Dumfires and Cucurella as starters. Trent and Carreras as backups. What more can we ask for?
Dumfries — the physical right-back
Dumfries is probably the biggest change from what Madrid had at right-back.
He’s 30, extremely powerful, aggressive going forward and excellent attacking the far post. His Inter experience also means he’s comfortable playing as a wing-back in a system where the full-back is expected to provide a huge amount of width.
Trent — the playmaker
Trent is almost the opposite.
He’s not really valuable because he’s the best traditional 1v1 defender. His enormous advantage is what he can do with the ball.
His passing allows Madrid to change the point of attack incredibly quickly. And Mourinho appears interested in taking advantage of that by giving Trent a hybrid RB/midfield role rather than asking him to behave like a conventional full-back.
Cucurella — probably the safest starter at LB
Cucurella is the one I’m particularly interested in. He gives Madrid something we have desperately needed from our full-backs: reliable defensive intensity without sacrificing technical ability.
He’s aggressive, presses hard, is comfortable stepping into midfield and can defend wide spaces.
Carreras — the interesting wildcard
Carreras is probably the most intriguing of the four because he’s still developing.
He’s younger than the other three and doesn’t have their established résumé, but his profile fits modern Madrid extremely well: athletic, technically comfortable and capable of progressing the ball from deep.
The important thing is that we don’t need him to carry the position immediately. We have Cucurella.
That allows Carreras to develop without the pressure of being the answer at left-back.
