Fede Valverde had yet another great performance for Real Madrid, playing as a right-back against Leipzig on Wednesday night. There were a lot of things to like about Valverde's performance, and even though he made a couple of errors defensively, it looked like he was a natural playing in that position.
Whenever he has played as a right-back, there have really been no bad performances from the Uruguayan midfielder. That, unfortunately for him, is becoming his best position on the pitch, despite being a midfielder and wanting to play in the midfield.
Valverde has had to resort to playing as a right-back simply because Jose Mourinho has realised how much better he is at that position than playing alongside Aurelien Tchouameni. Unfortunately, that has come at the cost of Real Madrid's two right-backs, Denzel Dumfries and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Trent Alexander-Arnold's profile could greatly benefit Real Madrid, but Jose Mourinho doesn't seem to care
Trent, in particular, who was touted to be Real Madrid's first-choice right-back after Dani Carvajal's departure last summer (and even before it), is now sitting on the bench behind a player who is not better than him, and a player who is not a natural right-back, in the pecking order.
It is really difficult to watch that because, even if Trent is able to somehow convince Mourinho that he is so obviously better than Dumfries at the moment, he now has Valverde to battle with for that position.
Everyone knows Valverde's standing in the hierarchy at the club, and as the captain, he is not going to be benched by Mourinho, especially if he's playing the way he just did at right-back in the last two games. Even though Trent provides the obvious X-factor at right-back, Mourinho might prefer having a player like Valverde at that position instead.
It is a really tough situation for the Englishman because his talent is so obvious, and the way he has played this season has been really good, but he just cannot seem to find a break under the Portuguese manager.
Valverde has shown reluctance to play at right-back in the past under Xabi Alonso as well as Carlo Ancelotti, but it seems that now, under Mourinho, he is finally realising that he is much better at that position than he is in midfield. Unfortunately, that realisation is hurting Trent more than he expected.
Hopefully, Trent is able to come in as a starter again for Real Madrid at this right-back position, but given how reluctant Mourinho is to start him, it just does not seem like it will happen anytime soon.
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