Long unable to express under potential despite the support of Zidane, Vinicius Junior explodes this season on the left side of Real Madrid.
The Brazilian winger has already scored 15 goals and delivered 10 assists in a season where his complementarity with Benzema works wonders.
The study is worth what it is worth.
On the eve of the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League between Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, the most expensive player in the world is not the one you think.
According to the Football Observatory, Kylian Mbappé's market value is estimated at 71.5 million euros.
At the end of the contract with PSG, the striker is outside the top 10 of a ranking dominated by Vinicius Jr (166 million euros).
It must be said that the Brazilian performs Christic miracles capable of justifying the sum.
His latest feat?
Having played two games – one with the Seleção, the other with Real – on February 2 and 3.
The prowess finds its limits in the fatigue of a young man who has so far not ceased to impress this season.
Let's stay on the mathematical stream.
15 goals, 10 assists and hundreds of kidneys scattered all over Spain, enough to fuel organ trafficking in the peninsula, all in 31 games.
“He is extraordinary, said Carlo Ancelotti about him after a victory against Sevilla in November.
He is a player who has something special in his feet, in his physique.
»
"Brother, don't play with him"
2021-2022 is already the Brazilian's best year at the Bernabeu, and it's only come close to being his first in Europe under Santiago Solari (2018-19).
Between the two ?
A painful crossing of the desert under Zidane embodied by the lunar sequence, at the end of October 2020, where Karim Benzema urges Ferland Mendy to boycott the former Flamengo at half-time of a C1 match against Monchengladbach.
" He does what he wants.
Brother, don't play with him!
My mother's life.
He plays against us.
“From this time also remains an old certainty of the guarantor of the editorial line of the sports service of
20 Minutes
(a certain JL), that of seeing Vinicius finish a little further in Madrid, on the side of Getafe, after several rotten seasons at the Real.
The genius.
🇪🇸 At halftime of the Real game, Benzema asks Ferland Mendy not to pass any more to one of their teammates (which could be Vinicius).
The video footage is here 👇
– RMC Sport (@RMCsport) October 28, 2020
Should we therefore blame Zizou for having sold off such a certain talent?
Francisco Javier Sánchez Palomares, editor-in-chief of the Madrid website La Galerna, refuses.
"The player we see, we owe it in part to the teaching of Zidane.
We can't accuse the Frenchman of not having counted on him, nor of not having supported him by spending a lot of time trying to improve his finishing in training.
We can, on the other hand, underline the incompatibility between too horizontal football and a player obsessed with the race towards the goal.
Omar Da Fonseca, who sees Vini evolve every weekend in La Liga from his chair as a consultant for beIN Sports, summarizes the idea:
“He's a player who goes very fast, he's a kind of gazelle with a lot of technique.
In Argentina they say that when these kind of players are young, they run faster than they think.
They go too fast for reflection.
»
“He makes efforts for the team”
It therefore needed a Carlo Ancelotti to calm the hyperactive kid and then restore his confidence, in particular by repositioning him on the left side.
“Vinicius on the left is one player, on the right he is another,” said Mauricinho, one of his former coaches at Flamengo, recently in a podcast.
Neymar also suffered from this in Barcelona.
On the right, Vinicius did not have the same performance.
Now he is more free on the side where he likes to play.
“What a pity that Kylian Mbappé is preparing to annex his territory in not even six months…
In the meantime, Ancelotti is reaping the fruits of his labor, and it looks like the Brazilian is exceeding his expectations, especially in terms of efficiency.
His pragmatism contrasts with the pile of bad choices to which the attacker had accustomed us.
"What surprises me about him is his ability to score goals [4.7 shots per goal against 10.2 under Zidane and 20.8 under Solari, according to ESPN].
His individual quality in one against one, we knew it, we knew that in dribbling and in speed, he was very strong.
But what surprises everyone is his ability to score, which he didn't have before.
Knowing how to be decisive when you don't have opportunities to shine in your strong point, one against one, is another step to becoming one of the best in the world.
Omar Da Fonseca also underlines Vini's excess of duties: “Now he has added the sacrificial side to his game. He comes back, he tackles, he makes an effort for the team.
»
Incubated by the demanding public of the Bernabeu
The detail is not insignificant, this resilience is, said the interested party to As last year, the reason why he has always been protected by the public of the Bernabeu, even at the lowest of his form.
When all the Madridistas in the Spanish media landscape were willing to include mother and father in addition to Vinicius in exchange for Kylian Mbappé, that same audience that banned Cristiano Ronaldo from playing half-games smoldered the youngster.
“I always try, and if I fall, I get up.
I think that's why.
I hope this relationship with the public will last for many years.
»
“The fans really appreciate this quality, abounds Sánchez Palomares.
A psychologically weak footballer who cannot overcome his mistakes cannot succeed at the Bernabéu.
Vinícius is very strong in this sense.
Moreover, the Madrid fan knows that Vinícius is one of those rare players who can win a game in a second.
»
That's probably a little less true in the absence of Benzema, on whom he seems dependent to shine.
Omar Da Fonseca.
“For the moment he is a player who moves you, a player of great actions.
But it must also become a player of great matches.
That's good, there's a Tuesday night that's worth its weight in peanuts.
And a priori, it will be necessary to get by with half a Karim, at best.
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Lionel Messi
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