Carlo Ancelotti faces a major challenge at Real Madrid: getting Vinícius and Mbappé to work together on the pitch. Although they are top-level stars, the footballing coexistence between the two players has not achieved the desired fluidity. Carlo Ancelotti is looking for solutions to improve the collective game while avoiding the risk of losing balance or giving up defensive commitment.
The Italian coach has been trying out different systems, but the formula of Vinicius and Mbappé has not been successful. The lack of a natural partnership between the two, the demand for prominence for both at certain times, has meant that the team has appeared divided at too many times during the season. The balance between attack and defense is broken when the two are on the field together.
The lack of defensive sacrifice is one of the main shortcomings. Vinicius and Mbappé are very dangerous when they have space, but their retreat is not high. The disconnection in defense requires an additional effort from the rest of the team that unbalances the team structure and undermines the high pressure that Ancelotti wants to establish.
An attack without harmony
When they both play together, Real Madrid’s offensive fluidity falls apart. Vinicius and Mbappé each want to shine, sometimes leading to fragmentation of the game that results in a disjointed performance. This is why in matches where solidity and collective play are key, the team runs out of resources and has to rely on individual skill and quality to get through the matches.
Ancelotti needs them to understand each other better and share the workload in a way that does not undermine the effectiveness of the game. Mbappé has shown that he feels comfortable with those players who work without the ball, for example, Brahim or Rodrygo.
Vinicius and his defensive commitment
The offensive talent of Vinicius is beyond doubt, but the issue of his attitude in defense is on the list of tasks that he has pending. In the case of Kylian Mbappé it is true that, on some occasions, he has shown some tactical discipline, while the Brazilian tends, on many occasions, to become disconnected in those minutes when the team does not have the ball. And this translates into more imbalances that high-level rivals take advantage of without difficulty.
Ancelotti is aware that, for Madrid to become a more cohesive team from defense to attack, he needs the Brazilian to be able to take on a role or a number of responsibilities without the ball that will make him a more supportive and committed player when it comes to defending. The team, without Vinicius in Villarreal, became more supportive and better organized. The key, therefore, lies in Vinicius’s return to the starting eleven being able to generate a sense of unity in the team.
Ancelotti’s challenge
The challenge Ancelotti faces is not entirely complicated, given that it is simply a question of finding the formula so that both Mbappé and Vinicius not only shine individually, but also raise the level of Real Madrid’s collective play.
If Ancelotti manages to get Vinicius and Mbappé to complement each other without upsetting the balance of the team, to get involved in the collective work and to look at the bigger picture, Real Madrid will be in a position to fight for everything. Otherwise, the problem will be a tangible fact in the same way that the coach’s need to make complex decisions in the final stretch of the season will be a tangible fact if he does not want to lose his chances of achieving his objectives.