This is a topic that has been touched on as many times as Denzel Dumfries has played for Real Madrid, but the fact of the matter is that the player is simply not good enough to be a starter for the club.
Dumfries has not had a single good performance for Real Madrid this season. He has had some decent ones for the Netherlands in the international break, but for the club that he plays for, there has not been one where he has looked even remotely good.
The player that fans see playing for his club looks lazy with the ball. He does not provide too much on either end of the pitch, and he just looks lethargic and without any intensity, and all of these things were visible against Roma.
Denzel Dumfries does not deserve to start for Real Madrid right now
That is not the same player that fans see for the Netherlands, and that is a worrying sign because, despite all of this, Mourinho still keeps starting him in almost every match he can. Trent Alexander-Arnold has played in very limited minutes so far this season, and it just doesn't make sense. Why? Because Trent has been the better right-back out of the two in every sense of the word. If you talk about his attacking prowess and his long-range passing, there is not even a question that Trent is better.
If we look at the defensive displays, they have not been perfect, but with him, they have been much, much better than what Dumfries has shown all season. Trent has had multiple good defensive performances where he has had some important interventions on the other side of the pitch. Dumfries has been beaten in most of his duels whenever he has played and just looks out of sorts every time.
Maybe the attacking side of things has something to do with how José Mourinho is profiling him, because under Xavi for the Netherlands, he was playing much better. It still does not even begin to explain the form that he's showing on the defensive end of the pitch, where he is supposed to be the better player of himself and Trent. Dumfries is just not doing that at all.
It's getting to a point where it just makes sense to start Fede Valverde or Trent over Dumfries at any point in the game. If you want more control of the ball and more creativity, you go for Trent, and if you want those last-minute defensive interventions, you go for Valverde. That should be how Real Madrid line up on any given night, because at the moment, based on sheer form, Dumfries has not been good enough.
For a club as big as Real Madrid, if he was playing the way he was playing for Inter a couple of seasons ago, there would be a much better debate than there is now. At the moment, Dumfries is not showing enough on either side of the pitch to warrant a starting role, and Mourinho needs to understand that before it is too late.
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