A number of Real Madrid stars have struggled for form after the World Cup break. Unsurprisingly, Los Blancos have been on a bad run as a result. They lost the Spanish Super Cup final and also find themselves eight points behind Barcelona in the La Liga title race. Thus, if they are to have a successful campaign, some players need to turn things around quickly. Federico Valverde certainly falls under that category.
The Uruguayan midfielder had been absolutely world-class in the first half of the season. He was one of the main reasons behind Real Madrid’s brilliant start to the campaign.
Valverde was scoring from distance in almost every game for a period of time and his overall play had been superb as well. Thus, many felt that he had taken the next step and was amongst the best midfielders on the planet.
Unfortunately, Valverde’s form has taken a major downturn after the World Cup and now, many are questioning whether he should be dropped from the starting XI. That’s how quickly things can change in football.
Real Madrid star explains bad form after World Cup
As reported by 90min, Valverde was asked if he could explain his downturn in form, and he said to the media:
"“The World Cup affected me.“When you go for a goal, you have such illusion and optimism that everything will go well with your country, you go with the dream of a child representing millions of people to try to go as far as possible and fighting to win, not being able to do it makes you sad. Everything we work on seems to have been of no use and it hurts.”"
Uruguay were surprisingly knocked out of the group stages of the World Cup, with Portugal and South Korea making it through.
A lot was expected from Valverde coming into the competition, after his brilliant run of form for Real Madrid. But unfortunately, he was not quite able to meet them. He neither scored nor assisted in the three matches that he played at the World Cup.
It certainly seems to have taken a toll on Valverde’s performances after the World Cup and one can only hope that he is able to rediscover his best soon.