Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique had Real Madrid standout Kylian Mbappé for one season, and now videos of the behind-the-scenes coaching that went on are beginning to emerge.
Despite their short time together, it was a successful one, as they won a Ligue 1 trophy, a Coupe de France, and reached the UEFA Champions League semifinal.
During this Champions League run, Enrique had a video coaching session with the 25-year-old, and the game the two were analyzing was the matchup against FC Barcelona. Furthermore, the Spanish coach used a famous NBA legend to make a point regarding Mbappé needing to play defense.
“I heard you admire Michael Jordan,” Enrique said. “Michael Jordan was known for holding his teammates accountable and defending like a beast. You need to take that approach. Not just as a player, but as a leader on the field. You’ve got to press Cubarsi, stay on him the entire game, and also put pressure on Ter Stegen to make quick decisions.
“Your role is to keep Cubarsi from advancing and force Ter Stegen to move the ball fast. Why? Because that’s how you become a leader. You think your job is just to score goals for us, and sure, you’re an incredible, world-class player. But that’s not enough for me.”
"He leído que te gustaba Michael Jordan".
"Michael Jordan se ponía a defender como un hijo de p***".#LuisEnrique 🗣️ Mbappé
📼 Lunes 7, '𝑵𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒆́𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒊 **** 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂' Capítulo 2. pic.twitter.com/VSYqtTAIsl
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It will be interesting to see if the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner will committ to playing defense now that he’s at Real Madrid and with France’s national team. As for PSG, Enrique will undoubtedly preach that even though a player is an attacker, they need to contribute on the defensive side.