TA: Real Madrid relies too much on Mbappe for goals. Rodrygo is creative but has too little playing time.

Mbappe has scored 18 goals in Real Madrid's 16 games this season, accounting for more than half of Real Madrid's total goals. The Athletic wrote an article about the inability of other Real Madrid players to score goals.

TA wrote↓

This international match day has given Real Madrid an opportunity to carefully consider the results of the two recent worrying games.

The first was a 0-1 away defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League, which reignited questions about Alonso's team in important games. This was followed by a 0-0 draw with Rayo Vallecano in La Liga. This was the first time since May 2023 that they failed to score in two consecutive games.

Mbappe has undoubtedly played a leading role, scoring 18 goals in 16 games. His goals accounted for nearly 53% of Real Madrid's total goals this season; at the same stage last season, Vinicius's goals accounted for the highest proportion, just over 28%, while Mbappe's goals accounted for 25%.

Under Alonso's coaching, Real Madrid's expected goals data is actually higher than last year, and the number of goals scored and non-penalty goals have also increased. However, despite an increase in touches and shots in the opposition penalty area, shot conversion rates have declined.

So, which forwards perform poorly in front of goal?

Vinicius (no goal in 6 games)

The 25-year-old Vinicius is Real Madrid's second scorer this season, scoring 5 goals, but due to the tense relationship with Alonso, he now seems to be in trouble and surrounded by controversy.

His last goal came against Villarreal on October 4, when he scored twice in that 3-1 victory. Since then, he has neither scored nor assisted in 6 consecutive games.

The conflict between Vinicius and the new coach is a hotly discussed topic every day inside and outside the club. He feels that Alonso has been unfair to him because he has only played in five of the 16 games so far this season and has been on the bench in three games.

In the second half of El Clasico in October, Vinicius reacted angrily when he was substituted. DAZN captured him saying, "I want to leave the team." Vinicius later issued a statement apologizing to "all Real Madrid fans" and also to his "team-mates, the club and the president", but did not mention Alonso.

Vinicius' contract extension has been put on hold and his current contract will last until 2027. His goals per 90 and expected goals per 90 minutes were slightly lower than the previous full season.

Bellingham (no goals in 2 games)

Do you still remember the scene when Bellingham first joined Real Madrid in 2023? Despite playing as a midfielder, he scored a career-high 23 goals in his debut season. His situation at the Bernabeu has changed a lot since then.

At the club level, Bellingham's performance this season has been inconsistent, but training ground sources pointed to his recovery from shoulder surgery as the reason for this situation. He underwent surgery after the Club World Cup in July and returned at the end of September. His initial return date was originally scheduled for October.

Bellingham still needs to return to form as soon as possible. Alonso trusted him and gave him a start against Atletico Madrid, his first game back since surgery, but after that 5-2 defeat, the coach put him on the bench for two consecutive games, and Bellingham was not satisfied with this.

He scored 3 goals, which appeared in three consecutive games against Juventus, Barcelona and Valencia in October. But he failed to score against Liverpool and Rayo Vallecano. Even so, his goals per 90 (0.41) and expected goals per 90 (0.5) are both higher than in all of last season, albeit in a very small sample size.

Alonso stated at several press conferences that he wanted Bellingham to play in midfield without losing his influence in the opponent's penalty area. Bellingham prefers to play in a more advanced position, as he was used by his previous coach Carlo Ancelotti. Since joining Real Madrid in 2023, Bellingham has mainly served as an attacking midfielder and also appeared on the left last season.

Due to surgery and his unstable state, he was not selected for Tuchel's squad for the September and October international match windows. He returned to England's squad for this month's World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania. He came on as a substitute for Rodgers in the first game and performed well, suggesting he could secure Tuchel's No. 10 spot at next summer's World Cup.

Mastantono (no goal in 6 games)

The 18-year-old Mastantono joined from River Plate this summer with a transfer fee of 63.2 million euros. Although he missed the past two games due to a groin injury, he is still the forward with the third most playing time this season, playing a total of 689 minutes. As for how long he will be out, there is still caution behind the scenes.

Real Madrid obviously has full confidence in him, after all, he is the team's most expensive signing this summer. He has shown some high-level performance and strong impact, but is still in the adaptation phase. He has scored just one goal in 12 games and provided one assist in the Champions League against Almaty, but his 3.3 shot creations per 90 minutes in La Liga only ranks eighth among Real Madrid.

Staff revealed that Mastantono has shown a rich personality since joining Real Madrid, has integrated well, and often jokes with his new teammates. They also said Alonso had asked Mastantono to pay more attention to his positioning, especially not to drop too far down the right wing.

He needs time to adapt, but his situation highlights Alonso's dilemma on the right, and he has never been able to find the key piece that can solve the problem.

Rodrigo (13 games without scoring)

The situation of 24-year-old Rodrigo is perhaps the most worrying.. He has not scored in an official match for Real Madrid since the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 on March 4. His last goal in La Liga dates back to January 19.

Rodrigo has only contributed 2 assists in 13 games this season, but in fact, under Alonso, he ranks first in La Liga in shot creation per 90 minutes with 7.24, surpassing Vinicius and Mbappe.

In his initial conversation with Alonso, he expressed his preference to play on the left, where he feels more comfortable, but where his compatriot Vinicius has already established himself. Rodrygo replaced Vinicius on the left in August, but has moved back to the right in recent weeks, his usual position.

Real Madrid and Alonso were willing to let him leave in the summer if a reasonable offer could be received, but despite interest from Premier League teams, such an offer did not ultimately materialize.

He is not satisfied with his role in the team, but those around him believe that he will not leave in the January transfer window.

Rodrigo's offensive data this season is very telling. In fact, he's taking more shots per 90 than last season (3.8 vs 2.6), but his expected goals against is 0.18, compared to 0.24 for the entire season last season. However, this is an extremely small sample size considering Rodrigo has only played the equivalent of four full games.

Brahim Dias (no goal in 6 games)

Brahim started four times this season and played in all but three games, which shows that Alonso attaches great importance to him as a practical rotation player.

The club also values ​​his level and attitude, and his contract extension is almost a foregone conclusion.

But Brahim did not have a significant impact on the offensive end. He only scored 1 goal and contributed 2 assists in the Champions League against Kairat Almaty. His average total shots per game is the same as last season (2.1), but his expected goals per 90 minutes has dropped to 0.18 from 0.36 last season.

Other options: Guler, Gonzalo and Endrick (a total of 18 games without scoring)

During the recent scoring drought, Guler showed his potential as a shooter. This season, he was moved back to the midfield position by Alonso and has scored 3 goals and 6 assists. However, the last time he scored was at the end of September, which means that he has not scored in 8 consecutive games.

Gonzalo Garcia, who came from youth training, impressed everyone in the Club World Cup and won the Golden Boot with 4 goals. This earned the 21-year-old Gonzalo a contract extension and promotion to Alonso's first team. But since then, he has made nine appearances, starting just once, and failed to score in 108 minutes of playing time.

Endrick returned from a muscle injury in mid-September. He played only 11 minutes under Alonso. If nothing else, he will be loaned to Lyon in January without a buyout clause.

The club disagrees with Alonso's handling of Endrick. Real Madrid paid Palmeiras 35 million euros to introduce him, plus 25 million euros in floating clauses, of which at least 12.5 million euros have been paid.