Real Madrid: 3 players who must do a better job in October

Not all Real Madrid players performed well for the first team in September which culminated with Los Blancos ending the month on a streak of two winless matches.

In spite of playing well for the duration of the month and grabbing tough away wins in Milan and Valencia, as well as featuring in goal fests at home versus Celta Vigo and Mallorca, Carlo Ancelotti is under a bit of early pressure as the boss with the last two results being winless affairs against Villarreal and Sheriff Tiraspol, respectively.

While he does command a lot of respect and fortunately for that reason, the fans are not as harsh on him as they would have been on someone else, the Italian’s tactics and squad selection was questioned over the course of the last week. October is the third month of the season and it will be expected that the squad improves, particularly in El Clasico in the third week of the month.

Over the course of the month, Real Madrid will play Espanyol, Shakhtar Donetsk, Barcelona, Osasuna, and Elche, and there will be an expectation from the fanbase that the club seals five wins out of five in all competitions, with particular onus on the squad to perform against Barca at Camp Nou and win for a third straight occasion in La Liga versus the Blaugrana.

Here are three players who must do better in October than they did in September for Madrid.

CASEMIRO

Casemiro is not in the best of form and September’s performances saw him come under the scanner with fans calling for Antonio Blanco or Eduardo Camavinga to play as the defensive midfielder. With that said, the fixtures against Shakhtar Donetsk and Barcelona, two outings which promise to be difficult will test the Brazilian international’s resolve as he targets a run of form.

While he has been fairly decent in the defensive third of the pitch, Casemiro comes under untenable pressure when he is on the ball and his dribbling and work rate on the ball leaves him wanting. Casemiro, unfortunately, is a frustrating sight when contributing offensively, even with his long shots which albeit successful on some occasions have not been too accurate lately.

He is definitely one of the more indispensable players at Real Madrid. That’s not because of his form, but because the other players on the roster don’t do as good a role as him in the defensive third. In that regard, Casemiro can surely consider himself lucky. It will be interesting to see how the 29-year-old copes with the pressure from the fans and if consistent minutes help him find his lost footings again for his and the team’s good.