It really makes you wonder... what did Mourinho do wrong? He figured it out before everybody else, yet still he got the short end of the stick. In the end, Mourinho was right about benching Casillas.
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It really makes you wonder... what did Mourinho do wrong? He figured it out before everybody else, yet still he got the short end of the stick. In the end, Mourinho was right about benching Casillas.
Now, the author has indeed missed the fact that Casillas was the third-best keeper in Europe this season (statistically) behind only Thibaut Courtois (2nd) and Manuel Neuer (3rd). His mistake in the Champions League final came after impeccable performances in the Copa and the CL.
In the CL, Casillas had conceded 11 goals in 14 matches, keeping 4 clean sheets. In the Copa, Casillas conceded 1 goal in 9 matches, keeping 8 clean sheets.
That totals to 12 clean sheets in 20 games, and 12 goals conceded in 20 games. It's incredibly impressive, as Casillas is played a massive role in us winning both those trophies. However, his mistakes in the World Cup cannot be forgotten that easily. Forgiven, yes, but not forgotten.
@Ven
Again, I have to repeat this 20 times over to Chelsea fans here, Mourinho benched Casillas for Adan. Adan conceded 3 goals in his first start for Madrid, and got sent off in his second start. Lopez was bought only after Casillas broke his hand, after which he had impeccable form (12 clean sheets and 12 goals conceded from 20 matches). Casillas was benched not for footballing reasons, but for personal reasons. That's where Mourinho went wrong.
@Ven
Again, I have to repeat this 20 times over to Chelsea fans here, Mourinho benched Casillas for Adan. Adan conceded 3 goals in his first start for Madrid, and got sent off in his second start. Lopez was bought only after Casillas broke his hand, after which he had impeccable form (12 clean sheets and 12 goals conceded from 20 matches).
Statistically speaking, yes, but from what I've seen of Casillas this season, his defense has saved his as.s quite a bit before. When it is all down to him, he can become terribly inconsistent.
Terribly inconsistent? Maybe you should watch this video and reconsider your opinion.
@Dynastian: For what? 2-3 matches before the winter transfer window? Now I'm no Mourinho expert nor am I a close friend, but the chances that he was going to find a replacement in the market whether Casillas broke his hand or not is very high. If Casillas wasn't benched for footballing reasons then it's safe to assume the same can be said about Carlo Ancelotti, right? Why isn't he getting sh*t on by the Spanish media and Spanish NT?
@Dynastian: For what? 2-3 matches before the winter transfer window? Now I'm no Mourinho expert nor am I a close friend, but the chances that he was going to find a replacement in the market whether Casillas broke his hand or not is very high.
@Dynastian: Sorry, I can't see the video. Can you give me the link?
@Vendetta
Do you really think so? Because Casillas was starting regularly, and Mourinho stated his intention of buying a new keeper only after Casillas broke his hand against Valencia. He knew he could rely on Iker, but not on Adan. Neither of us are Mourinho experts, but you are an expert on Chelsea, and myself on Madrid.
@Vendetta
Do you really think so? Because Casillas was starting regularly, and Mourinho stated his intention of buying a new keeper only after Casillas broke his hand against Valencia. He knew he could rely on Iker, but not on Adan. Neither of us are Mourinho experts, but you are an expert on Chelsea, and myself on Madrid.
I just saw the video. For a '2013' video, a majority of the saves come from two matches against Juve and Galatasaray and that one match against the blue team and one against Schalke (I think). Some were really good saves, but some of those could have been stopped by any decent keeper and he also had his defense covering/saving him in a couple of those saves in the same matches. He's good yes, I never said he wasn't, but he has become inconsistent. Far from the San Iker we saw 4 years ago.
@Vendetta
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a video that had his saves from all season long. Whenever we've needed him this season, he's been there for us. Being the third best keeper in Europe (not just statistically, but based on performances too) is something else. He hasn't become inconsistent. Inconsistent was Iker in 2011-12. 2012-13 Iker was consistently average, and 2013-14 Iker has been consistently amazing. People pounce on him from just his one mistake in the CL final, and his poor World Cup.
@Vendetta "Mourinho was right about benching Casillas." Ha ha ha! If you remember, he played Antonio Adan instead of Casillas (because he had something personal against Casillas). He's probably the shittest player that has worn Real Madrid shirt, ask any Real Madrid fan. I remember watching RMA matches with my mates who support RMA. It was absolute hilarious how bad Adan was. Nope, it wasn't "genius" from Mourinho to drop, it was just personal hate, which I don't understand like I said before. I bet that this ended up dropping Casillas' confidence to zero, I think everyone knows that Casillas was top 3 GK in the world, for some ppl the best back then.
Just want to remind that because of Mourinho, the pressing room was totally split. And Mourinho didn't leave because he was too good for RMA, he left because the whole spanish press and the RMA players were against him.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2135502-iker-casillas-quickly-approaching-a-sad-ending-to-his-real-madrid-career
Article by Tim Collins
Amid a flurry of summer transfer activity at the Santiago Bernabeu, reports casting doubt over Iker Casillas' future atReal Madrid are arriving on a seemingly daily basis.
Sadly, almost cruelly, it's hard to know which of the reported angles is worse for the once-revered Spaniard.
According to Marca, Los Blancos are closing in on a €10 million deal forLevante's Keylor Navas on a possible five-year contract, a move that would shift Casillas to third in line for the club's goalkeeping position, were the Spain captain and Diego Lopez to remain in Madrid. If murmurings from AS (h/t Football Espana) are to be believed, Casillas has a pact with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez that will allow him to leave on a free transfer in 2015. Conversely, El Confidencial report (as relayed by Jamie Bowman of theMirror) that the declining keeper is desperate to leave the Spanish capital and head to London to join Arsenal—a club looking to add experience and competition to the squad's goalkeeping stocks to fast-track the development of Wojciech Szczesny. Is this really what it has come to for a player who was once considered to be among the finest exponents of his art? Relegated to third place in his club's pecking order? Set for the ignominy of a free transfer? Ready to act as back-up to a 27-year-old? All while he's in—theoretically, at least—the prime years of a keeper's career in his early 30s?
Professional sport can be ruthless. Even to those who have reigned supreme.
Of course, understanding the rapidly approaching ending to his Real Madrid career is extremely straightforward.
Following two consecutive seasons of playing second-fiddle to Lopez at the Bernabeu, "San Iker" had his lingering deficiencies alarmingly exposed at this summer's World Cup in Brazil.
Having watched three already smashed past him, Casillas' gift to Robin van Persie for Netherlands' fourth goal in a 5-1 rout encapsulated the feeling of utter capitulation surrounding Spain's campaign in South America. Just a handful of days later, with his confidence shattered, the Spanish captain pulled the curtains down himself on La Roja's World Cup defence, punching a free-kick to the feet of Charles Aranguiz to allow Jorge Sampaoli's Chileans a decisive second goal. And those glaring mistakes had come on the back of his blunder that almost cost Los Blancos their 10th European title in the Champions League final against Atletico Madrid in May. What Jose Mourinho had first acknowledged 18 months earlier also became evident to Carlo Ancelotti, seeing Casillas pushed into a secondary role. Only Vicente del Bosque preferred to buck the trend and maintain his faith in the Spanish icon. La Roja's boss will be forced to follow suit now. In the search for consolation, Casillas can take heart from the fact that he's not alone in his situation.
East of Madrid in Barcelona, the keeper's long-time friend and Spain teammate, Xavi, is facing an equally lamentable conclusion to his career at his own boyhood club. Also recognised among the finest talents of his generation, the once-unrivalled playmaker could be set for a move Stateside to possibly join New York City.
Possessing a rare bond for two men from their respective cities, Casillas and Xavi are watching their careers mirror one another, sadly watching their supremacy fade after leading both their clubs and their nation to the pinnacle of the game. Curiously, it was only four years ago that Casillas stood as the pre-eminent goalkeeper in the sport.Dubbed the "saviour of Spanish football," by ESPN FC's Graham Hunter, the supreme shot-stopper had played a leading role in guiding Spain to the capture of the nation's greatest triumph—the 2010 World Cup. While Cesc Fabregas' penalty against Italy in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 has been recognised as a turning point for La Roja, Casillas' dramatic one-on-one save against Arjen Robben in the World Cup final two years later stands as perhaps the nation's most decisive footballing moment—an act that precluded Andres Iniesta's winner.
That peak feels incredibly distant now. Suddenly, the aura that once surrounded Casillas has dissolved. The qualities that saw him idolised in Madrid and across Spain appear to have been vanquished. Los Blancos fans will remember the precocious talent who lifted a Champions League trophy at just 19 years of age, capturing the imagination of Madridistas for a decade thereafter with his bold and extravagant style, sparkling reflexes and authoritative presence—all at the back of club football's most famous team.
"He's a phenomenon," Luis Aragones once said. Sadly, that phenomenon is approaching a rather undignified exit from the very goal he once made his own.