Real Madrid Manager Carlo Ancelotti has admitted the new position of Vinicius Junior has left him with a conundrum.
Speaking ahead of their final preseason friendly on their US tour, Carlo Ancelotti again stonewalled questions on Kylian Mbappe. However Ancelotti was typically open to speak about his current players and tactics.
One of the consequences of their new 4-4-2 diamond system is that star forward Vinicius plays more centrally, although with freedom to move. Previously, he had always started from out wide, almost hugging the touchline. Before their match against Juventus, Ancelotti was asked whether Vinicius was better out wide or through the middle.
“It is an evaluation that we have to make,” the Italian told Diario AS.
“Personally, the player really likes to play inside. On the outside he makes a difference, on the inside he can score more goals. He has done well against Milan and United. He could have been more accurate against Barcelona.”
Ancelotti pointed out that preseason was exactly for this kind of experiment too.
“I don’t know if playing out wide he would have had so many chances. It’s hard if we don’t test these things now to do this kind of thing later on.”
It has been pointed out that Vinicius does not receive the ball in space as much in the middle, with the chance to take on players and use his best attribute, his dribbling. Equally his pace in behind is a threat, and when he does receive the ball in a tricky position, he is closer to goal in order to make the difference.
Generally it tends to be the case that managers are more keen to move their most differential players to the middle of the pitch, in order to ensure they do impact the game as much as possible. The likelihood is that Vinicius will be very good in either role, but it could become more important when playing against the bigger teams, where the margins are finer.
