Thierry Henry has leapt to Kylian Mbappe’s defence after the Paris Saint-Germain superstar threw an on-pitch strop during a match against Montpellier.
PSG cruised to a 5-2 victory in Ligue 1 on Saturday, with Mbappe scoring one of the goals. But all was not well behind the scoreline at the Parc des Princes, as Mbappe made headlines with his performance on and off the ball.
Despite getting on the scoresheet with a simple finish in the second half, the 23-year-old striker had an early penalty saved and later appeared to stop running midway through a counter-attack after his teammate, new signing Vitinha, ignored his run and instead passed to Lionel Messi.
Viewers quickly picked up on Mbappe’s sulk – as well as other selfish moves during the game – as he also appeared to ask strike partner Neymar to take PSG’s second penalty, which the Brazilian refused to give up and scored himself, fuelling talk of a rift between the pair.
Henry wasn’t for criticising Mbappe, though, instead choosing to defend the French superstar and claim that “there is always a problem” at PSG, following a series of high-profile fallouts within the club hierarchy last season.
“It’s his place. He will of course have to show it [his best level] as he has shown from the start. But he has nothing to prove to anyone,” Arsenal legend Henry began while on punditry duty for Prime Sport Video France. “The coach will have to find a way to play the three [Messi, Neymar, Mbappe] and make them happy… good luck.
“At PSG, there is always a debate, a problem. They won 5-2 and we’re talking about Mbappe. Last year, it was Neymar and it will always be like that, it’s PSG.”
