Ass: After Arnold and Carvajal comeback, Alonso may be forced to adopt a five-guard system

Real Madrid new player Arnold celebrated his 27th birthday, but the Englishman's career has ushered in a complicated moment. The Ass talks about the situation of the English.

Since transferring from Liverpool to Real Madrid for 10 million euros a few months ago, injuries have affected Arnold's consecutive appearances. The England defender performed well in the Club World Cup and even contributed assists against Juventus and Dortmund. However, as the season progressed, he gradually lost his place in Alonso's tactical system. During the Club World Cup, Arnold started almost every game, but missed the semi-finals due to a right leg injury. At the time, he had few competitors as Carvajal was recovering from a torn cruciate ligament injury, while Vasquez was not in the head coach's plan.

The situation was different at the beginning of the season, with captain Carvajal quickly returning to his best form and Arnold had to rotate with him. In five official games, the latter played only 156 minutes (34.7% of the total time), reflecting his decline in position on the team. He will be out for six to eight weeks when a new muscle injury haunts him again.

However, Carvajal's new injury may reopen the door for the former Liverpool defender. Alonso hopes to gradually restore Arnold's form after international match day and decide how to integrate him into the starting lineup. The return of the two full-backs at the same time will bring difficulties to the head coach. Carvajal is still an important member, but Arnold's strength also forces Alonso to find a solution. One possibility is to change to a five-back system, but that means sacrificing other players like Mastantono or Dias.

Another option is to let Arnold play in the midfield, a position he has tried in the European Cup for the England national team. However, it seems that Alonso does not intend to adopt such a plan immediately. The Real Madrid coach needs to find the right balance to make the most of the English talent, both at full-back and wingback positions, especially at a critical period when Real Madrid hopes to consolidate their team structure and maintain a steady state.