How will Vinicius, Rodrygo and Bellingham play after Mbappe arrives at Real?
Over the years, Kylian Mbappe has emerged as a striker, but he often tends to drift left and shoot up from the midfield. Therefore, if the French striker can still keep this way of playing, Ancelotti will be forced to have a plan to adjust Vinicius, Rodrygo and Bellingham.
Real Madrid’s aš±tack will be very cramped from next season with the addition of Kylian Mbappe. In particular, the positions of Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham who are playing may be affected.
Not only Mbappe, from next season, Real Madrid also owns the rough gem Endrick, making the atš±ack quite cramped
The formation Ancelotti often used last season included two strikers, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo Goes. Accordingly, Jude Bellingham will play highest in midfield and right below the Brazilian duo. Over the years, Kylian Mbappe has emerged as a striker, but he often tends to drift left and shoot up from the midfield. Therefore, if the French striker can still keep this way of playing, Ancelotti will be forced to have a plan to adjust Vinicius, Rodrygo and Bellingham.
From next season, Los Blancos’ striker line will not only have Vinicius and Rodrygo
Last season, Jude Bellingham played very impressively even though he was only in his first year joining Los Blancos. He has 23 goals in all competitions, only 1 goal less than leader Vinicius. This is quite surprising because Bellingham’s position in theory is to play deep in the midfield.
“I think I’m at my best when I play freely on the field. When I’m assigned the role of “number 10″, I have more freedom to move. From dropping deep, going forward, scoring goals or making assists. created, everything is quite comfortable” – Bellingham shared.
The way Bellingham usually moves in every match
Last season, Ancelotti’s usual formation was 4-4-2, but the defensive midfielder was not the main ball distributor. Bellingham is only allowed to advance when the team is in control of the ball. If this continues, Mbappe will enter the field to pair with Vinicius in atš±ack, Bellingham will maintain the same role below.
After the final match in La Liga last season, Ancelotti admitted that the higher Bellingham plays, the more beneficial Real Madrid will be. If in case Ancelotti usesĀ MbappeĀ , Vinicius and Rodrygo, Bellingham will be forced to drop deep, closer to the defensive midfielder. However, at that time, it is possible that the English midfielder will lose the feeling of sublimation in the past time.
For Vinicius, last season was the season the Brazilian striker scored the most goals since playing for Real Madrid. The special point is that despite playing 17 fewer matches than last season due to injury, Vinicius still has more goals than the 2022-2023 campaign.
Looking at Mbappe’s playing style, Vinicius is the one whose position on the field is questioned the most because both tend to play similarly. The change only happened a few times last season when Ancelotti let his student move deeper into the penalty area. Fortunately, the effect was not bad and Vinicius himself did not see any problems.
“At first I didn’t think it was very suitable, but now I’m happy to play there. My teacher always said I would score more goals if I played inside like that. At first I didn’t believe it, but now it’s over. good ending” – Vinicius shared.
“Maybe from now on, Vinicius will have a little more difficulty every time I put him in the left wing position” – Ancelotti joked in an interview with La Sexta channel.
Vinicius is playing very well and it is almost difficult to change positions because of Mbappe
If Ancelotti still uses the 4-4-2 formation, Vinicius and Mbappe can play together and Rodrygo must be sacrificed. If Ancelotti plays 3 strikers, maybe Mbappe will play left, Vinicius will play in the center and Rodrygo will play right.
In the last two seasons, Rodrygo has been the most tested player in atš±ack as he has played in all three positions. Meanwhile, the last time Vinicius played right wing was in 2021. Last season, Rodrygo scored 17 goals in 51 matches. The highlight was the match against Man City in the Champions League with 2 goals coming from kicking to the left.
Rumors about Rodrygo began to appear more when Mbappe officially arrived. Although he can play in 3 positions on the Ļffensive line, if forced to play the highest position as a center forward, Rodrygo may not be suitable. The striker himself admitted that in an interview with COPE in November 2023.
Rodrygo is trying very hard to prove and maintain his position
Rodrygo’s contract with Real Madrid is valid until 2028 and his future is still not negatively affected by anything within the team. Therefore, if he wants to use everything, Ancelotti will play with a 4-man atš±ack consisting of Vinicius, Mbappe, Rodrygo and Bellingham below.
Real Madrid’s expected lineup for the 2024-2025 season