Kylian Mbappe told he's made Real Madrid WORSE as outspoken pundit Dietmar Hamann diverts attentions from Harry Kane

Mbappe has faced criticism from all corners since his switch to Real Madrid in the summer, with Thierry Henry and Karim Benzema among those to question the 25-year-old's efforts. Mbappe has struggled to adapt to a central role in Spain, going missing in concerning defeats against Barcelona and AC Milan this season.

Former Liverpool midfielder Hamann has joined the pile-on. The 51-year-old recently fired shots at Bayern Munich and England star Harry Kane, but he turned his attention to the underwhelming Mbappe ahead of Los Blancos' trip to Anfield in the Champions League.

"It's a good time to play Madrid," Hamann told Genting Casino. "I don't think Mbappe has improved them. I think they've got too many stars, or too many players who want to shine, and not enough players who make others better. Somebody's got to do the work.

"The player who's probably suffered the most after the arrival of Mbappe is [Jude] Bellingham. He scored a hatful of goals before Christmas last season. He played pretty much as a centre forward because they didn’t have one, and now he’s got to do some dirty work, because you can’t have four players not defending - three is probably too much.

"Mbappe and Vini don’t do it, Rodrygo sometimes does. It can't function. You can't defend with six or seven players. It's impossible. You might beat teams in La Liga, but you won’t beat the best teams in Europe.

"Obviously, they've got great individual quality, but I think there's a lot of question marks about the team. I don't see them defending the title."

The former Paris Saint-Germain striker, who retains support from Bellingham, will hope to prove Hamann wrong when Carlo Ancelotti's side take on Liverpool - winners of their opening four league phase games - on Wednesday evening.