Real Madrid: 3 things that can help Rodrygo Goes get even better

Real Madrid forward Rodrygo Goes had a successful first season with the club, but what could help him become a star?

In Vinicius Junior, Takefusa Kubo, Luka Jovic, Martin Odegaard, and Rodrygo Goes, Real Madrid have five of Europe’s best young attacking players. Two of those players shined on loan in La Liga, one had a tough time getting into the starting lineup, and two of them flashed world-class potential while helping Los Blancos win their 34th La Liga title.

Rodrygo Goes, along with Vinicius, was one of the two players who had an immediate impact on Real’s attack. And Rodrygo did so in his very first season with the club, having signed for about 50 million euros from Santos.

The 19-year-old was impressive, but these three things can help him become even better for Real in 2020-2021.

Confidence when attacking

This is an obvious one that impacts so many young players, such as Real’s other young wide forward, Vinicius. But Rodrygo often looked timid on the ball in his first season, especially when he started on the right side. (We’ll get to that.)

Rodrygo had a better rate of successful dribbles to unsuccessful dribbles than either fellow young forwards Brahim Diaz or Vinicius, per WhoScored.com, but he only averaged 2.4 dribbles completed per 90 minutes compared to at least 3.0 for Vini and Brahim.

Among all three players, Rodrygo might just be the most talented. It’s understandable for a first-year player at the Bernabeu to need to feel things out and build confidence, so as he gets more time, Rodrygo’s true abilities could really shine through.