Toni Kroos - One for the future

The emergence of Gareth Bale to the heights of Ronaldo and Messi, the fine finishes of Lewandowski, the energy and skill of Gotze and the composure of the ‘undervalued’ Carrick have grabbed media attention all over Europe. Nobody except Michael Cox spoke about the most improved players of this season. For me, Toni Kroos has emerged as the most prolific young talent in Europe.

Toni Kroos, not a flamboyant player like South Americans, but one of Europe’s most intelligent players and probably one of the finest that Germany has produced since their classic failure in Euro 2000. A tactically sound player, Kroos possesses the ability to change his game according to the opposition’s tactics. He can play as a number 10 or a deep lying midfielder who can spread the play wisely.

In Bayern Munich’s victory over Madrid in the first leg of Champions League semi-final of the 2011-12 season, he gave one of his most impressive performances. He came deep into the midfield to collect the ball and stayed high up the pitch when Bayern had possession. That match proved to be a nightmare for Mourinho, who later on admitted that Madrid lost the match in midfield. It even brought about the signing of Luka Modric, who links the play between forwards and midfielders better than Ozil.

He was the centre of attraction during the Bayern Munich demolition of Arsenal in the away leg, scoring a wonderful goal and an assist to help Bayern reach the quarterfinals. He changed his style of play against Arsenal. Against Madrid, he was dropping deep but against Arsenal he played higher up the pitch and dropped deep only when Arsenal had long periods of possession.

Bayern’s dominance over Dortmund this season was largely because of Toni Kroos. Dortmund used the same tactic that they used earlier by pressing Schweinsteiger higher up the pitch right from the start of the game. This unsettles him and makes Munich look more like an ordinary side. But this season, Kroos played an important role in relieving pressure on Schweinsteiger. In the Champions league final, Bayern Munich missed Kroos badly. They needed him most during the early stages of the game when Reus and Lewandowski were pressing Schweinsteiger. Dortmund could’ve easily scored during their early period of domination and the result could have been very different. As Thomas Muller was not dropping deep, Heynckes had to change his tactics. He brought Robben into the centre and directed his players to play long balls which eventually led to glory.

Although Kroos’ contribution to this wonder team was largely neglected, his role in the future will be a genuine talking point.

Guardiola’s arrival and his admiration for Gotze can lead to a new role for Kroos in upcoming years. It will be interesting to watch how he will adapt, if he is deployed in a new role