The Real Champs
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Real Madrid: 5 takeaways from a brilliant comeback win over Valencia

By Hridyam Arora

VALENCIA, SPAIN - 2021/09/19: Vinicius Jose Paixao De Oliveira Junior of Real Madrid seen in action during the Spanish La Liga, football match between Valencia CF and Real Madrid at Mestalla stadium in Valencia.(Final score; Valencia CF 1:2 Real Madrid). (Photo by Xisco Navarro/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
VALENCIA, SPAIN - 2021/09/19: Vinicius Jose Paixao De Oliveira Junior of Real Madrid seen in action during the Spanish La Liga, football match between Valencia CF and Real Madrid at Mestalla stadium in Valencia.(Final score; Valencia CF 1:2 Real Madrid). (Photo by Xisco Navarro/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) /
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VALENCIA, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 19: Carlos Henrique Casemiro of Real Madrid in action during the La Liga Santander match between Valencia CF and Real Madrid CF at Estadio Mestalla on September 19, 2021 in Valencia, Spain. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde Colomer/Getty Images)
VALENCIA, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 19: Carlos Henrique Casemiro of Real Madrid in action during the La Liga Santander match between Valencia CF and Real Madrid CF at Estadio Mestalla on September 19, 2021 in Valencia, Spain. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde Colomer/Getty Images) /

Casemiro’s struggles could’ve cost Real Madrid the game

I’m a fan of Casemiro. I think he’s a fantastic defensive presence, and Real Madrid are lucky to have a player like him in their squad. But sometimes, Casemiro is the one person that stresses me out the most during a Real Madrid game.

There are so many good things you can say about Casemiro, and for the most part, you’d be right. But he’s a liability with the ball, and Ancelotti needs to realise that. He’s an even bigger liability when it’s against a team with a very high press. For example, against Valencia on Sunday, or against Manchester City in 2019-20’s Champions League, or on so many other occasions.

Zidane used to send Casemiro forward and have him act as a decoy, or a presence inside the box. But, doing that now would mean Ancelotti sacrifices even more on the defensive end. So the Brazilian’s just sort of everywhere, and when he’s struggling, you can see that on every single zone of the pitch.

Casemiro had a terrible game. There were sequences in the defensive third where he just gave the ball away carelessly on many occasions. He took many shots from outside the box, none of which was good enough to threaten Valencia’s goal, and it ultimately resulted in giving away possession. There are two midfielders operating when there’s a high press against Real Madrid. Usually, Kroos is there, but he wasn’t against Valencia. All creative responsibilities fell on Modric’s shoulders, as Valverde was a bit more explosive and a little less creative. You can’t trust Casemiro to do all that much when his weaknesses are shelled out by teams that target him as the main source of ball retrieval.

Once Ancelotti subbed him off, Real Madrid looked much better on the ball. Yes, they lost a ball-winning machine, but Camavinga was still on the pitch, and he was doing well defensively (he actually had more defensive contributions than Casemiro) as well as offensively. So, one option for Ancelotti is to play a double pivot of Camavinga with some other midfielder and have a creative hub operate in front of them. That would help with the defensive side, while also not losing out on the offensive side.

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