One of the biggest questions coming into this Real Madrid season is who should start in the 10 role behind Kylian Mbappé: Jude Bellingham or Arda Güler? And while there are plenty of arguments for both to assume the attacking midfield role, Jose Mourinho seems to have come to the conclusion quickly that the Englishman will be Madrid’s most advanced midfielder this season. After the Espanyol match Mourinho alluded to that saying “what I expect from Bellingham, and for me, this is his position, is that connection
with the attackers. He’s a player who can score and needs to play in a position close to goal” while adding that Jude can play as a 6 or 8 but loses that proximity to goal. In a separate interview, Mourinho also spoke about Güler eventually playing further back on the pitch saying “I believe with him it’s going to be like Luka Modrić. In the end he will end up as a number 8 and then as a 6.”
Bellingham offers the greater scoring threat inside the box, his aerial ability being a facet that is greatly needed in a Madrid with little aerial threat in its forward line. And playing further forward also allows him to win long balls from Thibaut Courtois, something that Vinicius and Mbappe are not adept at doing and a strategy that has been utilized in the past against teams that press high. But Bellingham is also a superlative defender and some fear leaving him further up the pitch might diminish his box-to-box presence. That being said, Bellingham also led Madrid in successful defensive actions (interceptions, tackles won, ball recoveries, passes blocked) per 90 minutes in the opponent’s half last season. And that ability to win the ball back in dangerous positions was evident on Madrid’s third goal when Jude regained possession inside the box before finding Vinicius for a tap-in. As the graph below demonstrates, Bellingham won back possession in the final third nearly one time per match, a higher rate than all forwards and midfielders for Madrid and Barcelona last season that played at least 750 minutes.
It is interesting to note that through the first two matches, only 28.4% of Bellingham’s passes have initiated from the final third of the pitch, much lower than one might expect from an attacking midfielder. That compares to 59.3% in the middle third and 12.3% in the defensive third. Jude’s goal against Espanyol did not come from him playing in the 10 role as it was from a set-piece. And on his first assist against Real Sociedad, Bellingham was involved in the build-up, receiving the ball from Valverde in the middle third of the pitch (further back than either Silva or Güler in that moment) before positioning himself at the top of the box to play the one-two for Mbappé’s second goal of the match.
Güler is an exceptional passer — a shot-creating machine for teammates. The Turkish midfielder not only had the most key passes on Madrid last season with 70 in La Liga, but he also created the most big chances on the team and led all players in chances created in the Champions League with 34 despite playing only until the quarterfinal round. Güler averaged over three key passes per 90 minutes last season, one of the highest rates in Europe. And his combination with Mbappé was the most lethal partnership in La Liga and one of the best in all of Europe.
Through the first two matches, Mourinho has preferred Güler to Diomande on the right wing. And the Turkish phenom has not failed to produce, distributing 12 key passes in only 142 minutes, an exceptional 7.6 chances created per 90, with eight of those passes finding teammates inside the box. Güler is also a very willing and productive presser as demonstrated last season when he was first in pressure regains per 90 minutes in La Liga through the first three months of the season and finished second on the Madrid team in total pressures and third in pressures per 90.
Perhaps the best solution to where Bellingham and Güler should play on the pitch is something Xabi Alonso mentioned early last season although never truly developed, which is an interchanging of roles during each match. We have already seen this early this season with Madrid’s midfielders. For example, in the buildup to Madrid’s first goal against Real Sociedad, Güler dropped deeper to play in the double pivot with Valverde, while Bernardo Silva moved further up the pitch. In fact, the Portuguese player was the only other Madrid player inside the box when Mbappé scored. And as previously noted, Bellingham has dropped back deeper on the pitch on several occasions this season to participate in the build-up. What is clear is that the best Madrid team will have both Bellingham and Güler in the starting 11.
