Rodrygo: I don’t like playing like number 9, but I do it because I believe in Ancelotti

Rodrygo finally experienced some relief over the weekend. Since the beginning of the season, he has not been doing well at all and was often criticized, but the 2+2 record against Valencia has brought him back to form. However, at the Brazilian national team meeting, he admitted that he doesn’t quite have it at the tip of the attack.

Real Madrid changed their formation after the departure of Karim Benzema and the arrival of Jude Bellingham. It has switched from the classic 4-3-3 to a 4-3-1-2 on the diamond with the Englishman as a free agent.

The two most frequent strikers are Vinícius and Rodrygo, originally wingers. For Rodrygo, the season started well, he scored in the very first round at Bilbao, only after that came a big fast.

He waited two and a half months for another goal, and even three months for another in La Liga. Until this weekend’s game against Valencia, he had 12 games with a record of one goal and one assist.

A return to form was already signalled in the Champions League game against Braga, when Rodrygo scored a goal and assisted another. This weekend he was even more impressive. Real Madrid blasted Valencia 5-1 and the Brazilian was the star of the match, scoring two goals and assisting two more.

“Why did I not score for so long? I can’t blame anything else, I think it’s my fault. Yes, maybe the new position was a little bit difficult for me, it took me a while to adapt to it, but now the coach is giving me more freedom to move around the line and in the last few games it was visible. It’s a little bit difficult for me to play as a point forward, but if the coach believes in it, I will continue to play there,” Rodrygo told COPE.

Bad position

“The coach knows I don’t like to play as a pinch hitter, as a number nine. But I do it for the team and for the coach because I trust him,” the 22-year-old Brazilian added.

It is Carlo Ancelotti’s relationship with his charges that is the secret of the Italian’s success. The experienced coach is like a father to his players, as Rodrygo himself confirms.

“Yes, he is like my father, he is very important to me. At the beginning of the season, things were not going well for me, but he always helped me and I thank him for that,” the Real Madrid striker said.

Rodrygo is not the only one who doesn’t like the position he plays in. Ancelotti sends Eduardo Camavinga to left-back from time to time, the Frenchman has publicly admitted several times that he doesn’t like to play in that position, but for Ancelotti’s sake he will do it. This also shows the great relationship the Italian strategist has with his team.

Source: COPE