Since the arrival of Kylian Mbappé in Real Madrid, the question of his compatibility with Vinicius Jr has agitated the Spanish press. Last season, under Carlo Ancelotti, the two stars had trouble cohabit, sharing the same preference for the left corridor and offering little defensive involvement. This situation had fed the idea that their association unbalanced the team.
Vinicius JR, in particular, has shown its desire to stay in its comfort zone, sometimes creating tensions in the locker room. Kylian Mbappé, for his part, has not always shown the intensity at the expected pressing of a player of his caliber. These frictions, on and off the field, prompted the Brazilian striker to claim either emoluments equivalent to those of Mbappé or a departure, request refused by Casa Blanca.
Aware of the issue, Xabi Alonso, named this summer, has managed the duo one of their priorities. According to El Desmarquehe analyzed all the matches where Mbappé and Vinicius had been aligned together, convinced that the success of his project would go through their complementarity. From the Club World Cup, he found that his system, effective with Gonzalo Garcia at the forefront, unbalanced as soon as the two attackers were aligned.
Alonso reappears his attackers
Since then, the former Bayer Leverkusen coach has been intractable. In match as in training, he does not hesitate to interrupt the game to crop his stars. Faced with WSG Tirol, he thus challenged Vinicius Jr by grabbing it by the arm to demand a more sustained pressing, and does the same with Mbappé during a break. A firmness that contrasts with the Ancelotti method, deemed too conciliatory.
Still according to El Desmarquethis rigor begins to bear fruit: in the locker room, the message is clear, no one is above collective rules. It remains to be seen whether this precarious balance will last for duration, with the first life-size test against Osasuna this weekend in Liga.
