With Toni Kroos now retired, the German’s departure has left Real Madrid with a massive conundrum: who will become the new set-piece taker at the Bernabeu? The legendary German was famuously brilliant from dead-ball situations, whether it be picking out a teammates or going for goal himself.
However, it appears Los Blancos have now decided on which player will take over from Kroos when it comes to direct free-kicks: none other than their newest Galactico, Kylian Mbappe. According to Marca, the French superstar, who has been handed the number nine shirt, will also be responsible for taking free-kicks in dangerous positions. While this is often a privilege that comes from being the star player on the team, the 25-year-old’s eye-opening record suggests that maybe he is not the right man for this particular role.
Mbappe’s Free-Kick Record
The forward has never scored a direct free-kick
In his time at AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain, Mbappe was able to score an astonishing 192 goals in 246 games. However, none of those strikes came from a direct free-kick, which makes the decision to put him first in line to take them a puzzling one. In total, the world-class attacker has taken nine efforts on goal from dead-ball situations, scoring zero and managing an expected xG of just 0.58. In fact, there’s even a X (Twitter) account dedicated to the fact that the superstar has yet to convert any of his free-kicks.
Mbappe is much more successful from the penalty spot, where he has converted 20 of his 24 efforts. Whether or not Mbappe was promised to be given all set-piece shooting opportunities in order to increase his chances of scoring in the famous white jersey is unknown, but the decision feels eerily similar to that of the Frenchman’s idol, Cristiano Ronaldo, and has persistence with free-kicks.
A big talking point of Euro 2024 was that the Portuguese superstar was wasting good opportunities from set-pieces in order to have some ridiculous attempts at goal that never came off. This is despite the fact that there were other stronger options from dead balls, such as Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva.
Other Options For Real Madrid
David Alaba has scored more free-kicks than Mbappe
According to the report from Marca, there are other alternatives that could be handed the responsibility of being a back-up to Mbappe, even though they are arguably more suited to the job. One example is defender David Alaba. Despite operating at the back and having been injured for the majority of last season, the Austrian would make a sensible option, given that he has scored six times from direct free-kicks in his career.
Young Turkish star Arda Guler is another alternative that, if given the opportunity to play, should be considered. The wonderkid has not scored a free-kick for the Spanish giants, but his incredible effort during the Euro 2024 quarter-final’s against the Netherlands highlighted the potential he could have from shooting distances. It’s understood that Arda will be on other set-piece duties for Los Blancos this season.
Other names that have been touted are midfielder Federico Valverde and the two Ballon d’Or contenders in Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Jr. Vinicius is expected to take Real Madrid’s penalties, despite Mbappe’s arrival.
All statistics courtesy of Understat – accurate as of 06/08/2024.