On Monday, the Ballon d’Or was handed to Real Madrid goal-scorer Karim Benzema. The 34-year-old receiving the honor didn’t generate much debate; however, the positioning below him, such as Kylian Mbappe in sixth place, had pundits talking.
While there is some uproar about seeing the France international outside the top five, English football pundit Tim Sherwood believes a sixth-place voting finish for the Paris Saint-Germain star is accurate.
Sherwood stated on talkSPORT Tuesday that “the jury is still out” on Mbappe, and he wouldn’t like to manage the France international star.
“I find him very exciting to watch on his day, but I find him quite frustrating,” Sherwood said. “He’s like [Thierry] Henry, isn’t he, just drifts out on the left-hand side, a lot of boys these days want to play out there with their backside to the touchline and drift inside and threaten the goal.
“Listen, he’s got incredible pace and skill and quick feet and ability to finish, but he wouldn’t be… he’d certainly be up there in the top five, but for me, the jury’s still out. People will say you must be mad, but I only look intensely into him and he just frustrates me. Certainly, if I was to manage him, he’d frustrate me.”
At 23, Mbappe has already achieved a lot in his young footballing career as the PSG star has won a FIFA World Cup, several Ligue 1 titles, domestic cups, and reached a UEFA Champions League final.
The French forward has yet to hit the prime years of his career and is already on the verge of becoming PSG’s top goal-scorer in club history.
Regardless of what Sherwood believes, Mbappe is one of the better players in football and is a candidate who will be challenging for the Ballon d’Or for the foreseeable future.
