Kylian Mbappé | Real Madrid watch

They need a damn right winger -

Vini, Rodrygo and Mbappe all love to drift over the left, leaving nobody other than Valverde to drift right, and he isn't good enough of a wide attacker to provide the width threat, and then Bellingham is left isolated in the middle / can't commit because then only Camavinga is able to cover.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
They need a damn right winger -

Vini, Rodrygo and Mbappe all love to drift over the left, leaving nobody other than Valverde to drift right, and he isn't good enough of a wide attacker to provide the width threat, and then Bellingham is left isolated in the middle / can't commit because then only Camavinga is able to cover.
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Yes - Antony/Vini swap.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
They need a damn right winger -

Vini, Rodrygo and Mbappe all love to drift over the left, leaving nobody other than Valverde to drift right, and he isn't good enough of a wide attacker to provide the width threat, and then Bellingham is left isolated in the middle / can't commit because then only Camavinga is able to cover.
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They like to buy world class attackers.


Are there any truly world class right wingers in football? Can only think of Saka. Salah is ageing and they won't get him.


There are left footed attacking midfielders/second strikers who can start on the right flank like Palmer but where are the world class proper right wingers?
 
Red the Bear said:
They'd probably end up offloading both of their Brazilian stars while getting in more accommodating team mates for mbappe could see it work then bit until he aforementioned They're to imbalanced to be of any major caliber.
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They’ll sell Bellingham before they sell Vinicius
 
TenonTen said:
They like to buy world class attackers.


Are there any truly world class right wingers in football? Can only think of Saka. Salah is ageing and they won't get him.


There are left footed attacking midfielders/second strikers who can start on the right flank like Palmer but where are the world class proper right wingers?
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They don't even need to be Right footed. Someone like Palmer who drifts inside from the right is fine.

It's a huge improvement on three LW's who all drift left.

Last Season it worked because Bellingham played as a False 9 and when Rodrygo drifted left or started combining with Vini on the left, there was still a central focal point in Bellingham. That freed up space for Valverde and Carvajal on the Right. When Bellingham was injured/suspended or in the big games, they played Joselu there or played with two upfront, and again it worked because there was still space generated with movement.

Right now the entire Madrid Team is overloading the left, there isn't Bellingham in an advanced role or a CF to hold the space in the middle, so when Valverde drifts right he also doesn't have space to operate.

It's a tactical mess right now.
 
TenonTen said:
They like to buy world class attackers.


Are there any truly world class right wingers in football? Can only think of Saka. Salah is ageing and they won't get him.


There are left footed attacking midfielders/second strikers who can start on the right flank like Palmer but where are the world class proper right wingers?
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Yamal?
 
I got yelled out of (multiple) rooms for saying Bellingham, Mbappe and Vini is too much to squeeze into a single team. My expectation is that Bellingham will be the victim here and I hope we can take advantage if an Ozil / Sanchez type situation occurs with him.
 
Teja said:
I got yelled out of (multiple) rooms for saying Bellingham, Mbappe and Vini is too much to squeeze into a single team. My expectation is that Bellingham will be the victim here and I hope we can take advantage if an Ozil / Sanchez type situation occurs with him.
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Nope, those three are not the problem.

You can play with those three as long as there is a functional right attacker who can either hold the width or can drift inside when Mbappe inevitably starts drifting to the left. As long as there's someone permanently in the centre so that even if the Right winger drifts to become that centre, Valverde/Right back (Carvajal torn ACL) can exploit the space.

Valverde is very good at exploiting space down the right hand side, but the problem is that without a permanent fixture in the middle, he simply isn't creative enough to be that spark when defenders can close that side down easier and there is no space down the right.

Ultimately, Rodrygo will be the fall guy as has already shown in recent times.

https://www.skysports.com/football/real-madrid-vs-villarreal/teams/506379

https://www.skysports.com/football/lille-vs-real-madrid/teams/521630
 
Teja said:
I got yelled out of (multiple) rooms for saying Bellingham, Mbappe and Vini is too much to squeeze into a single team. My expectation is that Bellingham will be the victim here and I hope we can take advantage if an Ozil / Sanchez type situation occurs with him.
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Really? Pretty much everyone, whether casual football watchers or the media, raised this as a potential issue and wondered how Ancelotti would accommodate them.
 
It's absolutely hilarious aswell that their most prestigious wonderkid coming through is a number 10 who also likes to drift wide to the left.

What could work is you drop Bellingham into the 10 position, with Vini who drifts left and Bellingham drifts right, Mbappe up top, with Valverde, Camavinga/Tchouemni as the DM option and Arda Guler providing the control in midfield. But it's very risky and I'm not even sure if Guler is up for the challenge right now.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
Nope, those three are not the problem.

You can play with those three as long as there is a functional right attacker who can either hold the width or can drift inside when Mbappe inevitably starts drifting to the left. As long as there's someone permanently in the centre so that even if the Right winger drifts to become that centre, Valverde/Right back (Carvajal torn ACL) can exploit the space.

Valverde is very good at exploiting space down the right hand side, but the problem is that without a permanent fixture in the middle, he simply isn't creative enough to be that spark when defenders can close that side down easier and there is no space down the right.

Ultimately, Rodrygo will be the fall guy as has already shown in recent times.

https://www.skysports.com/football/real-madrid-vs-villarreal/teams/506379

https://www.skysports.com/football/lille-vs-real-madrid/teams/521630
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Yeah maybe you're right but I genuinely think even in a situation where you have the RW player, one of the 3 needs to be a supporting player of the Benzema / Neymar / Firmino mould. Right now there isn't that glue player who lets the others shine.

We played really well with similar dynamics when Rashford / Martial / Pogba all drifted to the left half space but Martial was more the false 9, link player in that situation.

Rooney in Paris said:
Really? Pretty much everyone, whether casual football watchers or the media, raised this as a potential issue and wondered how Ancelotti would accommodate them.
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People objected more to the suggestion that Bellingham would be the victim here. Remains to be seen still - I'm probably wrong.
 
TenonTen said:
They like to buy world class attackers.


Are there any truly world class right wingers in football? Can only think of Saka. Salah is ageing and they won't get him.


There are left footed attacking midfielders/second strikers who can start on the right flank like Palmer but where are the world class proper right wingers?
Click to expand...

There used to be more top right wingers than left in football, but since the inverted winger craze became standard the opposite is now true.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
It's absolutely hilarious aswell that their most prestigious wonderkid coming through is a number 10 who also likes to drift wide to the left.

What could work is you drop Bellingham into the 10 position, with Vini who drifts left and Bellingham drifts right, Mbappe up top, with Valverde, Camavinga/Tchouemni as the DM option and Arda Guler providing the control in midfield. But it's very risky and I'm not even sure if Guler is up for the challenge right now.
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I don't get the Guler hype. He's obviously very talented but he's slow as molasses. He only has one gear. He'll end up at Real Sociedad, like Odegaard and Kubo.
 
TenonTen said:
They like to buy world class attackers.


Are there any truly world class right wingers in football? Can only think of Saka. Salah is ageing and they won't get him.


There are left footed attacking midfielders/second strikers who can start on the right flank like Palmer but where are the world class proper right wingers?
Click to expand...
Not necessarily world class but Real should have probably bought Michael Olise.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
Nope, those three are not the problem.

You can play with those three as long as there is a functional right attacker who can either hold the width or can drift inside when Mbappe inevitably starts drifting to the left. As long as there's someone permanently in the centre so that even if the Right winger drifts to become that centre, Valverde/Right back (Carvajal torn ACL) can exploit the space.

Valverde is very good at exploiting space down the right hand side, but the problem is that without a permanent fixture in the middle, he simply isn't creative enough to be that spark when defenders can close that side down easier and there is no space down the right.

Ultimately, Rodrygo will be the fall guy as has already shown in recent times.

https://www.skysports.com/football/real-madrid-vs-villarreal/teams/506379

https://www.skysports.com/football/lille-vs-real-madrid/teams/521630
Click to expand...

Since the first time Mbappe blew us out I was in favor on bringing Haaland instead of him. It was not only because he rejected us but it made more sense to bring a striker or a player who would operate in the center.
 
Acheron said:
Since the first time Mbappe blew us out I was in favor on bringing Haaland instead of him. It was not only because he rejected us but it made more sense to bring a striker or a player who would operate in the center.
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Honestly, with Mbappe in the team and Kroos retiring, both the options from last year which maximised team performance (Bellingham false 9 or Joselu/Brahim Diaz up top) are gone.

You can't play Bellingham false 9 anymore and play Mbappe one wing and Vini left wing, because without Kroos, Camavinga Valverde and Tchouameni (40 year old Modric can't be a key player) simply don't have the creativity to feed the runs that Bellingham was making or the pockets of space he was finding between the channels. Without a creative deep lying playmaker, you therefore need a ball carrier, but the problem is none of those three other than Camavinga are specialized in that either.

Which means you have to drop Bellingham deeper to carry the ball forward and provide the creativity.

So you could go for last years approach which is use a makeshift number 9 (in last years case it was Joselu and in some cases Brahim Diaz), but then with Mbappe and Vini drifting left, the right doesn't have cover. Rodrygo also drifted heavily to the left but the difference is Rodrygo has a much higher engine and work rate compared to Vini and Mbappe and could cover for gaps and track back.

So if you stick a midfield of Camavinga/Tchouameni, Bellingham and Valverde, the problem then is that when Valverde attacks the space on the right that Vini/Mbappe generates by drifting left and Brahim holding the center, there's a great big hole in the right side of the midfield. Last year Rodrygo and Valverde held that because both are hugely willing to run, but whoever you stick on the right side out of Vini/Mbappe won't do that.

I think the only way this works now is if:


Vini - Mbappe - Guler/Brahim

Camavinga - Bellingham - Valverde

Where Guler or Brahim are explicitly asked to hold the width on the right side and do not drift in, which may be very difficult given both of them dribble and prefer their left foot. But Rodrygo simply cannot maintain tactical discipline to not drift over to the left.

Even then this is very dangerous because you have to expect Bellingham to cover Valverde, be the main creator/ball carrier for the team and exploit the gaps in the channels. Too much on one person.

Yeah, I dunno, Real's squad is hilariously unbalanced.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
Honestly, with Mbappe in the team and Kroos retiring, both the options from last year which maximised team performance (Bellingham false 9 or Joselu/Brahim Diaz up top) are gone.

You can't play Bellingham false 9 anymore and play Mbappe one wing and Vini left wing, because without Kroos, Camavinga Valverde and Tchouameni (40 year old Modric can't be a key player) simply don't have the creativity to feed the runs that Bellingham was making or the pockets of space he was finding between the channels. Without a creative deep lying playmaker, you therefore need a ball carrier, but the problem is none of those three other than Camavinga are specialized in that either.

Which means you have to drop Bellingham deeper to carry the ball forward and provide the creativity.

So you could go for last years approach which is use a makeshift number 9 (in last years case it was Joselu and in some cases Brahim Diaz), but then with Mbappe and Vini drifting left, the right doesn't have cover. Rodrygo also drifted heavily to the left but the difference is Rodrygo has a much higher engine and work rate compared to Vini and Mbappe and could cover for gaps and track back.

So if you stick a midfield of Camavinga/Tchouameni, Bellingham and Valverde, the problem then is that when Valverde attacks the space on the right that Vini/Mbappe generates by drifting left and Brahim holding the center, there's a great big hole in the right side of the midfield. Last year Rodrygo and Valverde held that because both are hugely willing to run, but whoever you stick on the right side out of Vini/Mbappe won't do that.

I think the only way this works now is if:


Vini - Mbappe - Guler/Brahim

Camavinga - Bellingham - Valverde

Where Guler or Brahim are explicitly asked to hold the width on the right side and do not drift in, which may be very difficult given both of them dribble and prefer their left foot. But Rodrygo simply cannot maintain tactical discipline to not drift over to the left.

Even then this is very dangerous because you have to expect Bellingham to cover Valverde, be the main creator/ball carrier for the team and exploit the gaps in the channels. Too much on one person.

Yeah, I dunno, Real's squad is hilariously unbalanced.
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I don't think he's attainable at the moment but Havertz would be the perfect player to solve a lot of those balance problems IMO.
 
Rojofiam said:
I don't think he's attainable at the moment but Havertz would be the perfect player to solve a lot of those balance problems IMO.
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Yeah Havertz down the middle for Madrid in a false 9 solves a lot of their issues.

The wide attackers drifting less matters less when you have a creative guy leading the line who can hold the ball up and maintain position.
 
AfonsoAlves said:
Honestly, with Mbappe in the team and Kroos retiring, both the options from last year which maximised team performance (Bellingham false 9 or Joselu/Brahim Diaz up top) are gone.

You can't play Bellingham false 9 anymore and play Mbappe one wing and Vini left wing, because without Kroos, Camavinga Valverde and Tchouameni (40 year old Modric can't be a key player) simply don't have the creativity to feed the runs that Bellingham was making or the pockets of space he was finding between the channels. Without a creative deep lying playmaker, you therefore need a ball carrier, but the problem is none of those three other than Camavinga are specialized in that either.

Which means you have to drop Bellingham deeper to carry the ball forward and provide the creativity.

So you could go for last years approach which is use a makeshift number 9 (in last years case it was Joselu and in some cases Brahim Diaz), but then with Mbappe and Vini drifting left, the right doesn't have cover. Rodrygo also drifted heavily to the left but the difference is Rodrygo has a much higher engine and work rate compared to Vini and Mbappe and could cover for gaps and track back.

So if you stick a midfield of Camavinga/Tchouameni, Bellingham and Valverde, the problem then is that when Valverde attacks the space on the right that Vini/Mbappe generates by drifting left and Brahim holding the center, there's a great big hole in the right side of the midfield. Last year Rodrygo and Valverde held that because both are hugely willing to run, but whoever you stick on the right side out of Vini/Mbappe won't do that.

I think the only way this works now is if:


Vini - Mbappe - Guler/Brahim

Camavinga - Bellingham - Valverde

Where Guler or Brahim are explicitly asked to hold the width on the right side and do not drift in, which may be very difficult given both of them dribble and prefer their left foot. But Rodrygo simply cannot maintain tactical discipline to not drift over to the left.

Even then this is very dangerous because you have to expect Bellingham to cover Valverde, be the main creator/ball carrier for the team and exploit the gaps in the channels. Too much on one person.

Yeah, I dunno, Real's squad is hilariously unbalanced.
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I don't see your idea with Bellingham. It would be a creative waste, boxing him in when one of his strengths is the amount of meters he covers.
I see more feasible to use Guler, and assuming that there is no equivalent to Kroos, perhaps Valverde and Camavinga could hold the team, as you say.
Ancelotti respects hierarchies a lot and is not going to sit Rodrygo, and if he does it would be because the results demand one more midfielder, not an attacking sub like Brahim.
Now that Carvajal is out maybe I would go with Rudiger/Tchouameni/Mendy reconverted to CB.
Line of three with Valverde , Camavinga who would also be a false fullback and a creative midfielder.
For me Bellingham, Mbappe and Vini are immovable up top. To work they will have to learn to alternate positions and be much more dynamic.
Another option is to give up the ball and focus on physical superiority and counterattacking as in the Mourinho era.
 
TenonTen said:
They like to buy world class attackers.


Are there any truly world class right wingers in football? Can only think of Saka. Salah is ageing and they won't get him.


There are left footed attacking midfielders/second strikers who can start on the right flank like Palmer but where are the world class proper right wingers?
Click to expand...
For our history and good will, we are prepared to sell Antony to them with a discount.
 
They can bring back Di Maria. He can play on the right.
The only issue is he might get robbed again
 
AfonsoAlves said:
They need a damn right winger -

Vini, Rodrygo and Mbappe all love to drift over the left, leaving nobody other than Valverde to drift right, and he isn't good enough of a wide attacker to provide the width threat, and then Bellingham is left isolated in the middle / can't commit because then only Camavinga is able to cover.
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I think they'll I editable come in for Garnacho 2026. There's not a chance Garnacho stays at United whilst we're trying to navigate ourselves out and away from the abyss.
 
pascell said:
I think they'll I editable come in for Garnacho 2026. There's not a chance Garnacho stays at United whilst we're trying to navigate ourselves out and away from the abyss.
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I don't think Garnacho has yet shown he's an elite level player yet, and that's what they'll go for.
 
Rooney in Paris said:
I don't think Garnacho has yet shown he's an elite level player yet, and that's what they'll go for.
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Don’t ever see it happening, he’s got a great attitude but I don’t think he’s naturally talented enough for them to splash big cash on, them not going for Olise was a big mistake (as well as not replacing Nacho/signing Yoro, letting Joselu go as the plan B, and obvs not replacing Kroos)
 
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Feels a bit like the Neymar transfer where nobody really wins from this deal. Mbappe will never properly play at his best with the profiles around him (who are just as good and won’t accommodate for him); Madrid paid him about 200m to sign; and PSG lost a 200m player on a free, and allegedly have to pay him like 50m on that lawsuit.
 
He was regressing at PSG. A lot of games, even the ones he scored in he looked woeful. His finishing was erratic and seemed to just rely on his pace.

He should have left 2-3 years ago
 
Madrid you have too many left wingers and no right winger. Loan mbappe to us and we might think about giving you our legendary spinarooni Antony.
 
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He is a great player with a high ceiling, but all the comparisons with Ronaldo and the mind-blowing wages/prizes got into his head.
Not sure if he has the mental to be the player he can be
 
I think Madrid might not get the best out of him simply because he operates best in the same spaces as Vini.
 
Do we think Madrid would pay to sign Trent in January or sign him on a free next summer? He would certainly help with their issues of width on the right side of the team.
 
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