The first Galactico period for Real Madrid embarked an era of glory with the club earning staunch supporters for the policy. And it was only right. A Champions League title and two La Liga trophies in the first three years earmarked the success of Florentino Perez’s policy of signing star players.
However, a summer of bad decisions in 2003 meant that Real Madrid lost grip on what could have been a foundation of prolonged dominance.
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At first, the decision to not renew Vicente del Bosque’s contract bemused many stars. However, the worst part of it came a little later when Claude Makelele was sold off to Chelsea. It was a decision that baffled many, including current manager Zinedine Zidane.
The Frenchman went as far as to claim that buying David Beckham was like painting a Bentley with gold, but selling his compatriot was like removing the engine of the car. And ‘Zizou’ was right. A series of disastrous campaigns meant that Perez resigned and success—which was once in Real’s grasp—became a bygone memory of the past.
While it would be an exaggeration to claim that the Merengues’ failure was all down to selling Claude Makelele, it did play an important role. The “water-carrier” is definitely the most underappreciated role on the pitch, but perhaps the most important.
“It’s all very well having a great pianist playing but it’s no good if you haven’t got anyone to get the piano on the stage in the first place, otherwise the pianist would be standing there with no bloody piano to play.” – Ian Holloway on using defensive players in midfield.
A lot of holding midfielders came and went, but none could truly replace Makelele. The one who came the closest was Sami Khedira, and it was only fitting that he started the final that brought the highly coveted tenth Champions League title to Real Madrid.
The importance of Casemiro
After Real Madrid’s glory in 2014, Sami Khedira left the club on a free transfer to Juventus. However, what was even more inexplicable was the decision to sell Angel di Maria. The following year ended catastrophically as the Blancos failed to win any titles.
As a result, Ancelotti was sacked and then came the infamous Benitez era; which lasted only 6 months. In those 6 months, what became apparent was Casemiro’s importance to the team. Till date, Zinedine Zidane has lost only one game with the Brazilian in the starting line-up—against Wolfsburg in the first leg of last season’s quarter-final.
In fact, Zinedine Zidane has a 100% win record in La Liga with Casemiro in the starting XI. It is no coincidence that Real Madrid’s record-tying winning streak of 16 games in the league began when the French manager incorporated Casemiro to the starting XI after the Galacticos’ 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid at the Bernabeu.
The legendary French midfielder started his tenure with Casemiro as a backup to a fluid midfield of Kroos, Modric and Isco. This move backfired as opponents, seemingly, found it easy to breach the steel-less midfield of the Galacticos—and the aforementioned loss to the Rojiblancos all but confirmed the lack of bite, prompting Zidane to sacrifice creativity for effectiveness.
Right now, the situation is such that a starting XI without Casemiro is almost an inscrutable one. Indeed, Los Blancos have dropped points in only three games this season and all of them were when the Brazilian wasn’t hustling around in the midfield.
The irony of this conundrum is that Casemiro isn’t even a world class player in his role. In terms of technical ability, he is not even in the same league as the defenders of Real Madrid (barring Pepe).
But yet, he is perhaps the most essential cog in Zidane’s machine—the rather ‘ugly’ screw that holds the pieces together. He might make rash and reckless tackles, he might leave his position and venture mindlessly at times, but he does something no other Real Madrid can do: hustle.
His commitment to the cause is praiseworthy as well. The former Porto loanee won’t leave an inch of blade uncovered and will keep going till his lungs burst out. And that is the type of player the Madrid club lacked in their last three draws.
Real Madrid’s absurdness in the transfer market
Unfortunately, however, Zidane’s lack of activity in the summer transfer market meant that the Blancos failed to sign an adequate replacement for the Brazilian. What the Madrid hierarchy were thinking is anybody’s guess as expecting a player to avoid injury for a whole season was a stupid presumption in itself.
And that, in Holloway’s philosophy, a player who brings the piano on the stage for the world-class pianists to play.
With Casemiro out injured for almost a month now, the Merengues find themselves in a huge spot of bother. As it is, they have failed to win in all the three matches since Casemiro got injured. And if the matches hold any weight, the midfield of Madrid looks easily breakable.
