Militao, to the band
Back to the future. Because as many will know, Militao was originally a right back (of his 37 games with São Paulo , in 26 of them he was a winger). Galloping the right wing he was discovered by Porto , who glimpsed a talent and ‘fished’ him for Europe. In Do Dragao he began to combine the lime line with the center of the defense (32% of his games were wingers). But in Madrid there has been no color: he has played 107 games and of them, he has only been a winger in one (on March 8, 2020, in a 2-1 defeat against Betis , shortly before the quarantine). That night he disappointed and Ancelotti, when he has had emergencies, has opted for Lucas Vázquez or even Rüdiger before him . But Tite has not had an iota of doubts in this World Cup. Without left-backs, the coach had no choice but to move Danilo to the opposite band, which left the right hand for Dani Alves… or Militao. bingo . He chose the second: the madridista ran the band against Switzerland ( 1-0 ), South Korea ( 4-1 ) and Croatia ( eliminated on penalties ). His numbers boost him: he won 3.5 duels per game, had a 91% success rate in passes and 65% in centers. He can meet in the position.
Asensio, false nine?
Here’s a fervent debate. With his performance in the World Cup, he did not take root, but he did leave a certainty: Ancelotti saw something to put it there and, well, Luis Enrique must have seen the same thing to second his motion from him. Maybe mobility, maybe the ability to go down and shoot from afar, maybe his associative ability. Of course, he is not the gunpowder: as a false nine he has played eight games in his entire career and has only scored one goal (against Costa Rica, this World Cup). In the position he will contribute a lot, but numbers in hand, goals… no . This World Cup he has taken 2.5 shots per game (of which, only 0.5 have gone on goal), his passing accuracy has been 81% (a figure below average) and he has barely won 31% of duels. These are the numbers of a bet that, whether it approves or fails, two coaches have already carried out . Two; It cannot be a wild card, it is already a decision. His first time was at San Mamés: Madrid was eliminated from the last Cup with him as a reference. He did not repeat in the entire season, but the formula has come to the fore again in this one: he played a few minutes in the Clásico and in the derby . And from there, to Spain , where he has been false nine in the four World Cup games, the friendly against Jordan and before that, a defeat in the Nations against Switzerland ( 1-2 , which complicated everything and forced Braga to storm). He now returns to Madrid , with whom he ends his contract on June 30.Returns a… false nine?
