Real Madrid have found a brilliant form of balance in the absence of star winger Vinicius Junior. As difficult as it has been for the Brazilian, Yan Diomande - who has taken his place in the lineup during his absence - has been exceptionally good for the team.
Diomande has performed admirably on the left wing, helping Real Madrid play some of their best football in quite some time. The winger provides a lot of output on both ends of the pitch, and it is clear to everyone that the team is better with him on the left than on the right, and with him in the lineup than with Vinicius Junior.
This doesn't just mean offensively, either - Diomande has been better on the defensive end, but Marc Cucurella believes it is a matter of perspective rather than Vinicius Junior not being good enough.
He said: "No, it’s not that Diomandé helps me more, it’s that it gets highlighted more.
Diomandé tracks back and it’s all over the news. Vini makes three track backs, but doesn’t in one instance, and that is the one that will get highlighted. If Vini scored three goals per match, no one would say anything to him.
The most important thing is that he gets back to his best because if he’s in his prime, we will have a sensational team.”
Yan Diomande defends well irrespective of his output in attack
Diomande has been providing much more in attack than Vinicius Junior, but he has also done a lot more defensive work than the Brazilian in the few games he has played on the left.
Diomande is always quick to track back and help Marc Cucurella whenever Real Madrid concede possession, but the same cannot be said about Vinicius Junior, who seems to pick and choose his battles all the time. When he feels like it, he goes back and helps Cucurella. When he doesn't, he simply ball-watches. That is bad, especially hwen you are already not providing on the offensive end.
I get that Cucurella is trying to defend his teammate from criticism, but he is ignoring a very obvious difference between the two players. The fact is that the two have very different mentalities right now, and even when Diomande is ineffective in attack, he is always helping out in defense. If he wasn't doing so, people would crucify him the same way they do for Vinicius Junior whenever he stands in front of the opposition players and doesn't do anything.
It is true that if Vinicius Junior scores three goals a game, no one will say anything about his defensive output because the game would effectively be over with his attacking output alone. But he doesn't score three goals a game. He never has, and he never will. That is a really bad reason for someone to not defend when they're not doing well, because the argument lies on something that has never happened and will never happen.
The simple fact is that Vinicius Junior needs to show a lot more intensity on both ends of the pitch. Defensive work is not conditional to him having a bad game - it should happen either way.
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