Steve McManaman makes huge claim about Stoke City old boy as Kylian Mbappe misfires at Liverpool
Real Madrid would have been better off keeping Joselu for last night's Champions League tie at Liverpool rather than bringing in Kylian Mbappe, Steve McManaman has claimed.
Mbappe may be one of the world's most highly-valued players but he struggled on the left for Real Madrid at Anfield, missing a penalty and otherwise being kept quiet by Conor Bradley. The Champions League champions ended up falling to a 2-0 defeat courtesy of goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo.
Mbappe, aged 25, has scored nine times in his first 18 appearances since joining from Paris St-Germain in the summer but his new side sit 24th in a revamped Champions League and trail Barcelona in the La Liga standings. Former Stoke City forward Joselu, now 34 and an unexpected key man at Madrid last season, was allowed to leave to make space for his arrival and is now playing for Al Gharafa in Qatar.
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McManaman said on TNT Sports: "They needed (Mbappe) tonight. Without (injured) Vinicius Junior, without some of the other stars, he flattered to deceive. (The penalty) was his moment.
"The press will be ruthless about Kylian because he didn't deliver again when needed to. Madrid are going through a rough patch and the big players are not playing well. It just magnifies it. Vinicius isn't here - will Kylian step up tonight? No, he doesn't.
"They've got enough centre-forwards but (manager Carlo Ancelotti) doesn't want to use them at this moment. They needed a centre-forward tonight. Kylian is not a number nine - he might have it on his back but he is not a goalscorer supreme in those positions, is he? He likes to play out wide. They might as well have kept Joselu."
