The Real Madrid player who gets disrespected despite shining in every big game

Real Madrid pulled off a perfect five out of five in arguably, the most difficult stretch of games in the new season. Moreover, four of those five wins have been clean-sheet victories, something that wasn’t expected of this transitioning defense. This series of performances increase my confidence for the upcoming Round of 16 clashes with PSG when Real is set to face their top transfer target Kylian Mbappe and their old nemesis Lionel Messi together.

Another thing that has stood out from these five very impressive victories is Real Madrid’s midfield. Not that, Real’s midfield wasn’t the best in Europe before these games. But, stretches as such just force us Madridistas to take our time and really, really appreciate what fine talent we have in the middle of the park in Real’s holy trinity of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, and Carlos Casemiro.

Luka Modric was sensational in El Derbi, he after all is just 36 years young and we can expect full throttle from our youngster in his seventh consecutive start for the club, isn’t it? However, Luka Modric, in my opinion, is the most recognized footballer within the three midfield giants of Real Madrid. As far as the discussion on Toni Kroos goes, just read my colleague Kevin’s article and understand how unfair the football world has been on Florentino Perez’s transfer of the century.

Now coming to Carlos Casemiro, the heart and soul of my argument here and also Real Madrid’s midfield in general. Casemiro in my opinion is a real-world representation of Madridismo; he stands for everything that Real Madrid stands for. It is difficult to find such a player every once in a while who’ll so brilliantly personify the club he plays for. He’s fiery, doesn’t step down a challenge ever, and does whatever is asked of him to cement three points every time he takes the pitch.

One stretch of bad form can never neutralize all the good work Casemiro does

Casemiro was evidently struggling for form in the first few games in the season. Let me better put it this way, he was craving a better partner in absence of Toni Kroos and these three are so used to playing with each other that not having one can impact their games. But, he wasn’t bad, he managed to get the job done. He made silly giveaways when playing it out from the back. And, the missing jigsaw piece was Kroos who so deliciously manages to make tight passes with Casemiro and Modric to evade opposition press and bring the ball out from the back.

That was the only complaint from Madridistas for Casemiro. Now coming to why he is a disrespected figure in football. Well, when you’re too good at something you do people will hate you. And, it’s been the same with Casemiro. He is known for stretching the laws of the game and playing on the very edge. In the game against La Real when he was one yellow card away from being ruled out for El Derbi, there wasn’t any visible difference in his gameplay.

Let the world say whatever it wants, Madridistas love their workhorse. He is what Madridismo really is. He never shies away from saying what needs to be said, he is not afraid of playing on the very edge and taking risks. If that’s not what Real Madrid as a club stands for then I must have read the club of my life wrong. We are all about taking the challenge back to the challenger and going all-in at everything we do.

He is disrespected by all because he does so much more than just playing football on the pitch. He plays mind games with both the referee and the opposition players, drives them crazy, gets away with crazy challenges, and keeps surviving on the very edge until those three points are guaranteed and the last whistle is blasted. That’s who Casemiro is, hate him all you want but in the end, all other fandoms hope they had a player like him in the middle of the field to manipulate the minds of match officials and control the play in all ways imaginable.

And to conclude it all, Casemiro is also not all about mind games. He is blessed with an exceptional skill set. He is nearing an average match rating of 7.2 in both LaLiga and the Champions League, per WhoScored. And, that is after going through that bad stretch of form I talked about. He is averaging an impressive 2.8 tackles per game, has three assists to his name, averages 5.2 in longballs, and his passing stands at an accuracy of almost 90%. Casemiro is an absolute gem and an asset to Real Madrid. He is 29 right now and I see him as one of the future captains of the world’s biggest football club. Where’s the lie?