managing madrid 
05-09-2024 17:10
05-09-2024 17:10
Real Madrid’s Right Wing Production Has Returned
These observations — where I look at Real Madrid’s history, its players on loan, Castilla, tactical tidbits, and other relevant thoughts — are now a regular thing. All previous editions can be found here.
Things are still not perfect, but in their win against Real Betis, Real Madrid looked more like the Real Madrid we know. Getting more defined roles and more production from multiple positions has been key. The rise of Real Madrid’s right wing What stole headlines on Sunday night in Real Madrid’s 2 - 0 win over Real Betis was Kylian Mbappe breaking the ice with not one, but two goals to kick-start his La Liga scoring spree.
Those headlines are deserved, but I want to highlight two unsung heroes: Dani Carvajal and Fede Valverde.
One tactical change arrived with the way Carlo Ancelotti deployed Carvajal. In games past this season, Ancelotti asked his wing-backs to be more conservative to minimize transition damage fully knowing the limited defending he was going to get from his attackers. Carvajal was not as adventurous as he normally was.
That changed against Betis, and Carvajal making surging overloads unlocked new defensive sequences — more outlets for diagonal switches and, in turn, more cut-backs to cutting runs from Kylian Mbappe into the box.
(In our School of Real Madrid video which broke down Mbappe’s fit at Real Madrid, we highlighted the importance of Carvajal and Valverde as they acted as outlets on the ‘weak side’ to receive diagonals from the left-sided heavy attack. From there, they could receive the ball in space, and cut the ball back to on-rushing attackers making runs across the face of goal. Two issues: 1) Toni Kroos isn’t coming back; and 2) Carvajal didn’t get up the field much in the opening games.)
When Carvajal does gets up the field, defenders have a lot to track, from all angles:
Clock Mbappe's off-ball run. Still one of his most underrated traits. Sprints to the spot Carvajal is going to hit it before Carvajal even receives the ball. Diagonal run across the box is lethal and will bag him lots of goals:pic.twitter.com/YPFwoGwMCE — Kiyan Sobhani (@KiyanSo) September 2, 2024
Valverde’s lung-bursting runs mask the team’s high line when Carvajal does get caught in an advanced position: Valverde and Carvajal have played together so long, they’ve formed symbiosis. Valverde recognizes when Carvajal will make a run, and is good at calculating when he can link-up with him in the final third, or drop back to ensure the team’s transition defense remains in tact. Their two-man game as a right-back / right-central midfielder combo is among the world’s best.
Real Madrid’s production levels from the right wing was much better — the best it’s been in this young season — against Betis. Valverde also unlocked more space by carrying the ball forward with purpose:
One of the biggest cheat codes that unlocks more space for Real Madrid is when Fede Valverde decides to drive the ball forward. Often starts doing these in the 2nd half after recognizing the team needs his ball carries to carve lines. Few (any?) better:pic.twitter.com/fnpCLCdCxe — Kiyan Sobhani (@KiyanSo) September 5, 2024
There might not be anyone on earth better at driving the ball forward with such authority — so much so that he should pull it out of his tool-belt more often. Valverde is good at recognizing when his team needs his propulsion, but sometimes it doesn’t come until the second half, when Real Madrid could use it much sooner. He has changed many games in the second half, against locked defensive lines, by simply carrying the ball like a running back with no one able to dispossess him.
When Valverde and Carvajal play like this, they not only make each other better, but the entire team just clicks more naturally and relies less on over-burdening their left-sided stars. Rodrygo also played with bounce against Betis. The energy compounded. That was missing in the first three games.
Real Madrid still have the best squad in the country. They are more than capable of recovering the early deficit and putting together a run after the international break concludes. Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga will return. Have faith in Ancelotti to find the blueprint needed. Too much freedom This might’ve been the most unexpected number in the entire continent after three games: five. Real Madrid had amassed just five points in the opening three games — dropping four points total away from home.
Those four dropped points weren’t pretty. Far from a case of Real Madrid dominating, getting unlucky, and getting hustled by referees — rather, the performances were underwhelming (putting it politely). More accurately, the build-up was laboured; the tracking lethargic; the shooting abysmal.
There was positional confusion. Kylian Mbappe’s integration hasn’t been as seamless as originally anticipated. At times, players made the same runs, getting in each other’s way; in other moments, there was stagnancy and dependancy on Vinicius Jr to create offense while other stood and watched — unsure of where they should be off the ball.
Part of the benefit of adding Kylian Mbappe — a Ballon D’or level player — to this already great team was to avoid such sequences of confusion and predictability. In the 2022 - 2023 season, Real Madrid struggled during Karim Benzema’s injury in part because the team fed the ball to Vinicius at every opportunity and waited for him to barbecue multiple players. It became easily scouted.
Mbappe’s arrival was supposed to remedy some of that. Whether in closed games against a low block or taking advantage of space in transition (Real Madrid have struggled amid both game states), his presence should take the ball out of Vinicius’s feet when needed, more often, to ensure the team’s ability to turn games into Real Madrid’s favour — to decongest, to eliminate predictability.
But the Vinicius - Mbappe duo hadn’t linked up synergistically, yet. Mbappe seemed to be missing some of the alpha mentality he’s used to leading his teams with. That’s natural. He’s in a new team, new league, playing for a team with two head-sheriffs already. But Real Madrid may need him to take on a bigger leadership role already — to demand the ball, to start using his ingenuity.
It is also up to Vinicius to integrate Mbappe into the flow of the offense more. Mbappe, and others, tend to hover around him in anticipation of a pass that doesn’t always arrive. Part of breaking low blocks consists of quicker movement and rapid ball circulation. Real Madrid can reach a state of paralysis when Vinicius receives the ball on the left wing facing multiple defenders. Defenders love that.
Against Las Palmas, Mbappe found more space hovering centrally or to the right side: Mbappe gets into two good goal-scoring chances in the above sequences, just like peak Mbappe would — leaving defenders in his dust. But his finishing over the first three games was poor (zero goals from an xG of 1.8). Prior to the Betis game, he was struggling to score for a few months, dating back to the Euros. That should normalize. The brace against Real Betis should kick-start that process.
As a slight aside: Arda Güler, in the second clip, plays with the incisiveness Real Madrid could use more often. He sets up Mbappe with the vertical pass then sprints into the box to receive it again — begging the Frenchman for a cut-back. His presence off the bench in an otherwise forgettable collective performance against Las Palmas was positive.
Güler also whipped in dangerous deliveries in the box and set up Endrick in the second half: The Vinicius - Mbappe connection showed great strides on Sunday night. Mbappe linked up well with both Vinicius and Rodrygo, dropped deep to help escape pressure, and showed his vintage bursts of speed off the ball to get into goal-scoring positions.
Real Madrid have the league’s best squad, and by far the highest ceiling of any team. They may not have peaked early, but we are a long way of seeing the team fully mesh with their nucleus healthy — and that probably is a good thing.
The international break pauses the momentum, but also buys the team time to recover key players.
Things are still not perfect, but in their win against Real Betis, Real Madrid looked more like the Real Madrid we know. Getting more defined roles and more production from multiple positions has been key. The rise of Real Madrid’s right wing What stole headlines on Sunday night in Real Madrid’s 2 - 0 win over Real Betis was Kylian Mbappe breaking the ice with not one, but two goals to kick-start his La Liga scoring spree.
Those headlines are deserved, but I want to highlight two unsung heroes: Dani Carvajal and Fede Valverde.
One tactical change arrived with the way Carlo Ancelotti deployed Carvajal. In games past this season, Ancelotti asked his wing-backs to be more conservative to minimize transition damage fully knowing the limited defending he was going to get from his attackers. Carvajal was not as adventurous as he normally was.
That changed against Betis, and Carvajal making surging overloads unlocked new defensive sequences — more outlets for diagonal switches and, in turn, more cut-backs to cutting runs from Kylian Mbappe into the box.
(In our School of Real Madrid video which broke down Mbappe’s fit at Real Madrid, we highlighted the importance of Carvajal and Valverde as they acted as outlets on the ‘weak side’ to receive diagonals from the left-sided heavy attack. From there, they could receive the ball in space, and cut the ball back to on-rushing attackers making runs across the face of goal. Two issues: 1) Toni Kroos isn’t coming back; and 2) Carvajal didn’t get up the field much in the opening games.)
When Carvajal does gets up the field, defenders have a lot to track, from all angles:
Clock Mbappe's off-ball run. Still one of his most underrated traits. Sprints to the spot Carvajal is going to hit it before Carvajal even receives the ball. Diagonal run across the box is lethal and will bag him lots of goals:pic.twitter.com/YPFwoGwMCE — Kiyan Sobhani (@KiyanSo) September 2, 2024
Valverde’s lung-bursting runs mask the team’s high line when Carvajal does get caught in an advanced position: Valverde and Carvajal have played together so long, they’ve formed symbiosis. Valverde recognizes when Carvajal will make a run, and is good at calculating when he can link-up with him in the final third, or drop back to ensure the team’s transition defense remains in tact. Their two-man game as a right-back / right-central midfielder combo is among the world’s best.
Real Madrid’s production levels from the right wing was much better — the best it’s been in this young season — against Betis. Valverde also unlocked more space by carrying the ball forward with purpose:
One of the biggest cheat codes that unlocks more space for Real Madrid is when Fede Valverde decides to drive the ball forward. Often starts doing these in the 2nd half after recognizing the team needs his ball carries to carve lines. Few (any?) better:pic.twitter.com/fnpCLCdCxe — Kiyan Sobhani (@KiyanSo) September 5, 2024
There might not be anyone on earth better at driving the ball forward with such authority — so much so that he should pull it out of his tool-belt more often. Valverde is good at recognizing when his team needs his propulsion, but sometimes it doesn’t come until the second half, when Real Madrid could use it much sooner. He has changed many games in the second half, against locked defensive lines, by simply carrying the ball like a running back with no one able to dispossess him.
When Valverde and Carvajal play like this, they not only make each other better, but the entire team just clicks more naturally and relies less on over-burdening their left-sided stars. Rodrygo also played with bounce against Betis. The energy compounded. That was missing in the first three games.
Real Madrid still have the best squad in the country. They are more than capable of recovering the early deficit and putting together a run after the international break concludes. Jude Bellingham and Eduardo Camavinga will return. Have faith in Ancelotti to find the blueprint needed. Too much freedom This might’ve been the most unexpected number in the entire continent after three games: five. Real Madrid had amassed just five points in the opening three games — dropping four points total away from home.
Those four dropped points weren’t pretty. Far from a case of Real Madrid dominating, getting unlucky, and getting hustled by referees — rather, the performances were underwhelming (putting it politely). More accurately, the build-up was laboured; the tracking lethargic; the shooting abysmal.
There was positional confusion. Kylian Mbappe’s integration hasn’t been as seamless as originally anticipated. At times, players made the same runs, getting in each other’s way; in other moments, there was stagnancy and dependancy on Vinicius Jr to create offense while other stood and watched — unsure of where they should be off the ball.
Part of the benefit of adding Kylian Mbappe — a Ballon D’or level player — to this already great team was to avoid such sequences of confusion and predictability. In the 2022 - 2023 season, Real Madrid struggled during Karim Benzema’s injury in part because the team fed the ball to Vinicius at every opportunity and waited for him to barbecue multiple players. It became easily scouted.
Mbappe’s arrival was supposed to remedy some of that. Whether in closed games against a low block or taking advantage of space in transition (Real Madrid have struggled amid both game states), his presence should take the ball out of Vinicius’s feet when needed, more often, to ensure the team’s ability to turn games into Real Madrid’s favour — to decongest, to eliminate predictability.
But the Vinicius - Mbappe duo hadn’t linked up synergistically, yet. Mbappe seemed to be missing some of the alpha mentality he’s used to leading his teams with. That’s natural. He’s in a new team, new league, playing for a team with two head-sheriffs already. But Real Madrid may need him to take on a bigger leadership role already — to demand the ball, to start using his ingenuity.
It is also up to Vinicius to integrate Mbappe into the flow of the offense more. Mbappe, and others, tend to hover around him in anticipation of a pass that doesn’t always arrive. Part of breaking low blocks consists of quicker movement and rapid ball circulation. Real Madrid can reach a state of paralysis when Vinicius receives the ball on the left wing facing multiple defenders. Defenders love that.
Against Las Palmas, Mbappe found more space hovering centrally or to the right side: Mbappe gets into two good goal-scoring chances in the above sequences, just like peak Mbappe would — leaving defenders in his dust. But his finishing over the first three games was poor (zero goals from an xG of 1.8). Prior to the Betis game, he was struggling to score for a few months, dating back to the Euros. That should normalize. The brace against Real Betis should kick-start that process.
As a slight aside: Arda Güler, in the second clip, plays with the incisiveness Real Madrid could use more often. He sets up Mbappe with the vertical pass then sprints into the box to receive it again — begging the Frenchman for a cut-back. His presence off the bench in an otherwise forgettable collective performance against Las Palmas was positive.
Güler also whipped in dangerous deliveries in the box and set up Endrick in the second half: The Vinicius - Mbappe connection showed great strides on Sunday night. Mbappe linked up well with both Vinicius and Rodrygo, dropped deep to help escape pressure, and showed his vintage bursts of speed off the ball to get into goal-scoring positions.
Real Madrid have the league’s best squad, and by far the highest ceiling of any team. They may not have peaked early, but we are a long way of seeing the team fully mesh with their nucleus healthy — and that probably is a good thing.
The international break pauses the momentum, but also buys the team time to recover key players.