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The best since Ronaldo: Kylian Mbappe’s 2017 in numbers...
tiki_taka 6 years ago
Barcelona, France 367 9768

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The best for 22 years. The best since Ronaldo.

Kylian Mbappé’s breakthrough year is riddled with records and punctuated by obscene numbers. Such is the volume of the goals he scored, the assists he provided and the milestones he reached, it seems bizarre to even call it his breakthrough year. But it was. And it was phenomenal.

So phenomenal was it in fact, the only teenager to score more goals in a single calendar year was the boy literally nicknamed “The Phenomenon”. Ronaldo scored 38 goals across all competitions whilst playing for PSV in 1995 and no other teenager has broken the 30-goal mark since. Here’s who have come the closest:

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Firstly, by ‘under the age of 21’ we mean a player who was not 21 for any part of the year in question. Even then, I was originally looking for goalscoring exploits by teenagers, players not turning 20 in any part of the year.

But the fact that Kylian Mbappé’s 32 goals started to eclipse those posted by the likes of Raúl, Fernando Torres and Sergio Agüero despite those mentioned turning 20, it seemed only right to expand the criteria to illustrate how sensational Mbappé’s output was.

The now 19-year-old was the only player to score 20+ goals and register 10+ assists in Ligue 1 in 2017, finishing the year with 20 goals and 11 assists to his name. He scored 12 and assisted three in 19 games for Monaco with the last eight of each coming in his 14 appearances for PSG this season.

Alongside Radamel Falcao, Kylian Mbappé was the outlet upfront. Inhabiting the left-hand channel, the comparisons with Thierry Henry flooded in due to his preference for that particular space and the way he would curl the ball into the net after racing away from defenders.

After his soon-to-be £166m transfer to PSG, his place on the right to accommodate Neymar and Cavani saw his creative output increase, becoming more fleet-footed winger than out-and-out striker. His transition from hanging on the last man in a front-two to a wide forward in a front-three was seamless. Mbappé has the necessary qualities to thrive in both.

The matter of lifting a league title in between all that deserves a mention, as does his place in the Team of the Year. But despite his domestic dominance, perhaps unsurprisingly, the most impressive portion of his goals were scored in the Champions League; 31.25% of them to be exact.

Kylian Mbappé’s ten goals in the competition in 2017 was a tally bettered only by Cristiano Ronaldo—the man who this year scored the most in a single calendar year the competition had ever seen (19) and once covered Kylian Mbappé’s bedroom walls in poster form.

It all gets more ridiculous when you then consider that not only did six of Kylian Mbappé’s goals come in the knockout stages of the competition, but that each time he found the back of the net, he seemed to rewrite Champions League history.

• First player to score in their first four knockout games
• Youngest scorer in both legs of a quarter-final
• Youngest scorer in a semi-final
• Youngest player to score 10 goals
• Most goals as a teenager

The first record on that list does not get near the recognition it deserves: no other player has managed to achieve it in the history of the Champions League and yet Kylian Mbappé did so at 18 years, three months and 30 days old. His movement was devastating, his finishing was unerring.

Kylian Mbappé’s performances for Monaco in the Champions League were what piqued everyone’s interest. His goalscoring exploits in the competition and the aforementioned records he set were the perfect riposte to any non-believer using the perceived lack of quality in Ligue 1 as an ‘excuse’ for his output. The Champions League gave Kylian Mbappé the platform to announce himself to the world. He did so and never looked back.

By May, Kylian Mbappé was the Best Young Player in Ligue 1. By October, he was the Best Young Player in Europe. By December, he was the seventh Best Player in the World.

Finishing above the likes of Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne, as well as teammates past and present such as Edinson Cavani and Radamel Falcao seemed absurd at first. But looking back at Kylian Mbappé’s 2017, what he achieved individually and collectively with both Monaco and PSG was superior to most.

Yes, it is difficult to say he is a better player than all those he finished ahead of, but after comparing his numbers to both iterations of Ronaldo throughout this article, it’s just as hard to say he isn’t.

Whether you agree or not, the one objective truth, the one conclusion that can be made from Kylian Mbappé’s year is that it is the best return from a teenager since one of the greatest young goalscorers in history.

Yes, it is difficult to say he is a better player than all those he finished ahead of, but after comparing his numbers to both iterations of Ronaldo throughout this article, it’s just as hard to say he isn’t.

Whether you agree or not, the one objective truth, the one conclusion that can be made from Kylian Mbappé’s year is that it is the best return from a teenager since one of the greatest young goalscorers in history.

56 Games :

32 goals

16 assists

Unreel, to be continued....

4
Comments
Emobot7 6 years ago
538 11426

Damn, I guess its official now, M'bappe is clearly on the same level as Messi and Ronaldo when they were his age. That just speak volume of the potential this kid have. Forget Pogba and Neymar, this kid is gonna be the one to win the ballon d'or in the future. :D

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Croatian 6 years ago
Bayern Munich, Croatia 23 1323

I think he's unbeliveable. His assist to Cavani few days ago describes all of his specialities, intelligence, speed, dribbling and creativity in final third. One of most exciting youngsters I've seen in my lifetime.

1
Golazo111 6 years ago
Chelsea, Mexico 70 2607

Damn, I guess its official now, M'bappe is clearly on the same level as Messi and Ronaldo when they were his age.

He is better than both when comparing how the other 2 were when all of them were 18 years old, last season he did things that neither Messi nor Ronaldo could do at 18 years of age.

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tiki_taka 6 years ago
Barcelona, France 367 9768

Messi had a better season, Ronaldo had a better month ( may )

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Golazo111 6 years ago
Chelsea, Mexico 70 2607

At 18 years old? Not even close to Mbappe, both Messi and Ronaldo were not this good.

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SunFlash 6 years ago
USA 19 3260

I think the statement that really should be made here is that when you look at the elites of the game (in any sport really, this isn't limited to soccer) - everyone knew at 18 what was up. There was no secret these players were beyond good. Looking at Mbappe now, it's much the same formula.

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Emobot7 6 years ago
538 11426

@Golazo Yeah, in my head, it wasn't a question of comparing, what I wanted to say was that all of those player: CR7, Messi and M'bappe were way above the rest of the player their age when they were that age.

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tiki_taka 6 years ago
Barcelona, France 367 9768

Being a Genius in this age is nothing yet, Owen, Pato, Robinho, Ben Arfa, Anelka and the list is long were all out of their generation. Problem is that you need to progress, the right people in the right place arround you, and focus on football '' be passionated ", or be strong mentally and determinated to reach the top and stay there.
Potential is not enough, and from what i' ve seen Mbappe family is mad about football, his father is an amator coach, his bro got some ligue 1 experience and his uncle is an agent and scout. His mother parctise Football and all decisions made for the kid were good.
he developped at a young age in Paris subburb then went to clairefontaine, like Henry, then refused Chelsea/Real Madrid at 14yo to go to Monaco like Henry, then struggled with his national division coach to get playing time, he and his family obsession. then went directly into Monaco first squad, and pushed for playing time with his family until he got the chance. he never let it go.
Then refused Madrid for playing time, to go as a big star and granted starting place at 19 yo to PSG. the management of his career is brilliant. his post games analysis are brilliant. The kid is gifted.
He was offered to Barca for 120 mil, but they went for Dembele, kind of nightmare for me lol.

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Emobot7 6 years ago
538 11426

@Tiki Well, technically, he doesn't even need to improve a lot, he just need to make sure his form doesn't drop or that he doesn't develop problem related to injury or stuff like that. Imo, he would already be sucess if he managed to keep going with the way he has been doing atm. And if he does improve a lot, then, he might just become one of the very best, compared with the like of Pele and Maradona.

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SunFlash 6 years ago
USA 19 3260

@tiki

I understand there are players who get rated that end up not making it. But out of the, say, 10 best players in the world right now, everyone knew they had the stuff when they were 18. Very few players just come out of nowhere.

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Golazo111 6 years ago
Chelsea, Mexico 70 2607

Tiki is right because even if it's exciting to follow this young player nothing is set in stone, real tests of his character and ability to become a real leader are still to come. France has a very bright future, IMO the best young talents are currently there and he should become a new big PSG player in the upcoming years.

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Emobot7 6 years ago Edited
538 11426

@Golazo Right, France have some of the best young player out there, their academy are really quite impressive. Its also not rare for them to adopt player from Africain origin when they or their family move in France which sometime lead to them getting even more talented prospect. :)

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  • History
Showing previous versions of this text.

@Golazo Right, France have some of the best young player out there, their academy are really quite impressive. Its also not rare for them to adopt player from Africain origin when they or their family move into their country which sometime lead to them getting even more talented prospect. :)

Eden17Hazard17 6 years ago
Chelsea FC 157 4232

I wasn't buying the hype at all last season, but Mbappe really is on track to eclipse Ronaldo/Messi. The sooner he gets a move to Real the better. Now it all comes down to his professionalism and the way he conducts himself.

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Emobot7 6 years ago
538 11426

@Eden17 Good luck with that, after the whole Verratti thing, I doubt PSG will let him leave easily and without any trouble. :(

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