According to a report from MARCA, the biggest dilemma that Jose Mourinho has at Real Madrid right now is to figure out a way to include both Arda Guler and Jude Bellingham in the same line-up.
Guler and Bellingham are two of Real Madrid’s best players. Bellingham is the obviously better, more established superstar, while Guler has sort of forced his way into the picture with great passing and a skillset that not many players have in this team.Â
Mourinho probably understands that better than I do, which might be why he would want both players in the line-up. The problem is, that is simply not possible – not unless he sacrifices Jude Bellingham’s best position and role on the team.
Jude Bellingham must continue as a 10 at Real Madrid
Right now, Real Madrid play a 4-2-3-1 under Mourinho, with two pivots, a single attacking midfielder, with two wingers on either side of Kylian Mbappe.Â
Based on what it looks like, their defense is sorted for now. The pivot could be Bernardo Silva and Fede Valverde. The wingers are going to be Vinicius Jr and Yan Diomande, and the striker will be Mbappe.
Bellingham is the only one out of him and Guler who has shown on a consistent level that he has the physicality and skillset to play deeper. Guler has played in deep positions before, but he isn’t strong enough, and isn’t as good of a dribbler in deep areas yet to warrant that position for too long. He has taken steps defensively, but he is still very much behind most of Real Madrid’s midfielders in that category.
Now, if you put Bellingham further behind, potentially alongside Valverde, you lose out on his late runs into the box. You also lose out on his pressing when he goes forward. You lose out on the defensive numbers he makes up when he tracks back to become an extra man in midfield. Guler can do these things, but Bellingham is just a lot better at that than him.
If you look at it from another perspective, which would be to move one of these players out wide – at least on paper – then it cannot be Bellingham. The Englishman would be wasted as a wide midfielder, and it will never even be discussed by Mourinho in that regard. Guler can play as a pseudo-winger / wide midfielder on the right, and he would be able to have a lot of brilliant passes into Mbappe’s feet.Â
However, two problems: One, Mourinho loves to have speedy wingers on both sides, and two, they have just spent a club record fee on bringing in a winger to do exactly that.
Benching Dimoande for Guler just does not seem possible, because it is a profile Real Madrid have spent years trying to find.
It is a really difficult situation. Bellingham playing deeper seems like the easiest option to have considering the amount of minutes he played there for his previous clubs, but knowing what he can provide in advanced positions, and how he actively hunts for those sorts of opportunities, it feels useless to have him play that deep, at least on a consistent basis. He is a 10, and even if it is at the cost of Guler's brilliance, he should continue playing there.
Add us as a preferred source on Google