to be here. If that's the case he doesn't show it, but I think that speculating on problems of this type is a bit ugly,” Ancelotti said at a press conference on the eve of the LaLiga match against his neighbor Leganés. In difficulty at the sporting level with Real Madrid, Mbappé was not selected – for the second time in a row – by the Blues coach Didier Deschamps, believing that “it was better that way”.

Questioned several times during the break about the reasons for this decision, Deschamps mentioned the “fragile psychological state” of his captain, who is going through a bad patch on and off the field (failed Euro, financial dispute with PSG, accusations of rape reported by the Swedish press).

“This bad patch will end”

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti wanted to be reassuring, believing that this bad period would “end” on Sunday in Leganés: “There are always bad passes, all the great attackers have been there. But he is motivated, happy, all I can see is that this bad patch will end, I am convinced that he will have a great match tomorrow and that all this will end. He has extraordinary qualities. a question of time”, pleaded the Italian technician.

“I don't need to tell him how to attack, he might be the one to do it.”

Mbappé, according to his coach, took advantage of this truce to “improve his physical condition”, a formula already used last month when the French striker was not called up with the Blues to recover from his muscular injury to his left thigh . “He trained well. (…) He worked with the others, we focused mainly on the defensive line. But does he really need to work offensively? I don't think so. I don't need to explain to him how to attack, he's the one who could do it,” Ancelotti explained.