Real Madrid have kicked off the new season in fine fashion, but the promise of even greater success beckons if they make a tactical change.
Real Madrid are off to a flying start in the 2023/24 season with 12 wins out of their 15 matches. They have only lost once so far in the new campaign. Despite their dominant start, they do not seem as threatening as they were last season. And, one of the major reasons for the lack of threat is the absence of a world-class number nine.
The departure of Karim Benzema was a huge blow for the team, and the decision to not replace him with a new star striker in the summer could haunt them towards business end of the season. Despite all that, Los Blancos are currently second in the league with 29 points out of their 12 games.
Real Madrid are two points behind league leaders Girona, and they have been flawless in the Champions League with three wins in three matches. Their successful start is down to their new formation, which has been used since the arrival of Jude Bellingham at the club. Los Blancos might not have signed a new number nine, but they signed one of the best young midfielders in world football in a big-money move.
The 20-year-old England international has been proving his worth with impressive performances since arriving at the club. Bellingham has featured in a total of 14 matches so far, finding the back of the net 13 times while having three assists to his name.
Carlo Ancelotti has changed his formation to cope with the absence of Benzema and bring the best out of Bellingham. The Italian manager has shifted to a 4-4-2 with a diamond in the centre of the park, where the 20-year-old features as an attacking midfielder behind two strikers.
This formation has allowed the former Borussia Dortmund midfielder to have an immediate impact, and his impressive performances have helped them win quite a few matches. However, shifting to a 4-2-3-1 could do wonders for Real Madrid, and it might bring out the best in the majority of their players and their over-dependence on their summer signing might go down significantly.
Allowing Vinicius and Rodrygo to feature in more natural roles
Since changing to the 4-4-2 formation, both Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo Goes have featured as the two strikers up top more often than not. Both have been asked to play more centrally, but they have not found it easy.
While Rodrygo has been used as a striker in the past as well, he has never featured in a formation with two strikers. He has either started out wide on the flank or as the sole striker up top. As far as Vinicius is concerned, he has never played centrally. The 23-year-old is someone who loves to pick up the ball out wide and use his pace and dribbling skills to take on the defenders.
Stretching the opposition defence, creating chances for the striker and cutting inside to take shots on goal are his major strengths. And, ever since he has been used as a left-sided striker, things have not been that great for the Brazil international.
The former Flamengo winger has only racked up six goal contributions in his 11 outings. He has not been as effective as he would have liked to be. And, whenever he looks to create something, the 23-year-old often drifts out wide to the left. Similar is the case of Rodrygo who looks to drop deep and out wide when he wants to create scoring chances.
They have not been effective enough as the striking pair up top, and shifting to a 4-2-3-1 will surely help bring out the best of them. This formation will allow Bellingham to continue as the attacking midfielder and the Brazilian duo could feature on both flanks with Joselu as a striker. Los Blancos could even use Rodrygo as the striker since they do not have much depth up top.
This formation will surely allow Vinicius to have the kind of impact he had last season, and it will also ensure that Bellingham sticks with the role of an attacking midfielder as he has been quite successful with it so far.
The presence of the number 9
Joselu is the only out-and-out striker in Real Madrid’s ranks, and the void left by the departure of Karim Benzema is yet to be filled. The only other option for the number nine position apart from Joselu is Rodrygo.
While both of them can surely contribute towards goals while playing as number nine, neither of them is a world-class striker and despite that, a 4-2-3-1 with a lone striker up top could be an ideal formation for Los Blancos.
Real Madrid have scored a decent amount of goals so far this season, but the major source of their goals has been Jude Bellingham. His late runs into the box, tap-ins and long-range bangers have saved the Spanish giants on multiple occasions.
The presence of number nine will help reduce their over-dependence on Bellingham. And, on top of that, they will have a focal point for their attacks. So far, Real Madrid have struggled in certain situations because both Vinicius and Rodrygo drift out wide. And, only when Joselu features up top, they end up having a presence in the opposition’s box.
If they end up shifting to was 4-2-3-1 formation, they will always have someone up top and the opposition defence will fill the presence of a centre-forward and along with it, there will be a focal point for their creative players.
Making the best use of their versatile players
Real Madrid might not have star attackers, but they do have some world-class midfielders, players who are capable enough to feature in different roles and still be effective. The same goes with a few of their forwards. As a result, shifting to a 4-2-3-1 will give them more options to work with.
With Aurelien Tchouameni out injured shifting to a double pivot in the centre of the park makes a lot of sense. They do not have an out-and-out defensive midfielder to cope with his absence. While Eduardo Camavinga and Toni Kroos can both feature in a holding midfielder role, using two of their central midfielders in a double pivot will give them defensive assurance.
Starting games with this formation will allow Los Blancos to have quite a few versatile players on the pitch, they can interchange positions to keep the opposition guessing and can even switch to different positions depending on the situation.
Players who can play in different positions in a 4-2-3-1
CM: Camavinga, Kroos, Luka Modric, Dani Ceballos, Tchouaméni, Federico Valverde (Currently Out Injured)
CAM: Bellingham, Arda Guler, Brahim Diaz, Modric
LW: Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, Diaz
RW: Rodrygo, Valverde, Diaz, Guler
ST: Joselu, Rodrygo
While there are numerous advantages of shifting to a 4-2-3-1 from 4-4-2, it won’t be easy as the team have had decent success with the current game plan. And, on top of that, there is a certain lack of depth up top which needs reinforcement in January if Madrid want to use their go-to 4-3-3 formation or try out the 4-2-3-1 which did give them results when they used it last season.
