These observations — where I look at Real Madrid’s history, its players on loan, Castilla, tactical tidbits, and other relevant thoughts — are now a regular thing. All previous editions can be found here.
I’m about to split some hairs and make some difficult decisions.
Here are some things to take a mental note of as you go through this relatively long column:
I’ve actually gone through every single player in the squad apart from the goalkeepers, and given a quick assessment of each one before announcing my starters for each position.It’s broken down into Jose Mourinho’s classic 4-2-3-1, with each section labelled clearly to make it a bit easier to digest.No actual difficult decisions were made, because I am a writer typing on a keyboard and not actually Jose Mourinho (who has the actual difficult job).
Right-backs: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Denzel Dumfries
Center-backs: Eder Militao, Ibrahima Konaté, Dean Huijsen, Antonio Rüdiger, Raul Asencio
Left-backs: Marc Cucurella, Alvaro Carreras, Ferland Mendy
Trent Alexander-Arnold is the greatest long-range passing right-back in football history. He is a right-back unicorn, and, at his peak, generated chances at an unparalleled clip — on par or greater than wingers and 10s — in the Premier League. We’ve already seen glimpses of his mind-blowing passes last season and even already this summer. He solves problems within a squad that is struggling to find its build-up identity in the post Toni Kroos era.
There are going to be times where Jose Mourinho will opt to use Denzel Dumfries over Trent. (It was surprising to some, but not me, that the Dutchman got the nod in the opening game against Espanyol, but it was more surprising that we saw Dumfries get the nod for the majority of the games so far. Some of this has to do with pairings on the right wing: Mourinho doesn’t want to pair Trent and Güler together on the wing for defensive purposes, for example.)
But apart from his passing, there is something else that Trent can do that Dumfries can’t: Drop into the anchor role when the team is building out from the back. We’ve already seen glimpses of this during the pre-season and scattered throughout the opening league games: Trent will drop as a third center-back on offense and help the team’s ball progression from that zone.
Trent is also a set-piece specialist, and far and away the best right-footed free-kick taker on the team. He consistently ranks in the 99th percentile in shot-creating actions via both live-ball passes as well as dead balls.
Dumfries has traits that Trent doesn’t have as well, and Mourinho can leverage that by playing one over the other situationally throughout the season. Dumfries is a better 1v1 defender and will defend crosses at a far superior clip. He’s also an aerial threat offensively, both on set-pieces and in open play, and can crash the far post and meet crosses coming in from the left side.
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Dumfries has his place in this squad, both as a squad player and here-and-there-starter. He’s already proved to be a giant disruptor when it comes to reading passing lanes, overloads and counter-pressing — though he’s so far looked a bit clumsy on the ball and inefficient when he gets into good attacking positions. It’s still a headache for wingers to have to deal with his relentless nature.
On a recent Managing Madrid Podcast, Siavoush Fellahi — full of praise for Dumfries — also said that “some Madridistas will find him ‘clunky’”. Not untrue. While Trent is finesse, long range passing, and floated balls and crosses; Dumfries is more of a bulldozer, and his crosses are more drives across goal, which can be very dangerous, and in some cases, easier for Kylian Mbappe to latch on to.
Some saw either Dumfries or Trent as runaway starters for differing reasons. I don’t think either of them has a clear nod over the other as some think, and I would not be surprised if Mourinho rotates these two the same way he did with Fabio Coentrao and Marcelo, depending on the match-up.
Until Eder Militao returns, I have Ibrahima Konaté as the starting right-center back. I had concerns about Konaté’s form in the past year which went hand in hand with his injury concerns. If he stays healthy (and is performing the way he currently is), it’s a no-brainer. Konaté is an absolute tank. Seeing him play against those Espanyol attackers on matchday 1 was a bit like watching Thanos flick away Kiyan Sobhani — that’s what the physical gap looked like.
Konaté, of course, has a history of playing well alongside Trent, and understands his runs and when to cover.
Dean Huijsen is my leading candidate for the left-center back role. From a tactical standpoint, he compliments all of Real Madrid’s defenders. He’s less aggressive in nature than the rest, and is the best vertical passer of every central defender on paper. I have really enjoyed Huijsen since the start of the new year. He started to return to the Club World Cup version of himself and started regaining confidence. His start to this season has been terrific. Continue trusting him.
Huijsen continues to be vital as a presence in clearing crosses. He clears 5.7 crosses per 90 in La Liga — a mark that puts him in the top 10% among center-backs in Europe. For a club like Real Madrid that struggles containing crosses, Huijsen’s aerial ability and willingness to fight off-ball runners is vital.
From an on-ball standpoint, Huijsen ranks in the 85th percentile or higher in all these categories: progressive passing, long range passing, and ball carrying. Being good with his left foot helps.
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I’m still a huge fan of Eder Militao. The only thing stopping him from being the best center-back in the world is health. It’s heart-breaking to see what he’s gone through over the last few years. The best case scenario is he comes back and avoids another major injury (or really any injuries at all) and becomes a vital piece to the backline as a rotational starter.Marc Cucurella is a shoe-in lock for the left-back spot. No questions asked. For reasons discussed to death, he raises the floor of the team and brings professional two-way excellence and leadership with a great big-game track record.But, Alvaro Carreras should enjoy the new-found competition, and I would except Cucurella’s arrival — plus Mourinho’s motivational abilities — to bring Carreras back to his best.How does Ferland Mendy — available seemingly 45 minutes per six months — fit into all of this? It will be interesting to see Mourinho juggle that if Mendy somehow stays healthy, because healthy Mendy is pretty great on the defensive end and Mourinho will value that.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold
Double-pivot: Aurelien Tchouameni, Fede Valverde, Bernardo Silva, Eduardo Camavinga, Thiago Pitarch, Arda Güler (?), Jude Bellingham (?)
I will preface this section by saying that not all of these players are compatible with each other. Long gone are the days where you could pair Toni Kroos and / or Luka Modric with anyone. Many of the players now are specialists rather than organizers and leaders, and even versatile box-to-box midfielders like Eduardo Camavinga and Fede Valverde are limited in their ability to be deep-lying playmakers that the team needs. Aurelien Tchouameni, who at least fit that profile in Monaco, hasn’t been able to be the guy you can rely on as the leader since Kroos left. Jude Bellingham is the most versatile freak of this bunch, but putting him as an 8 (although he can pull it off), means you lose his much needed attacking output, hence the question mark next to his name. Arda Güler can develop into that role, but there’s a question mark there too as Jose Mourinho hasn’t tested them there yet although he’s been vocal that Güler’s destiny, like Bernardo Silva or Modric, is to play deeper.
All that to say: Bernardo Silva’s presence in midfield will be vital, but he can’t play there game-in, game-out, due to his age and the intense football schedule (along with his tireless ground coverage in every second that he plays in), so Mourinho will have to find solutions, knowing that Bernardo, like everyone else, needs to be rested.
The trick is that Bernardo’s specific profile in the team is one that doesn’t really have a back-up. Mbappe has Espi and Endrick. Bellingham has Güler and Güler has Bellingham. Cucurella has Carreras (etc). Real Madrid are deep in midfield, but not deep in Bernardo’s specific profile, which is why I would personally love to see Güler get minutes in the double-pivot when Bernardo is not on the field. I don’t think a double-pivot of Valverde and Tchouameni, for example, has enough progressive passing; and that problem wouldn’t get solved if you swapped in Camavinga for either of them. In the first few games, for example, Bellingham or Güler would fly behind Valverde to receive the ball from the defenders before sprinting back into the final third. The onus should be on Valverde to receive the ball in that situation.
Having two box-to-box brutes would work a bit better if you’re playing against a low-block team (Malaga, for example) and not pinned deep, while keeping everyone high up the field to counter-press aggressively. In those circumstances, you avoid having to rely on Camavinga, Tchouameni, or Valverde to be the release valve when pressed, and they can focus on snuffing out transition attacks instead while leaving the creative element to Bellingham or Güler.
Aurelien Tchouameni is the best stabilizer on this list. He is not a traditional deep-lying playmaker but he brings safe ball-security and a high volume of both passes and passing accuracy. Don’t expect him to thread the needle from deep, but that’s why the team shouldn’t rely on him for that either, and instead, can lean on Bernardo Silva, Dean Huijsen, Trent Alexander-Arnold, or Arda Güler.
Tchouameni is also the best defensive presence of the list, which is why I think Jose Mourinho will look at that as a key differentiator when deciding his line-ups. That ‘headache’ won’t arrive yet due to the Frenchman’s injury, but it will be inevitable. Don’t discount his dominant aerial presence on both ends either — he is by far the best aerial midfielder on the team.
Tchouameni still needs to work on tracking runners. But that is also a universal Real Madrid problem: Everyone fails at that here.
Fede Valverde has had decent returns so far in the double pivot, but he will need to continue to develop into that role at this stage of his career. Real Madrid needed him to step up in the post Toni Kroos / Luka Modric era. It’s safe to say he hasn’t, yet. Some of that is because he’s not that type of player (and he’s disappointed as a potential leader), but not all of it is his fault: He’s shifted in and out of multiple positions, including right-back, due to injuries and squad imbalance. Once upon a time, he had his ideal role: midfielder leadership and control were delegated to Kroos and Modric while Valverde could bomb up and down the field in the right half-space.
Fair or unfair, he doesn’t have that role anymore, and, one thing is clear: No matter how much he idolizes Kroos, he’s not Kroos. Valverde tends to hide as an outlet in the build-up phase and progresses the ball through carries rather than prolific passing. That’s ok, but, again, he needs to be paired with the appropriate partner.
Despite all that, Valverde has looked okay so far disrupting opponents with his defense and ball-carrying.
Young Bernardo Silva would be either the team’s 10 or right winger. This version is no longer operating just outside the opponents’ box, but now, as a 32-year-old, he’s developed into a deeper role on the field. Silva played alongside Rodri in a double pivot for the majority of last season. He looked sharp, and, as always, runs himself into the ground on defense
Silva brings immediate composure and leadership to this young midfield and is the team’s best deep-lying press-resistant profile. Something to remember: 32 is not old by any means, and Silva is in great shape physically. I think he’ll be good for a few years.
Eduardo Camavinga is an eternal enigma. At his best, he’s a physical specimen, press-resistant, technically gifted as a dribbler in tight spaces, elite between the lines off the ball, and a nasty-good slide tackler.
At his worst, he doesn’t know what planet he’s on because someone unplugged his controller.We see both the best and worst of Camavinga within the same game.
He will have to work on mental focus. Real Madrid can get away with him having a lapse against Malaga, but not against Bayern Munich.
Like Valverde, his ball progression comes with elite ball carrying rather than progressive passing.
Can Mourinho unlock the best of Camavinga? Maybe. But, no matter how great of a psychologist your coach is, change has to come from within.
I don’t see Thiago Pitarch getting many minutes, for obvious reason. He has similar issues as Camavinga, but far less talented and established.Both Arda Güler and Jude Bellingham can play as and 8, but both are better as a 10. But we have to be very honest with ourselves: To be a 10 in modern football has a different meaning than playing as a 10 in the 1990s: You cannot survive as a 10 who can only play as a 10; you have to be able to play as an 8 or even the wing as well. Luckily, both Bellingham and Güler can do that.
The biggest question: Since they’re both too good to be on the bench and both at their best as the 10, what’s the best way to juggle this?
I would put Bellingham as a 10 and Güler deeper or occasionally on the right wing. The reasoning is simple: Bellingham can’t provide a target and goal-scoring presence as an 8; but Güler can sling assists from deeper positions. They can also be interchangeable.
MADRID, SPAIN – AUGUST 20: Jude Bellingham and Arda Guler of Real Madrid in action during a training session at Ciudad Real Madrid on August 20, 2026 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Maria Jimenez/Real Madrid via Getty Images) Real Madrid via Getty Images
The right winger, the 10, the left winger
Wingers: Yan Diomande, Brahim Diaz, Vinicius, Jr, Rodrygo Goes, Arda Güler (?), Endrick (?)
10s: Jude Bellingham, Arda Güler, Brahim Diaz (?), Bernardo Silva (?)
Yan Diomande is being eased into the team and is not yet a starter, but he does feel inevitable. Jose Mourinho is smartly integrating him without rushing or putting unnecessary pressure on a kid who already has an enormous price tag looming over his head.
From a profile standpoint, it’s hard to find a Mourinho-type player better suited to play the right wing. Diomande is a no-nonsense winger who doesn’t overcomplicate plays. He’ll make quick one-touch passes, dribble past opponents with ingenuity and pace, and put his life on the line defensively to secure the flank. His slow integration into the squad is not something I’m worried about.
Plug Brahim Diaz anywhere. He is the perfect squad player: He never complains, can play four different positions, and is a two-way fireball in any situation. He gives you line-breaking, speed, defensive hustle, and help controlling possession.Vinicius Jr is a lock on the left wing. Mourinho has leaned more towards the Alvaro Arbeloa route rather than the Xabi Alonso route, and has opted to pump Vinicius with as much confidence as he possibly can knowing that the Brazilian is inked for the next six years.
Against Espanyol in the first game of the season, Mourinho didn’t take Vinicius out despite his poor performance. Against Real Sociedad, Mourinho didn’t sub him out until after Vinicius got his goal and assist. Against Malaga, Vinicius had his best game yet — he played simple, efficient, uncomplicated football while bringing to the table tremendous defensive effort on the wing. Still, the biggest problem here is that Vinicius looks a shadow of himself beating players off the dribble, and regularly loses wing battles against any semi-decent right-back. His dribbling efficiency has to improve dramatically if Mourinho feels like he can’t take the Brazilian out of the game.
Rodrygo Goes, in theory, is one of the best wingers in the world, but we’re very far removed from that and a long way out from his return. He’ll be back sometime in 2027, and by then, who knows what Mourinho’s approach will be to reintegrate him into the team. He may be a player for next season — with this season being one where he slowly regains match fitness by the end of the campaign.It is rough for Arda Güler, because he’s one of the greatest creatives forces in European football right now, but, the scheme is built around Jude Bellingham, who, without mincing words, is the best player in the world in his position.
There is nothing in world football quite like Jude Bellingham when he’s at his best. The most comparable entity I can compare him to is the Terminator. But not just any Terminator, specifically the T-850, when Arnold Schwarzenegger came back with dual hydrogen power cells, enhanced durability, and advanced processing. (The only detail that the T-850 had which I hope Jude doesn’t have to use is the nuclear self-destruct feature.)
It’s almost unnecessary to list off all the things Bellingham is elite at — everyone already knows them. But one key point to make here is that Jose Mourinho has alleviated Bellingham’s deep defensive duties, and, instead, has deployed him in prime position to receive and turn in meaningful attacking situations.
Güler should get starts in three different positions: right wing, central midfield, and the 10 when Mourinho decides to rotate Bellingham.Bernardo Silva is mentioned here only in theory, as he can play the 10 position as well as the right wing, but Mourinho will likely play him deeper in midfield.
Strikers: Kylian Mbappe, Carlos Espi, Endrick
Kylian Mbappe is as easy of a choice here as Thibaut Courtois is in nets. He’s a clear shoe-in for Pichichi. If Real Madrid finally win at least one major trophy with him, he’s probably due for a Ballon D’or as well. One Champions League title (plus top scorer) and Ballon D’or would put him in the historical conversation he deserves to be in.
But hold your horses, we’re not there yet. We already know Mbappe will score, and you could argue from a creative element, the team is better equipped now to feast on goals with him: Güler has arrived, Bellingham is back to his best, Diomande can break lines and create from the wing, etc. Bellingham can crash the box in his new role more than he did in the last two years which should help decongest space for Mbappe. Carlos Espi can do the same:
I cannot wait to see the final tally for Espi by the end of the season. I’m not claiming he’ll bang in 18 like Joselu did, but I do predict his goals, even if a small number, will be meaningful. Espi is good at making impact in limited minutes. In any context or game state, he will be surrounded by creators he never had at Levante (duh), and is very clever moving into goal scoring positions undetected. His hold up play is strong, and his link-up play is underrated for a player who stays mostly in the box. Like any Mbappe back-up, he won’t get much playing time, but he is a vital profile to have in the squad situationally.It’s hard to see where Endrick’s playing time will come from. If Real Madrid need a target off the bench, Espi easily gets the nod. In this author’s opinion, it would’ve been good to hand Endrick another loan, but, admittedly, nothing gets solved if he returns next season again. Per different sources, two things were made clear to me: Endrick wants to play down the middle, not the wing, and Jose Mourinho specifically requested Endrick to stay. I think Endrick will have to accept he’ll get minutes on the right if he’s going to get playing time. I’m curious to know where Mourinho sees him in the depth chart. He is essentially insurance for Mbappe and Diomande if something happens to them. Endrick may also be a bit overqualified for that role.