ancient Real Madrid Goalkeeper Santiago Canizares has suggested Jose Mourinho solves his Vinicius Jr problem by using him as a replacement for number nine Kylian Mbappe.
Vinicius has missed Madrid’s last four league games after being sent off for pulling the hair of Villarreal’s Nathan Saliba. His suspension consisted of two games for the offense, and two more for his angry reaction to being sacked.
His absence has coincided with Madrid hitting top speed and heading into the international break on the back foot four consecutive league wins to climb to second place, three points behind Barcelona.
Vinicius has played in Champions League wins against Roma, RB Leipzig and AEK Athens – his ban only applies to domestic matches – but has struggled to make much of an impact.
And with his preferred spot on the left now occupied by summer signing Yan Diomande, Vinicius will struggle to find a way back into the starting eleven when Madrid resume their La Liga campaign at home to Celta Vigo on November 21.
Canizares, who played for Madrid between 1994 and 1998 before a long and successful career at Valencia, says the Brazil international should be used in a different role to the one he has played for most of his time in Spain.
He told COPE’s El Partidazo: “Now let’s see how it works. Vinicius is a player who obviously won’t go unnoticed, he (Mourinho) won’t put him out of the way and for me the solution is for him to play as number nine, for him to play like Mbappé (as a substitute).”
Vinicius’ return could see Real Madrid lose ‘good run’ – Canizares
Canizares says it is possible for Mbappe and Vinicius to play together, but that threatens to break the chemistry created by the Frenchman, Diomande and Arda Guler.
“The two of them on the field… the team can still win games, but they will no longer have the same identity, the same balance and the same good vibe,” added Canizares.
“A coach must do everything to have his players at the highest level, try different strategies, of play, of personal management. A bad player will always be a bad player, a very good player is a player who can have negative moments and leaves the door open to return to his usual situation.”
Canizares also believes that Vinicius needs to work harder to fit into the current structure of the team.
He added: “There is no simple solution to this. If he (Mourinho) is able to run Vinicius and integrate him into the team dynamic, I take my hat off to him.”