Arbeloa faces severe dilemma to reincorporate superstar midfielder into the starting XI
Arbeloa faces severe dilemma to reincorporate superstar midfielder into the starting XI Real Madrid’s final game before the international break was against Atletico Madrid and saw Jude Bellingham make his long-awaited return from injury on the night. The Englishman started on the bench against Los Rojiblancos and came on for the final 16 minutes of the game at the Santiago Bernabeu. His long-awaited return came after over a month and a half on the sidelines and he replaced Arda Guler on the night.
The big question now, however, is how he will slot back into the starting lineup. The plans in mind There is no doubt that Alvaro Arbeloa sees Bellingham as a guaranteed starter , but given the stability the team showed without him on the field, it becomes a serious dilemma as to who drops out for him to slot back in. As reported by MARCA , Arbeloa did not instate a traditional number 10 in Bellingham’s absence and shifted to a 4-3-3 with the attacking midfielder’s responsibility distributed between the likes of Arda Guler, Federico Valverde and Thiago Pitarch.
How will Arbeloa incorporate Jude Bellingham? (Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images) Kylian Mbappe’s concurrent return from injury likely means that Brahim Diaz will drop out of the lineup and the Frenchman will return to partner Vinicius Jr. in attack.
One option for Arbeloa, however, is also to replace Diaz with Bellingham so as not to disturb the midfield which has worked well in recent months, although it will require tactical tweaking to help the Englishman thrive in a role that is not typically his position. A second option, as Arbeloa said ahead of the derby, is to play Pitarch and Bellingham together on the field – something that is also complicated given how Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni are undroppable. In such a scenario, Arda Guler could be seen as a dispensable option and may make way for Bellingham in midfield.
That, however, would also be controversial. Arbeloa, thus, faces a major challenge in deciding where the Englishman fits in while also bringing Mbappe back to the lineup.