How to get the best out of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior at the same time?
It is a question that was posed last season, but few thought it would turn into a major issue for Real Madrid, given Carlo Ancelotti’s ability to fit star players together. More than three months into Mbappe’s time at Madrid, it is a question of state though.
According to Diario AS, Ancelotti has no plans to alter his formation up front. For the foreseeable, he will continue to use Vinicius on the left, where he is at his best, and Mbappe through the middle. Recent weeks have seen some wonder if Mbappe should be moved to his more favoured position in order to get the best out of him, as he deals with a ‘drought’ of four games without scoring. Mbappe will continue as a number nine though, and the sooner he learns the vocation of the position the better in the eyes of Ancelotti. He wants both to be mobile and versatile, but does not intend to change their starting positions.
This is exactly what Karim Benzema advised his former France teammate. Benzema was the best partner that Vinicius has had at Real Madrid, with the two linking up effortlessly at the Santiago Bernabeu. The Al-Ittihad forward told Mbappe to forget about the left and get into the mindset of a striker. Benzema was not a pure number nine in the traditional sense either, often dropping off into midfield in order to link attacks together.