“I’ve always stated that I can play on the wings; I just don’t enjoy playing as a nine, even though I have to for my club. I can go around more freely in Brazil.” Rodrygo used a lot of force during a news conference with his team. an expression of purpose.

Though he will play wherever the coach instructs him to, it is not difficult to deduce that he is not entirely at ease in his current position. It doesn’t seem like the right time to get fancy, as he is playing more minutes than ever before.

However, the question is whether Rodrygo has cause for grievances. It is clear from the most iconic stats that he is not performing up to par for a 9 as a forward. He only has one goal, which he scored against Athletic on August 12. Even though he is the La Liga player with the most shots, he has had a complete drought since then. Actually, only Mbappé, Rashford, and Boniface outperform him in the five big leagues.

He should score at least three goals because of his xG, or the caliber of the opportunities he creates. Rodrygo is getting his chances, the most coming from key positions within the area, but he is unable to connect with the target.

It appears that his inability to accurately adjust his shots is the issue. He has scored eight goals on target out of 21 that have not been blocked, nearly all of them, including his lone goal, have been extremely targeted.

He can’t hide due to his competitive mentality. And the fact that his friends do not search for him is a characteristic of him. He is typically the seventh player in the “Big 5” to receive the most advanced passes (91), which makes sense. He informs us that he serves as the team’s principal point of reference.

However, because Rodrygo is not a genuine nine, he often drops to the sides, particularly to the left, where it is more comfortable for him to start inward and look for the goal. This is the campaign’s heat map as of right now. In numerous games, he seemed ill-suited to be the center forward.

He’s been able to lean more on the left side because Vinicius wasn’t there at the beginning of the season. However, Rodrygo has had to concentrate harder on his position because his countryman is on the field, and even so, his presence within the area is not that of a nine.

Ancelotti has made an effort to provide him with the chance to be unrestricted while attacking. When he has mostly accompanied Joselu, he has also forced him to play as a second striker. Despite appearances to the contrary, he has actually performed this task for longer minutes in this role. Additionally, there is a noticeable difference in attacking performance.

Based on Smarterscout data, which assigns a score ranging from 0 to 99 based on how frequently a player executes a specific action in comparison to other players in their position, Rodrygo’s offensive output, including his ability to create shots, They are behind the La Liga forward average in terms of ball advancement even though they have a far higher amount of shots and catches in the opposition zone.

However, he performs and plays very differently when he serves as a second striker or a playmaker. A more offensive version is provided by Rodrygo. Despite slightly shifting his location, he even amplifies his shot volume and receives more receptions in the vicinity.

The profile of Rodrygo as a backup striker

He is capable of being a nine.Perhaps Rodrygo is just experiencing a bad run of luck. He participated in games as a center forward the previous season. He also had really good numbers. On the contrary. Using the Comparisonator platform’s data, we can easily compare them to the ones from this course and see the differences.

Rodrygo’s conundrum: is it better for him to play center forward?

He creates better opportunities and shoots more this season, but he doesn’t score more. He doesn’t even supply extra attacking tools like dribbles, assists, or crucial passes.

The fact that he is lacking a fundamental component—Karim Benzema—with whom he was familiar may hold the key. That has to be examined further.