Kylian Mbappe and Alvaro Arbeloa have decided to step into the boxing ring after being inspired by Aurelien Tchouameni and Fede Valverde, though their spar is more of a verbal one. After Arbeloa decided to bring Mbappe off the bench for Real Madrid vs. Real Oviedo, the Frenchman decided to let him have it in the press conference after the game
Real Madrid fans aren't buying it, though. They can see that a wounded Mbappe, with a bruised ego from the fans booing him, has decided to lash out at the manager, and they certainly aren't buying one of his choice quotes at the presser in which he alleged that Arbeloa told him he is the fourth choice forward in the squad.
Mbappe said, via Madrid Xtra, “Arbeloa told me I’m the fourth attacker in the squad. I have to accept the manager’s choice.”
Kylian Mbappe just confused the heck out of everyone
Alvaro Arbeloa sounded legitimately as puzzled as everyone else when he heard that quote and said that Kylian Mbappe must have understood what he said. He also said that he doesn't even consider there to be four forwards healthy in the squad right now. Some Madridistas argued with that, but he is right. Only Vinicius Junior and Gonzalo Garcia are the others used as forwards. Brahim Diaz and Franco Mastantuono are deployd more as midfielders or wingers by the manager, and Garcia is the only one competing directly for Mbappe's minutes as a No. 9.
So why would Mbappe say that Arbeloa told him he is the fourth choice forward? Well, to make it a battle of "he said, she said" pitting him, a well known superstar who has fans attached to him like a cult of personality, against a lame duck manager who has positioned himself as a pushover that people like Mbappe can just walk all over in public.
Naturally, there are going to be people who lack basic critical thinking skills and get outraged hearing Mbappe say that the manager called him the fourth choice forward. When the reality is that Mbappe apparently got injured before El Clasico and wasn't deemed ready or the best option to start this game by the manager.
And Real Madrid, by the way, won without Mbappe as the starter with Gonzalo Garcia playing an incredible game. So Mbappe can complain all he wants about the manager and make up a strange quote that makes no sense for his coach to have said, which then means he is lying to make himself look good and the coach look bad, but Arbeloa did the right thing for the team.
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