The knives are fully well out for Kylian Mbappe following the Frenchman's second penalty miss in a week in Real Madrid's 2-1 loss to Athletic Bilbao.
The former PSG star hasn't had the start that many, including himself, envisioned when he arrived over the summer. The criticism has caused his teammates and manager to come out in his defense with Carlo Ancelotti doing so in his post-match press conference.
"I haven't spoken to ," Ancelotti said. "I shouldn't evaluate a player's game based on a penalty. Sometimes you score them, sometimes you don't. Obviously he's sad and disappointed, but we have to carry on."
After refusing to take on in their win over Getafe, Mbappe opted to take one in a crucial point of the match. Real Madrid were second best throughout large portions of the match -- not unlike their performance against Liverpool -- but found themselves in a position to equalize. Similar to what happened in Liverpool, Mbappe saw his penalty missed in almost a carbon copy attempt.
Given his confidence in Liverpool, many questioned whether it was the right move to let Mbappe take the penalty. Those questions only grew louder after his second miss.
"He took the responsibility to take it today, and it didn't go well," Ancelotti said. "But in football, that can happen."
Ancelotti went on to say Mbappe isn't at his best level and that they need to give him time to adapt. If there is something that dries up pretty quickly in Madrid, it's patience. Particularly, when the team is struggling like Real Madrid are at the moment.
So far this season, whenever Real Madrid find themselves against an opponent with some quality, not only do they falter, they're quite some distance apart in terms of performance and cohesioness. It happened against Barcelona, AC Milan, Liverpool and now Athletic Bilbao.
Mbappe isn't entirely to blame nor the main culprit. But given the saga surrounding his transfer, how much he's being paid and the team's success without him last season, much was expected and he's fallen way below expectations. With Vinicius Junior out with an injury, it was his time to step up. Instead, he's done the opposite.
Real Madrid have a handful of tough games coming up including what could be a Champions League decider in less than a week against Atalanta. Ancelotti can come to Mbappe's defense all he wants but the only thing that is going to appease the detractors is a good performance from the Frenchman. Anything less than that not only will the criticism grow but Ancelotti could end up being the fall guy if things go further south.