Rafael van der Vaart backs Mbappé and France to silence their doubters at the World Cup

Rafael van der Vaart has leapt to the defence of Kylian Mbappé, insisting the Real Madrid forward is being unfairly criticised and backing him to answer his doubters on football's biggest stage at this summer's World Cup.

The former Netherlands international believes the scrutiny surrounding Mbappé has become excessive, particularly following Paris Saint-Germain's back-to-back Champions League triumphs since his departure. While many have pointed to PSG's success as evidence that Mbappé was holding the club back, van der Vaart sees the situation very differently.

Does Mbappé always get the blame?

The narrative around Mbappé has shifted dramatically over the past two years. PSG's European success without him has led some to question his influence, but van der Vaart argues that the French superstar has become an easy target.

"When people are talking about Mbappé being arrogant it makes me a little bit upset and people also talk now because PSG won two Champions League titles. Everybody is saying, yeah you can see that he was the problem and don’t get me wrong… PSG have many good players but not a single absolute world star.”

“He was the world star at the club. What happens when you play with a player like him in your team is that the other good players hide a little bit. He is under pressure and he got the blame when PSG didn't win."

Since Mbappé's departure, the likes of Ousmane Dembélé, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Désiré Doué have helped transform PSG into one of the most exciting attacking teams in world football. For van der Vaart, however, the difference is not quality, but responsibility.

"Now, he left and they are sharing that pressure. It is much easier for them than it was being with him. He always scored many goals, just like he does at Real Madrid. He had the pressure of scoring the goals. The fans at Real Madrid keep criticising him and I don't know why. He was - by far - their best player this season!"

Despite continuing to produce goals at an elite level, Mbappé remains under intense scrutiny. It is a criticism van der Vaart believes is completely misplaced.

"The other Real Madrid players were not good enough this season. He was scoring all the time but imagine if you are trying and being the best all the time, it is tough. I always get so frustrated because it is so easy to say Mbappé is nothing and that is just not the truth."

The Cristiano Ronaldo parallel

To explain the pressure that comes with being the focal point of a club like Real Madrid, van der Vaart reflected on his own experience playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at the Santiago Bernabéu.

"You know, in a big club like Real Madrid, everyone gets criticised as crazy. When (Cristiano) Ronaldo played there and when he didn't win he also always got the blame. But what I noticed when I played there, it is not good to only have one big star.”

“Listen, I was a number ten and when I had the ball, I might have had a better option but if Ronaldo was on the left, me and everybody passed him the ball which isn't good."

van der Vaart believes having a superstar can create unique challenges for a team, but the rewards ultimately outweigh the risks.

"It is difficult to have a big star in your team but you have to manage that, because at the end of the day Ronaldo scored 60 goals per season and Mbappé is doing the same."

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France to win the World Cup

When the conversation turned to the World Cup, van der Vaart had no hesitation in naming his favourites. He expects France to go all the way and believes Mbappé could be the defining player of the tournament.

"I am going (with) France to win the World Cup. I really hope that Mbappé is going to be the best player of the tournament because of all this criticism and people saying that he's doing nothing and not working backwards, but I'm 100% sure he will be top."

"France are just so strong. They can put three teams together and then still have a chance to win the World Cup."

van der Vaart also made his predictions for the tournament's major individual awards. While he backed Mbappé to be named the best player of the competition, he tipped a familiar face to finish as the leading goalscorer.

"I would say Mbappé for the Golden Boot, but I think that my friend Harry Kane could also win it. I don't know how he's doing it, but somehow he always scores crazy, crazy goals. So I will go for Harry Kane to win the Golden Boot and I will go for Mbappe to win the Golden Ball."

As for the tournament's best young player, there was only one candidate in his mind.

"For the best young player I have to say Lamine Yamal. He's young but for me he's also already one of the best players in the world.."

The World Cup dark horses

Away from the traditional favourites, van der Vaart identified two nations capable of causing problems and warned against underestimating one of the Netherlands' own group-stage opponents.

"I saw Norway play against Sweden and they impressed me. So Norway is one of the dark horses. Morocco can be strong and the rest we have to see."

Having faced Japan during the 2010 World Cup, van der Vaart knows exactly what his country can expect if they meet again.

"Netherlands are in the group with Japan and I also played against them in 2010, and they're just always fit, strong and technically good. They can play football. You can have difficult times against them."

Read more as Rafael van der Vaart gives his thoughts on England's squad selection