Real Madrid superstar forward Kylian Mbappe faced an awful lot of criticism in his first season with the Royal Whites, especially in the first few months, which, upon reflection, is no real surprise given his own stature and the normally high expectations placed around the club.
The fact that Real’s attack was outshone by Barcelona as they floundered in all competitions in a trophyless season, losing to their rivals four out of four times, certainly didn’t help the perception around Mbappe.
But any reasonable person will say that Mbappe had a great first season at the Santiago Bernabeu in spite of the poor performances of his teammates, as Mbappe led LaLiga and all of European football with 31 goals. Remarkably enough, it was the first time in his career that Mbappe won the European Golden Boot.
Although that was a taste of the greater success Mbappe can achieve in Madrid compared to Paris as an individual, it was a cruel twist of fate that PSG finally won the Champions League in the same year that Mbappe finally left the club for the Spanish capital.
Kylian Mbappe isn’t just one thing
Better days are ahead for Real Madrid, and Mbappe can vindicate Real’s poor season without trophies with a better year under Alonso. Although Mbappe was racking up goals under Carlo Ancelotti, it always felt like the Italian manager was a little too aloof with his players and didn’t know how to get Rodrygo Goes, Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, and Mbappe all on the same wavelength with his antiquated tactics and fading man management.
Alonso appears to have Rodrygo close to his heart after talking him out of a transfer, and there’s reason to believe that he can work wonders with Mbappe by showing him that he knows exactly what to do with him.
In a press conference ahead of Real’s first Club World Cup match against Saudi Pro League giants Al-Hilal, Alonso, via the Madrid Zone, was asked about the French superstar’s best position.
Alonso responded, “Mbappé playing striker or winger? Mbappé is a dynamic attacker. He doesn’t have a fixed position.”
That sound you hear is the sound of a million Madridistas slamming their hands on a table yelling, “Yes! Thank you! Exactly!”
Can he threaten Cristiano Ronaldo’s records?
Alonso proved in leading Bayer Leverkusen to an undefeated season that he understands how to maximize players tactically and get the best possible seasons out of him, as just about every key player under Alonso achieved their greatest successes as professionals under him.
There’s every reason to believe that Mbappe will do the same under Alonso, and while it’s presumptuous to set this as an expectation, it’s not out of the question that an Mbappe who has more freedom and even some tweaked finishing coaching from Alonso could threaten to score the 40-50 goals that Cristiano Ronaldo would in LaLiga.
Remember, Mbappe just beat Ronaldo’s record for most goals in an inaugural Real Madrid campaign, and with Alonso coaching him and understanding that he’s a dynamic player and not a 9 or a left winger – a dynamic player like his idol Cristiano – the 26-year-old could truly explode in the 2025/26 season.
Ancelotti got a very good season out of Mbappe, but Mbappe is more than just a very good player; he’s exceptional and should be on his way to shattering records. Alonso can be the one to finally get a transcendental season out of Mbappe, whose development has frustratingly stagnated under years of coaches who didn’t understand him.
Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. coexisting together and being more than the sum of their parts was one of the big failed storylines of the 2024/25 season for Real Madrid. If Alonso can get these two to have the synergy Vini and Karim Benzema did by embracing their strengths and playing to them, Real Madrid could very well win LaLiga back from Barcelona.
The editor of A Trip to Cibeles for Real Madrid, Joe Soriano helped manage The Real Champs covering Real Madrid as a dedicated writer from 2019 to 2022, making it one of the biggest team soccer sites on the web. He currently also runs the world soccer site The Trivela Effect, the Tottenham site Hotspur HQ, and a pro wrestling site called Let Them Wrestle.