Superstar footballers only reach that status because they can do things on the pitch that only a select few others can do. Kylian Mbappé is certainly such a player, with an unrivaled burst of pace and aggression combined with explosive finishing. I mean, the guy scored a hat trick in a World Cup final. But…
In the 2023/24 Season, Real Madrid comfortably won LaLiga and added yet another Champions League trophy to their ridiculously stacked cabinet. Then they signed Mbappé, indisputably one of the greatest players on the planet. They currently sit 2nd in LaLiga, four points behind Barcelona and were just ceremoniously dumped out of the Champions League by Arsenal in the quarter finals. The last time they failed to reach the semi-finals was the 2019/20 season.
This is not to detract from Mbappé’s obvious talents. But it does raise questions about whether a superstar player disrupts the balance of the team. Does the inescapable over-sized attention on one player upset the delicate emotional connections within the squad? Or could it be that Real simply didn’t need Mbappé? His favored position is as an attacking player on the left…a position for which Real already have one of the best in the world in Vinicius Junior. Square pegs, round holes.
There are further examples of this, none more so than at PSG. This is a team that was built around superstars – Mbappé (again); Neymar; and a certain Lionel Messi. Winning Ligue 1 is almost a given for PSG. A true measure of their abilities has always been the Champions League, a tournament in which they’ve perennially underperformed. Except for this season during which they’ve been the standout team – never better exemplified by the way they outplayed Liverpool over two legs. They are the favorites going into the final four. All achieved having shed themselves of individual superstars. Cliché alert; there’s no “i” in team.
It's perhaps unfair to include Ronaldo in this article. In his prime he undoubtedly helped every team he played for with an astonishing number of goals. But his return to Old Trafford impeded Manchester Utd’s attempted revival and caused disharmony. And to my eye, Portugal look like a better TEAM when he’s not on the pitch. This is epitomized by his insistence on taking every single direct free kick for Portugal. His record. Taken 61. Scored 1. It’s not like they don’t have other great free kick takers (Bruno Fernandes for example). It’s hard to imagine this selfishness doesn’t cause friction in the dressing room.
Of course there are exceptions. Messi at Barcelona; Salah at Liverpool. But even here perhaps there’s a clue. The best attacking superstars are the ones whose assists records are as impressive as their goalscoring – clear evidence of their devotion to the team - as happy to pass to the scorer as score themselves. Messi has 381 career assists to Ronaldo’s 257. Salah sits as the player with the second most assists ever for Liverpool (just a few behind Steven Gerrard). Salah has 22 assists this season; across all competitions; Mbappé has just 5 assists.
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