Whataboutism and creating false equivalencies to "play both sides" have become the hallmark of the media and larger society these days, with people toeing the line between what is right and wrong and instead of making a statement on what they know to be true, they cowtow and placate to a small but loud subset of individuals in order to avoid conflict. And that is exactly the problem that has gripped the Real Madrid fanbase since Kylian Mbappe arrived.
Kylian Mbappe does not run, just like at PSG, just like what Luis Enrique said. But what about Vinicius Jr? Yeah, what about him? The guy who ranks among the most active pressing forwards in the world, whereas Mbappe is "up there" with the retirement homes of Saudi Arabia and the United States among the worst in the world at covering ground.
Kylian Mbappe disrespected the club and his manager after being eased off the bench since returning from an injury (which, if he is mad about not playing, may not have actually been an injury after all). But what about Vinicius Jr.? Didn't he get Xabi Alonso fired? No, no he did not. Alonso got fired because he got embarrassed by Arne Slot, Diego Simeone, and the other big teams he faced and could barely beat the worst teams in the league.
Vinicius Jr. is not the same as Kylian Mbappe
His tactical ideas did not work at a big club like Real Madrid, and he did not want to adapt to the dressing room. Vinicius Jr. was upset at being pulled from El Clasico when he was playing well and was constantly jerked around by a manager who played favorites (who in their right mind thinks Franco Mastantuono is better than Endrick right now?), but he never once went off on him and created his own press conference after a game like Mbappe did to Alvaro Arbeloa.
Real Madrid can't win with Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior. Correction to those mythologizers playing both sides. Vinicius Jr. won TWO Champions Leagues with Real Madrid as a crucial player and one of the best of the knockout stages. Kylian Mbappe has won ZERO Champions Leagues with two different clubs, and the club he just left is about to head to its second straight Champions League Final after Luis Enrique basically guaranteed they would after shedding Le Egoist.
And yet despite all that is true, we still get the people at supposedly suspected outlets, including people who have written about Real Madrid for years, defending Kylian Mbappe and making equivalancies between him, Fede Valverde, and Jude Bellingham: guys who don't laugh at the fans and disrespect the club but apologize to the fans, kiss the badge, run their socks off, and have WON.
Worse yet, we have to read reports from L'Equipe, via the Madrid Zone, that actual, employed executives at Real Madrid are thinking of firing either Mbappe or Vinicius Junior because they don't think they can win with both. Maybe the reason the club is in the state it is in is because geniuses like these are employed around Florentino Perez.
News flash: You can and have won with Vinicius Jr. Twice. You cannot win with Kylian Mbappe and have not won with him because 3 managers at Real Madrid and 5 managers at PSG (all of them highly accomplished, by the way) could not and all but one, Enrique, lost their jobs because of him. But yes, the problem is Vinicius because we have to play both sides to placate Mbappe's legion of teenage cult of personality followers.
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