With a sloppy start to the season, the Los Blancos are struggling in different competitions but Toni Kroos has been an important piece for Zidane’s puzzle.
Toni Kroos who has been consistent all these years for the club is still silently controlling the game for the squad. His recent performances have been astonishing. His pass accuracy and long ball abilities are amazing and helping Madrid create a good game ahead. This season Real Madrid had a lot of ups and downs but Kroos is at his best form once again.
Zidane’s problem this season has been injuries to some important players and of course Covid-19 and Kroos has been lucky that he hasn’t faced any major injuries this season. With so many injuries to vital players, Zidane used different tactics and played Kroos differently.
With multiple injuries and Covid-19 situations, certain players were out for some time. Defensive midfielder Casemiro was out for some time due to Covid-19. In that situation, Kroos Managed to cover his place. In the absence of Casemiro, he drops between the two center backs becoming a third center back. More like pseudo center back.
In the absence of Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, he became a distributor from the defense line. As we all know the ability of Ramos provides great passes from the backline to the wings. Kroos took his job in his absence and provided some great passes. Other center backs like Varane and Nacho are not ball-playing defenders.
Kroos playing as a pseudo center back helps Modric and Martin Ødegaard to operate in advanced areas of the pitch in the trio of them whenever they started the game. Modric still plays deep and creates chances while Ødegaard is advanced between the line. In the absence of Casemiro, this plan has worked for Zidane.
Kroos starts the move from the back and ignites the game completely. He starts the counter-attack and helps in the transition. It looks like his long ball abilities this season has developed a lot he hardly displaces them. Kroos controls the tempo of the game from the mid and it has always been him.
In the recent games against Sevilla, Mönchengladbach, and Madrid derby he played a very vital role for Zidane. He played all the game and managed to control it. It’s nice to see Kroos in top form ahead of important clashes ahead for Real Madrid and Zidane. Madrid made it to the last 16 of the champions league on the last game day. In the knockout stage, Kroos’s experience will matter a lot. Let’s see what we face ahead from here and how will Kroos and Madrid will deal with it.