Real Madrid look good, don't they? They have played two games, won two games, and conceded zero goals in La Liga so far.
That all sounds pretty good to me. There are things to improve on, obviously, but these are great signs for Real Madrid fans that their team might be back.
Kylian Mbappe has been firing on all cylinders, new signings like Dean Huijsen, Alvaro Carreras and Franco Mastantuono have all played well. Trent Alexander-Arnold, even though he has been quieter than the others, has also settled in nicely.
People expected the new Englishman to be Real Madrid's primary free kick taker. If not him, they expected either Mastantuono or Arda Guler to take responsibility. It is neither of them.
Kylian Mbappe is not the best free kick taker Real Madrid have
According to a report from The Athletic, Real Madrid's new penalty and free kick taker is officially Kylian Mbappe.
That was something that, even though he had scored two last season, was not expected. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Franco Mastantuono both are better free kick takers than the Frenchman, as good as he has been.
Putting him on for free kicks is a bit premature for someone who has only scored two in his career. Trent's record is decent, and Mastantuono seems like an expert at them already at just 18 years of age.
Mbappe is a great player, and his mentality has shifted towards something more similar to a leader than a superstar, which is good. But putting him on for free kicks just does not seem like the right decision to me.
I really hope I am wrong. I really hope Mbappe pulls up from deep every time and scores free kicks like it is a piece of cake, but it may not happen.
Mbappe's good at penalties, though, and should be the team's primary penalty taker for every game.
but, he took a free kick against Real Oviedo from a very tight angle. And that free kick was... surprisingly awful, to say the least.
Hopefully his free kicks are, at the very least, better than what he did last weekend. And I also hope that, if at one point, Xabi Alonso feels like it is not working out, he switches the free kick takers for someone else.
Be that as it may, I guess we all owe Mbappe the benefit of the doubt. He has scored two for this club, and hopefully that number goes up.