da pinup bet： The France captain has had a trying start to his club campaign but can use this international break to recapture his brilliant best

da bet7： Kylian Mbappe was one mishit away from one of the goals of the season. In Paris Saint-Germain's clash with Rennes on Sunday, the Frenchman did all of his typical things. He burned one defender with a diagonal run, controlled Achraf Hakimi's pass in stride, cut to his left, before pushing the other way past one defender. The keeper rushed out but he, too, was left sprawling on the floor.

And then came the miss. Mbappe was almost moving too fast, drawing himself too wide of the net. So, he couldn't get his foot around the ball, and launched it well over the bar. It mattered little in the context of the game, which the Parisians comfortably won 3-1. It will also likely mean next-to-nothing come the end of the season, as Mbappe's side will probably still stroll through Ligue 1.

But for a forward widely considered the best in the world not named Erling Haaland, it was an oddity. The raw statistics still suggest that Mbappe is having another outrageous season. He has scored eight in nine appearances in all competitions and found the net twice against Lyon.

Indeed, going four in a row without scoring is hardly cause for immense concern. But there's something different about Mbappe this season. There was always going to be an immense amount of chatter here, when the France captain opted to stay at PSG for (at least) one more year, yet again spurning Real Madrid's interest. And under a new manager, with the spectre of an uncertain future following him around, Mbappe isn't quite himself.

GettyThe signings he wanted

This is all particularly unexpected given the summer transfer window PSG had. The Parisians weren't necessarily building a team Mbappe, but the signings they made — and players they let go — were very much in his interest.

The departure of Lionel Messi came first, clearing one of the 'big three' that had been detrimental to the Parisians in big moments on the field, and nearly catastrophic off it. Neymar followed him a month later, the sour end to what, just five years ago, seemed poised to be one of modern football's great duos.

The acquisitions, meanwhile, were — for the most part — young, athletic and full of potential. Manuel Ugarte and Lee Kang-In were both immensely impactful for successful sides, and added just a few weeks into the transfer window. The shrewd free-agent signings of Milan Skriniar and Marco Asensio gave the team an injection of experience.

And then came the signings of appeasement. First was Ousmane Dembele, a fully-fledged France international with the kind of attacking flair seemingly made for playing counter-attacking football with Mbappe. Randal Kolo Muani also entered the fray, PSG paying well-above market price to sign Mbappe's strike partner of the future for the French national team. Even Goncalo Ramos, of less repute but equally dynamic, made sense for the Parisians.

Finally, Mbappe the superstar had the team he wanted.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesA (sort of) new position

With the fresh faces has come with a slightly different tactical set-up. New manager Luis Enrique, once a possession-based 4-3-3 loyalist, has tinkered with PSG's line-up extensively, sometimes playing with four outright forwards, others with three forwards and one attacking midfielder.

The result has been Mbappe shifting slightly infield. Once a left winger who cut in to become an inside forward, Mbappe now starts in the channel between the centre-back and right-back, before cutting even further across. At times against Newcastle in the Champions League, Mbappe was effectively playing as a lone centre-forward — such was the tactical discrepancy between the two teams.

The shift has worked wonders when PSG are able to hit on the break. At their best, such as in the 4-1 drubbing of Lyon, the Parisians can be a dynamic attacking force, a front four weaving in unison to exploit the gaps between confused defenders. It is, indeed, telling that Dembele and Kolo Muani both have two assists to their name, while Mbappe himself is a more incisive passer than in recent years.

But the flip side is the occupation of slightly unfamiliar spaces for PSG's star. His automatic spatial understanding of that left channel has made him one of football's most prolific goalscorers in recent years. Mbappe knows every pocket of that area of the pitch: when to go near post, and when to go far; just how heavy of a touch he can take to round the goalkeeper and still have an angle to shoot. Every step is measured, every touch fine-tuned.

However, when he drifts centrally, there's a slight hesitation about him. Balls that are usually comfortably tucked into the bottom corner are put wide of the post. Shots that are usually automatic finishes are instead skied over the bar. His goal numbers may not be an immense worry, but there is something slightly off about this version of Mbappe.

GettyIs there now pressure?

Mbappe, of course, has never been short of scrutiny or critique. This is a player who was so good, so young, that a scoreless streak of four games stands as his worst since 2018. It's fair to say that the now-PSG all-time leading goalscorer has since recovered from that spell.

But in that run, as well as subsequent off performances, Mbappe always had someone to fall back on. If he didn't score, Neymar did. If Mbappe had a bad game, Messi wouldn't. For France, Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, or any number of Les Bleus promising attackers could pick up the slack.

Now, Mbappe is the main man. There is no room for excuses here — and no other generational goalscorers to help him out. For all of the talent brought in, none of the new recruits have ever hit 20 goals in a league campaign. And the closest, Ramos, isn't exactly off to a flying start in his first Parisian season. His team-mates, as they should, have stuck up for him in the media.

"I think he was tired in this match. We play every three days, it weighs a little but no, he’s not frustrated, he’ll score quickly!" Dembele said after PSG's win over Rennes.

Luis Enrique, too, has backed his star man: "He is 100 percent. Players go through different states. He's neither Superman nor a normal player. Everything is not black and white; there are nuances."

But for all of their assertions, it simply cannot be hidden that Mbappe is expected to deliver every game. Anything short of that is seen as a failure.

GettyA struggling side

This has all been amplified by the fact that PSG aren’t quite the dominant force most expected them to be. Ligue 1 is a stronger division than it gets credit for. Certainly, away games, playing under the shadow of notoriously rowdy French ultras, are not easy for Mbappe & Co. That does little to change the fact that PSG are rife with not only talent but also the cash to buy everyone else’s (the purchase of Lyon’s Bradley Barcola was more power trip than tactical masterstroke.)

Parisian dropped points, then, are seen as seismic. PSG being in third, two points off first, is really of little concern. But for a team that is supposed to win, it certainly looks bad.

Perhaps more concerning — and more damaging for Mbappe — is the Parisians’ loss to Newcastle. PSG were battered on Tyneside, losing 4-1 in their first big away game in Europe this year. Mbappe, for his part, disappeared in the loss. He only had one shot — put off target — and was mostly kept quiet.

It was a worrying showing for a player who stayed at his club on the very promise that he would bring the Champions League home — the final piece of his Parisian puzzle. This wasn't exactly the performance his pledge deserved. After the game, an image emerged of Mbappe shrugging after Newcastle’s fourth went in. What more, his shoulders suggested, could he do?