Casemiro (28 years old) is irreplaceable. The statement is worth the same as praise and verification of a reality: Real Madrid does not have a natural replacement for its defensive midfielder. It is a deficit dragged for several seasons by the difficulty of finding someone with guarantees in the position and accentuated last summer with the departure of Marcos Llorente to Atlético for 30 million plus 5 in variables.
Real Madrid
- Spain
- News
- Statistics
Without anticipation of reinforcements (Camavinga will have to wait ...) for this market beyond the returns of Lunin, Odriozola and Odegaard, plus the unknown of what will happen with Ceballos, Casemiro's is the only position that will not be there again folded in the template. And that the Brazilian is one of the most demanded year after year: he is the third player with the most games (159) and minutes (13,235) of the Zidane era. And, in fact, in 2019-20 he was the footballer most used by the French coach: 4,081 minutes.
Fede Valverde, the most logical alternative
The absence of a second pivot to use requires juggling more than a day from the coach, who has to monitor both Casemiro's wear and his number of yellows, 13 in the past season. The cards, in addition to the absences due to accumulation, condition Case in the matches in which he is warned. In the last league, for example, Zizou had to reserve him at the Mestalla, where Madrid tied in the discount, so as not to run the risk of losing the Classic.
14
Casemiro
- Real Madrid
- Midfield player
- Brazil
- News
- Statistics
Against Valencia he was replaced by Fede Valverde, as in the visits of Athletic (in trivote) and Mallorca (accompanied by Modric). It seems the most logical solution for 2020-21, although the Uruguayan, when he has not acted as a box-to-box midfielder, has been relocated to the right wing. Modric does not meet the characteristics for the mission to oxygenate the Brazilian and Kroos already recognized his preference in 2018, when Lopetegui tested him there: "I am not a Casemiro." Well, without signings, Madrid has to go looking for one.
