Real Madrid: 5 burning questions from a 2-1 win over Elche

How damaging are Casemiro’s errors?

Casemiro did not actually have a bad day against Elche, but he did undermine a lot of his good work, which included four tackles and four interceptions, by making a horrible pass in his own defensive third that led to Elche’s late goal. The play ruined the clean sheet that Thibaut Courtois and the center backs were doing so well to keep, and it gave Elche hope of stealing a point from Madrid in front of their home fans.

Real Madrid held on, and part of that is thanks to Case. He redeemed himself with a blistering tackle that will go down as one of the most outrageous slide tackles of the season in any league. It even left him bloodied in the face.

But Madridistas still need to go back to the bad pass, because it wasn’t the first time Casemiro made an ill-advised short pass in that match. As accurate as he was with his longer passes (9 of 10, to be precise), he continues to struggle with the simpler stuff.

It’s been a running story for Casemiro. With Real Madrid hovering around top young midfielders like Aurelien Tchouameni even after signing Eduardo Camavinga, every Casemiro error will be analyzed closely by the technical staff.

Casemiro’s job should be safe. He does things defensively that no other defensive midfielder can. He is unique. But he is also of a dying breed in modern football in many ways. His proneness to passing errors in his own half are one of the negative ways in which he is a rarity at this level.