Vinicius Junior is reportedly blaming the tactics at Real Madrid for a ‘lack of attacking football’ and feels ‘bored’ in the system, despite Real actually being more attacking than last season.
It is little secret that Vinicius might not be especially happy at Real. His eyes made be wandering at the possibility of a lucrative move either to the Saudi Pro League or to another European juggernaut, with interest from both.
The latest suggestion that Vinicius isn’t happy came after he said “It’s always me, I’m leaving the team. I’m leaving, I’d better leave,” following his substitution in El Clasico.
The Brazilian superstar has since apologised for his outburst, though it’s believed his relationship with manager Xabi Alonso remains fractured.
Now, an insider account on X has revealed Vinicius is ‘blaming the tactics for lack of attacking football according to sources at Real Madrid.’
They continued: ‘The player feels ‘bored’ when playing in the current setup.’
Whether he is bored is another question, but one thing is for sure: Alonso’s system has actually increased attacking output.
So far this season in LaLiga, Real are having 7.55 shots on target per game on average, which is up from the 6.55 they averaged last season.
In the Champions League, it’s the same story – 9.75 shots on target per game is a marked increase from 6.21 last term.
For Vinicius himself, things have even improved. The Brazilian is having 1.4 shots on target per game in LaLiga this season from 2.7 total shots, per SofaScore.
In the league last season, he had 0.9 shots on target from 2.7 total shots.
In the Champions League, however, Vinicius is not finding himself quite as effective, with his shots on target in the competition dropping by one per game, from 1.5 to 0.5.
On the whole, though, Vinicius’ apparent blaming of the system is unfounded, and might speak to his desire to jump ship after the problems he has had with Alonso.
It has recently been suggested that Manchester City would like to take him to the Etihad and have therefore asked him not to sign a new contract with Real so that they can land him.
Vinicius is under contract until 2027, so in the coming summer he’d surely become cheaper, and would then be able to move for free the following year if he remains at Real until then.
READ MORE: Man City ‘ask’ Vinicius Junior to snub any new deal amid reports Real Madrid ‘plan to sell’