Real Madrid: Casemiro may not be “undroppable” under Ancelotti

Casemiro has been a mainstay in Real Madrid’s midfield for a few years now. His contribution to the team has not gone unnoticed, and he has quickly gone from being called a good defensive midfielder to one of the best in his position.

But he’s certainly not the ideal player for every coach, or for every system in the world. He certainly has his limitations — significant limitations — which make him a player whose abilities outweigh his shortcomings, rather than an all-round great defensive midfielder.

This wasn’t coming into play when Real Madrid had Zinedine Zidane. After all, he’s the coach that truly unleashed the best side of Casemiro, and helped him gain the confidence to turn into one of the best in the world. Zidane was there for the majority of the last five years, so his position wasn’t really in doubt. It might not even be in doubt now, as Carlo Ancelotti is a type of coach who’d make do with what he has, rather than ask for more.

The only reason I’m writing this article is to discuss his “fit” in Ancelotti’s system. I added quotation marks because, again, it might not even matter. The talent that he possesses makes him too good to be benched, even with those shortcomings, and Ancelotti might feel the same. But that doesn’t mean Casemiro’s status at Real Madrid will be the same as it was under Zidane. Maybe Ancelotti will go back to his old ways.

What kind of midfield did Ancelotti play during his first stint at Real Madrid?

Historically speaking, Carlo Ancelotti has been somewhat flexible with the kind of system he makes his teams play. He usually likes to go for one system (possession-based, attractive offensive football) but doesn’t mind changing it around depending on what kind of opposition he’s playing (See: the 4-0 humiliation of Bayern Munich in 2014, where he played pure counter-attacking football). So when it comes to midfielders, he usually looks for technical ability rather than raw power.

We obviously know his love for attacking midfielders in the lineup, and sitting behind them would usually be a press-resistant midfielder, who can pick out pockets of spaces in the flanks with ease. In his previous stint, Carlo had Xabi Alonso as a defensive midfielder, and his midfield trio of the Spaniard, with Modric and Di Maria in front of him, worked out perfectly.

Xabi left the next season, and Toni Kroos came in. Kroos has always been a playmaker. It doesn’t matter if he was playing as a central midfielder or in a more advanced position. He knew what was needed to be done. Ancelotti, however, played him behind two attacking midfielders, and it was surprisingly working out really well until the whole setup was run into the ground a bit too much.

Now, he does have Odegaard and Isco, at least for now, so if he wanted to try that out again, he can.

The same principle was followed throughout Ancelotti’s career. It just made me wonder if the real loser of the manager change is going to be Casemiro or not. He still has Toni Kroos (although he is a little older now) in his ranks. The club recently signed David Alaba, who can play as a defensive midfielder very well. He has Federico Valverde, who can form a double-pivot with any of the two midfielders mentioned above.

Casemiro may still end up starting over all of them because of his qualities (rightfully so), even though he’s not the type of midfielder that fits the profile for Ancelotti. But, I think it’s fair to say that the chances of Casemiro getting benched are higher than ever with Ancelotti’s appointment. That being said, there’s no midfielder than Casemiro at Real Madrid when it comes to proper defensive qualities, and I think that matters quite a bit.

Carlo has options available, and he might look for a change if things don’t pan out the way he wants them to. I don’t see Casemiro taking a drastic leap in press resistance and passing, so there is a vague chance that Casemiro may not be the first name on the Real Madrid team sheet this season. Time will tell.