Real Madrid’s attack will be very crowded from next season with the addition of Kylian Mbappe. In particular, the positions of Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham are likely to be affected.
The formation Ancelotti often used last season included two strikers, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo Goes. Accordingly, Jude Bellingham would play highest in midfield and just below the Brazilian duo. In recent years, Kylian Mbappe has emerged as a striker, but he often tends to drift to the left and shoot from the midfield area. Therefore, if the French striker continues to play this way, Ancelotti will be forced to have a plan to adjust Vinicius, Rodrygo and Bellingham.
Last season, Jude Bellingham played very impressively despite only being in his first year at Los Blancos. He scored 23 goals in all competitions, just one less than the leader Vinicius. This is quite surprising because Bellingham’s position in theory is to play deep in midfield.
“I think I’m at my best when I’m free to play on the pitch. When I’m given the responsibility of being a ‘number 10’, I have more freedom to move around. From dropping deep, going forward, scoring or creating, everything is quite comfortable” – Bellingham shared.
Last season, Ancelotti’s preferred formation was a 4-4-2, but the defensive midfielder was not the main distributor. Bellingham was only allowed to push forward when the team was in possession. If this continues, Mbappe will come in to partner Vinicius up front, with Bellingham remaining in his role.
After the final match of La Liga last season, Ancelotti admitted that the more Bellingham played higher up the pitch, the more Real Madrid would benefit. If Ancelotti had used Mbappe , Vinicius and Rodrygo, Bellingham would have been forced to drop deeper, closer to the defensive midfielder. However, the English midfielder might have lost the feeling of sublimation of the recent period.
For Vinicius, this past season was the Brazilian striker’s most prolific season since joining Real Madrid. What’s special is that despite playing 17 fewer games than last season due to injury, Vinicius still scored more goals than in the 2022-2023 campaign.
Looking at Mbappe’s play, Vinicius is the one who has the most questions about his position on the pitch 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 results were not bad and Vinicius himself did not see any problems.
“At first I didn’t think it was suitable but now I’m very happy to play there. The coach always said I would score more goals if I played inside like that. At first I didn’t believe it but now everything has ended well” – Vinicius shared.
“Maybe from now on, Vinicius will have a little more difficulty every time I put him on the left wing” – Ancelotti joked in an interview with La Sexta channel.
If Ancelotti sticks with the 4-4-2, Vinicius and Mbappe could play together and Rodrygo would have to be sacrificed. If Ancelotti plays with three strikers, Mbappe could move to the left, Vinicius to the center and Rodrygo to the right.
In the last two seasons, Rodrygo has been the most tested player in attack, having played in all three positions. Meanwhile, the last time Vinicius played on the right was in 2021. Last season, Rodrygo scored 17 goals in 51 games. The highlight was the match against Man City in the Champions League, when 2 goals came from playing on the left.
Rumors about Rodrygo began to appear more when Mbappe officially arrived. Although he can play in 3 positions in the attack, if forced to play as a center forward, Rodrygo may not be suitable. The striker himself admitted that in an interview with COPE in November 2023.
Rodrygo’s contract with Real Madrid runs until 2028 and his future remains unaffected by any negative internal issues. Therefore, if Ancelotti wants to use all of them, he will play with a front four of Vinicius, Mbappe, Rodrygo and Bellingham below.
