Kylian Mbappé is the top scorer for Real Madrid this season. He has scored eight goals in the 12 games he has played, five in the last seven. Decent but not extraordinary numbers, which is what the white team seeks in a signing of his caliber. The highest-paid player on the squad is also the key piece in Ancelotti's overall puzzle, a puzzle that so far has not quite fit and that seeks new solutions every week. The coaching staff has been immersed in an obsession for three months now: freeing Mbappé. A thought that conditions everything. Today, against Dortmund, he will face a new test.
The French forward scores every 121 minutes and shoots more than anyone else, but more out of individual eagerness than from the opportunities the team creates for him. Three of his eight goals have come from penalties, and he seems boxed in within Madrid's system. Everyone seems to be, and breaking free is Ancelotti's and his assistants' obsession. But how?
Except for Balaídos, Real Madrid hasn't changed its system much, but the pieces have. They continue to play in a 4-4-2 diamond or a 4-3-3 with Rodrygo on the right, but Kroos' departure and Mbappé's arrival have disrupted the system, the occupation of spaces, and the team's style of play. Without the German and with the Frenchman, Ancelotti has added another forward and lost a midfielder in ball distribution, forcing Mbappé to be positioned between Vinicius and Rodrygo and pushing Bellingham back to the midfield, away from the edge of the area, making it harder for him to reach the crucial area, which was vital for Madrid last year. The British player has yet to score this season, and his frustration is becoming more evident every day.
The gameplay issue for Ancelotti's team is clear, but it's also evident that Madrid will stick with these pieces, hence the numerous trials at the start of the season and the slight chaos the team experienced in Vigo when attempting the three-center-back system. Why? Because of the spaces.
Accumulation on the right side
One of the situations observed by the coaching staff is precisely the accumulation of players in the final third of the field. Too many. Tchouaméni, Camavinga, Valverde, Bellingham, Vinicius, and Mbappé, with Rodrygo as an alternative to one of the French midfielders. Six men for the attack, the same as last year, but overlapping.
Until this summer, Kroos took the left side in distribution, Tchouaméni or Camavinga the center, Valverde the right interior, Vinicius and Rodrygo the wings, always diagonally towards the center, and Bellingham had the entire front line to move freely towards the area or to assist in distribution. Since August, nothing fits.
The heat map of the players against Celta was clear. The most frequented area by the Madrid players was the right interior, where Valverde, Bellingham, Tchouaméni, and even Camavinga tried to connect. The left side was all for Vinicius and Mbappé's appearances, with no one on the left side for distribution. Not even Bellingham, who has played on that side on several occasions but whom Ancelotti wants on the right. Why? Because of Mbappé. "Kylian likes to drop to the left, we want Jude on the right with Rodrygo," the coach explained yesterday.
The ideal scenario, as reflected by the coaching staff, is for the six attackers to interchange positions, as seen in Vinicius' goal for the 1-2 in Vigo, where the Brazilian made a diagonal run to finish on the right side of the area. Create spaces for the stars to enhance their greatest virtue: running into space. But that's not happening, not even when placing Tchouaméni as the third center-back to feed Camavinga and Valverde and create more spaces inside for Mbappé and Bellingham. That's the theory, but there are still many tests ahead in practice. "I haven't explained it well," Ancelotti admits.
The worst image of the team was seen in Lille. The 4-4-2 with Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouaméni, and Bellingham failed, with the first three practically occupying the same area of the field. That's where the idea of playing with three center-backs in Vigo was born, but it didn't work defensively.
Meanwhile, Mbappé is looking for his space. At PSG, he played as a forward and left winger, in France, he enjoyed being on the left side with Thuram up front... In Madrid, his communication with Vinicius seems crucial to interchange positions and alternate egos.