The defeat to Atletico Madrid in round 7 of La Liga has directly affected Real Madrid's championship race. At this time, Los Blancos have dropped to 4th place and are 6 points behind their arch-rival Barcelona.
One of the most prominent issues is the position of Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe. Since owner Florentino Perez brought the French striker to the Bernabeu, the problem of the left wing position has been given to Carlo Ancelotti, but the Italian strategist has not solved it. Now, it has been transferred to Jose Mourinho, but the "Special One" seems still helpless.
Mbappe and Vinicius' heat map in the recent Derby showed that this problem was not solved, even more serious. Throughout the minutes on the field, both were struggling to move and swap center forward and wing positions, leading to a disordered squad.
Even the big ego of these two stars still overwhelmed professional issues. Typically, a situation in midfield, when Vinicius had the ball, he actively reversed the direction to pass to Mbappe but the French striker had not had time to run into the favorable space. Immediately, after Atletico players regained the ball, these two stars stopped on the field and argued, instead of chasing to regain control. That was a moment that showed extreme disappointment with Real Madrid.
When Yan Diomande came on, the striker's position was still on the left wing. The initial 140 million Euro contract was brought in to replace Rodrygo on the right wing, but when Vinicius was deadlocked, Diomande played on the left wing and was also deadlocked like his senior. In the end, despite owning Mbappe, Vinicius and Diomande (the most expensive in club history), Mourinho still could not solve this problem.
Due to the lack of a pure center forward, Mourinho's playing style being built for Real Madrid cannot fully promote the strengths of the players.
The wing pair Marc Cucurella and Denzel Dumfries have the ability to climb the wing, cross, cross or return very well. However, throughout the recent Madrid Derby, the forte of these two stars was not promoted because Real Madrid did not have a destination inside the opponent's penalty area. In the last two seasons Real won the Champions League, they both had a pure center forward, Karim Benzema or Joselu. This is something everyone can see, but Jose Mourinho is deadlocked when resolving the left wing position.
In any successful period in the 21st century, Real Madrid always has an excellent center forward. Or, sometimes just "popular" like Joselu can still ensure that stars on both wings can freely roam. If Mbappe cannot play center forward, Mourinho is forced to choose between the French striker and Vinicius, only 1 starting player on the left wing. The highest position in attack should be given to another person.
Real Madrid has been empty-handed for 2 consecutive seasons since Mbappe joined the club. Looking at this situation, will Los Blancos have another season to bow their heads when opponents become stronger and they are always stuck in inherent problems?
