Mourinho finds new way to use Real Madrid star in Fiorentina friendly | OneFootball

Real Madrid were still without some of their most important players as they faced Fiorentina in their first friendly match of the summer, which ended in a 2-2 draw. Despite the absence of these players, the Merengue team still put on quite an encouraging performance.

However, Jose Mourinho still had to come up with innovative ideas to get the job done without these players. One of the most notable aspects of his lineup was the presence of both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Denzel Dumfries, two players who are expected to compete for the right-back spot going into the next season.

On paper, the Englishman played as a fullback, while the Dutchman was stationed farther ahead, more as a winger. However, once the game got going, it was apparent that even Trent’s role was not that of a traditional fullback.

As Diario AS has noted, he played as a fullback when defending, but when his team had the ball, he slotted in as an extra midfielder, and it looked like Mourinho was aiming to take advantage of his pinpoint passing from the midfield.

This approach resulted in a clear benefit for Real Madrid, as Trent put in a precise ball that Endrick received to score the first goal for his side. Only moments before that, Mourinho could be seen talking with the fullback, and one can see that the coach has some clear ideas on how to utilize the Englishman’s skillset.

Real Madrid are expected to land another midfielder, most likely Rodri Hernandez, to enhance the quality of passing options in their midfield. However, while it remains to be seen whether they will be able to land the Spaniard, it will not be surprising to see Trent Alexander-Arnold playing frequently in the midfield to help find and complete higher quality passes for his team.