Real Madrid: Analyzing all the right-wing options for the 2021/22 season
Rodrygo Goes
Rodrygo’s case is a curious one. He is actually a natural LW, but he had been used as an RW for most of his career under Zidane, and even Asensio was above him in the pecking order for the LW position. It is to be seen if he will be used on the left under Ancelotti, but let us focus on his role as an RW for now, and how he can perform as an RW under Don Carlo.
In the two seasons he has spent at Real Madrid, he has scored 9 goals and assisted 9 in 2731 minutes, according to FBRef. He played 398 minutes on the left, and 2184 minutes came from the right according to Transfermarkt. Of course, these minutes don’t include the time where he swapped wings, but the eye test does give you the feeling that he’s better from the left. 2 goals and 2 assists came from the left, while 7 goals and 7 assists came from the right. Given the minutes he got to play from the right, better numbers are expected from him, but let us take a deeper look into his gameplay from the right.
Rodrygo is a better dribbler from the left, where it becomes easier for him to cut inside with his right foot. From the right, he has to attempt the beat the defender on his outside, and his pace enables him to do that with ease. But when he tries to cut in with his right and get into central positions, it becomes difficult for him to shield the ball and he gets easily overpowered by the defender. Due to that, Rodrygo is often limited to wide areas, and he has to rely on one-twos with Benzema or the full-back to get into space behind the defensive line.
That also explains Rodrygo’s better-attacking numbers in 2020/21, as he had registered six assists in the previous season. When he gets into space behind the defensive line, the angle becomes narrow for him to shoot, and chooses to cut back or cross the ball to claim an assist. The decision to shoot from the right has been successful on only one occasion, in the game against Granada in May. This explains why the Brazilian is in the 20th percentile of non-penalty goals per 90 while being in the 99th percentile of assists per 90, with him managing 0.53 assists per 90 minutes, as per FBRef.
Rodrygo did score 7 goals in 2019/20, due to some clever off-the-ball movement and world-class finishing with both his feet. This season he has to make sure that he can bring his best game again, that too consistently. I’ve seen him play more from the left during the training session videos of this pre-season, and he did well in the training game against Fuenlabrada as he assisted twice. But he should be prepared for a left-wing position as well, due to the presence of Hazard and Vinicius.
Ancelotti likes to play inverted wingers, so it is going to be interesting to see if Rodrygo can be the first choice RW while Gareth Bale is present at the club. But if Rodrygo is given chances as the RW and if Don Carlo can implement a counter-attacking setup, then Rodrygo will get a lot more space to exploit, and a quick player like him with better decision making and finishing can register better numbers.