Thomas Tuchel lauds Kylian Mbappe’s ‘shark’ mentality

Thomas Tuchel lauds Kylian Mbappe’s ‘shark’ mentality as he insists the Paris Saint-Germain striker has the potential to be considered the world’s best… but warns his former forward that Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo won’t step aside so easily

  •  Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has had his say on Kylian Mbappe’s incredible form
  • The PSG forward lit up the Nou Camp last week with a sensational hat-trick 
  • Tuchel was Mbappe’s head coach until he lost his job earlier this season
  • The German technician has praised the Frenchman for having a ‘shark’ mentality 

Thomas Tuchel has praised Kylian Mbappe‘s ‘shark mentality’, but insists the Frenchman has some way to go to knock Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo off their perches as the dominant forces in football.

Talk of a changing of the guard heightened last week after Mbappe’s dazzling performance at the Nou Camp against Messi’s Barcelona.

A stunning hat-trick has placed Paris Saint-Germain thoroughly in control of their Champions League last-16 clash and led to suggestions Mbappe may have usurped the Argentine as one of the sport’s leading lights. 

Kylian Mbappe has a ‘shark’ mentality according to his former head coach Thomas Tuchel

Tuchel worked with the France World Cup winner during his stint in the French capital and has first-hand experience of his desire to succeed. 

However, he insists that he is still some way off the very top, and that he’ll need to fight if he truly hopes to overtake the two biggest names ahead of him.   

‘If he wants to be there, he has to push them [Lionel Messi and Crisitano Ronaldo] aside. That is clear,’ he told BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand.

Kylian Mbappe stunned Barcelona last week by scoring a hat-trick at the Nou Camp for PSG

Kylian Mbappe stunned Barcelona last week by scoring a hat-trick at the Nou Camp for PSG

Thomas Tuchel spoke to BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand before this Champions League week

Thomas Tuchel spoke to BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand before this Champions League week

‘Scoring a hat-trick at the Nou Camp is a message and it’s what he demands of himself. It is his potential, it is what he has in him.

‘He’s a shark. In his mentality, he wants to grab everything that he can have. This is the mentality that you need.

‘And I mean it in a positive way because he’s a nice guy in private and in person, super nice guy, super intelligent, super funny.

‘But once he’s on the pitch he’s a shark and that’s what the best guys are. If you drop one drop of blood in the water they arrive, and this is Kylian.’

Mbappe could very well be the only one of the three left in the competition come the quarter-finals, with Ronaldo’s Juventus side stunned by Portuguese outfit Porto in the first-leg of their tie. 

Tuchel insists there is no way Cristiano Ronaldo (left) or Lionel Messi (right) will stand aside

Tuchel insists there is no way Cristiano Ronaldo (left) or Lionel Messi (right) will stand aside

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