Real Madrid: In defense of Lucas Vazquez
By Zach Hicks
Lucas Vazquez has been under some fire recently at Real Madrid, but the Spanish international is still a valuable piece of the puzzle and should remain at the club for years to come.
Let me tell you, I was not enthusiastic when I saw the starting wingers against Valencia were Marco Asensio and Lucas Vazquez. Toying with the lineup against Huesca is one thing, but Valencia has not lost since January and should be taken with the utmost seriousness.
There is no data that points to those two plus Karim Benzema being a valid attacking option against a team still alive in the Europa League and in the Copa del Rey final.
That is not to say that I dislike either Vazquez or Asensio, nor do I question their abilities, but the lack of incisiveness we saw in Wednesday’s fixture is exactly what happens when you start three forwards who are not lethal finishers. The display led many Madridistas on Twitter to call for the club to move on from the loyal servant this summer.
This would be an incredible mistake.
First of all, last year under Zidane, Lucas Vazquez was an elite creative forward in very consistent minutes. While he has struggled a bit this season under less than competent management, a man in his mid-20s who has been a valuable piece for years should not suddenly be thrown away when things go awry.
Second, Vazquez is the rare player who is good enough to start at a top level club but does not mind being a reserve at Real Madrid. Players like this are vital to a team’s success. Stars like James Rodriguez and, to a lesser extent, Alvaro Morata are not going to be happy on the second line for their entire careers.
Up and coming players like Álvaro Odriozola and Vinícius Júnior will either make it as starters here or move on to somewhere else. A truly good player who is willing to put the club ahead of himself needs to be given a longer leash.
I am not in any way proposing that I want Lucas Vazquez to be a starting winger for Real Madrid next fall, but I definitely want him to be part of the squad. Just look at his numbers last season under Zidane:
The xGBuildup90 and xGChain90 speak to his involvement in the buildup and creation of on the attacking end. The key pass and xA90 numbers are elite, and his dribbling work is solid. This is a very valuable piece to an attack, especially as a squad player and rotational piece.
In case you are not sufficiently impressed by that, here is the same radar put over top of Eden Hazard’s stats from last season.
I am not suggesting that Lucas is better than Eden Hazard. The simple fact that in Zidane’s system he is capable of performances that from raw data outperforms one of the most famous forwards on Earth tells us quite a lot.
Remember, this is only his attacking contributions and says nothing about his defensive work which we all know is well above average.
Without the stability of Zinedine Zidane at the helm, Vazquez has suffered tremendously. He is an absolute shell of his normal self this season, keep in mind only about 100 of these minutes have happened since Zidane returned.
I would encourage Real Madrid fans to trust (for now) that what we have seen this season is an aberration from the truly reliable club man we have grown to love over the last several years. This is a player that Zidane has shown he knows exactly how to use, and we should allow him to do so.
Real Madrid’s fanbase is notoriously ruthless, ready to cast a player off at the slightest down year or dip in form (as Benzema has experienced many times in his career) but the man who spun the ball on his finger before placing it down and coolly dispatching a penalty in the 2016 Champion’s League Final against Atletico Madrid deserves better than to be cast aside.
Next. Real Madrid: Where is Brahim Diaz?. dark
If you have found yourself doubting Lucas Vazquez in recent weeks, I urge you to reconsider. Given what he is capable of, and his willingness to come off the bench, he is simply too valuable to give up.
He is on his way to being the kind of club servant that the truly dedicated fans tell their children about for years to come, and he has earned the right to continue to forge that reputation as part of Los Blancos.