Carlo Ancelotti applying logic he learned for Roberto Baggio and Zinedine Zidane to Jude Bellingham

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has decided to shake things up at Valdebebas this summer, trying out a new formation, and if the early preseason friendlies are anything to go by, it is working. Much of that new 4-4-2 diamond system is centred around star signing Jude Bellingham playing at the tip of that diamond, and Marca point out that he has history with similar players.

Ancelotti has previously admitted to mistakes when he was coaching Parma, between 1996 and 1998, not using Roberto Baggio correctly.

“When I started coaching I had a clear idea and I didn’t adapt to the players I had. I had an experience at Parma, where Baggio wanted to play behind the striker and I didn’t change the system. He went to another team. And I made a mistake.”

“At Juventus, with Zidane, I began to understand that it is better to adapt to the players. The players have to feel comfortable in the system they play.”

It appears Bellingham very much is feeling comfortable in his new role early doors. He took the number 5 shirt because he admired Zinedine Zidane, but some of the sequences he has put together remind of the great Frenchman too.

While Zidane tended to operate on the left in a hybrid role at the Santiago Bernabeu, often he would be deployed as a number 10 to great effect with France, and he has always shown a goalscoring streak. Bellingham looks to be following in his footsteps, and not just with the number and shirt he is wearing.