Made some crucial saves in Dortmund.
Iker Casillas | Leaving Madrid
- Thread starter Amar__
- Start date
Yeah as Bestie said he kept them in it against Dortmund in the second leg. It was basically their attack against Casillas, they were walking past Xabi Alonso and Ramos but he made some fantastic saves. Made some outstanding saves against Juventus in the group stages too, and basically didn't have a bad game (Copa del Rey included) until the CL final.
He should be number 1 again because a few poor games recently doesn't change the fact he's a better keeper than Diego López who is overrated as feck.
He should be number 1 again because a few poor games recently doesn't change the fact he's a better keeper than Diego López who is overrated as feck.
Eh? I'm talking about Real Madrid.
For Spain, David de Gea should take over as first choice after the World Cup.
As you were then...
Not that hard to be smart about it beforehand. Two managers in succession have benched Casillas at RM. There is no justification for picking players like Casillas and Torres who have warmed the bench for two years now when they have a plethora of top class alternatives.
Del Bosque should have been saying long ago that they need to find clubs to play regularly for if they want to go to the world cup. Instead, he basically told them they can do whatever for two years and still picked.
Well he played through the WC qualifiers and was their captain.. And is only 33! He was their nr 1 and should have started. But after that horror show in the opener he should have been benched!
Uh oh...
What has happened to Casillas? Is it just a natural decline?
He's no longer an elite goalkeeper - his positioning is average and he looks too fragile to have as first-choice.
What has happened to Casillas? Is it just a natural decline?
He's no longer an elite goalkeeper - his positioning is average and he looks too fragile to have as first-choice.
Lack of playing time, and I imagine a huge dent in confidence, happens to even the best. Casillas has played very little over the last two years, especially for a player of his calibre. Showed flashes of brilliance (among an abundance of mistakes), looked well out of sorts in Brazil.
He needs to move away from Real, would still walk into a number of Europe's finest first teams.
He needs to move away from Real, would still walk into a number of Europe's finest first teams.
Didn't Real sign that new GK to be first choice?
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I honestly don't think confidence affects a goalkeeper's ability as much as it does an outfield player's. They don't have to 'try' things like taking on players or going for goal, which an outfield player wouldn't do if low on confidence. I'm not saying keepers have it stress free but even if Casillas is low on confidence it's due to his natural decline in my opinion.
Harder for a goalkeeper to impress than an outfield player, start over thinking things rather than playing it simple, see Casillas's mistake vs Holland. Jose dropped him and Ancelotti didn't reinstate him, that's a huge blow
I assumed his deterioration in form (that was already well underway when Mourinho dropped him) was down to him being primarily a "reflex" keeper. He was getting older and according to Mourinho he wasn't training hard enough to maintain his agility, and didn't have enough other positional strengths to make up for it.
However, as the Dortmund match and some of Madrid's other cup games showed, a lot of his reflex save ability came back - he admits himself he had to train hard to do that.
This run of errors he's in now though, it seems like a mental issue. Maybe too much pressure for too long? Maybe the strain of fighting to be first choice? Maybe his mind's elsewhere, on his wife and baby perhaps? Whatever started it, I think his confidence has collapsed. All keepers make mistakes, the difference between the good and the great is how they respond and whether they let it affect their performance, in that game, or in the next one.
He's getting a rough ride in the Madrid press today. Even previously loyal journalists are saying that he can't be first choice keeper any more. Even previously loyal fans are saying that he deserves a nice well-paid, low pressure job (like Monaco) rather than the risking losing his legend status at Madrid.
However, as the Dortmund match and some of Madrid's other cup games showed, a lot of his reflex save ability came back - he admits himself he had to train hard to do that.
This run of errors he's in now though, it seems like a mental issue. Maybe too much pressure for too long? Maybe the strain of fighting to be first choice? Maybe his mind's elsewhere, on his wife and baby perhaps? Whatever started it, I think his confidence has collapsed. All keepers make mistakes, the difference between the good and the great is how they respond and whether they let it affect their performance, in that game, or in the next one.
Not necessarily. VdS had a rough time at Juventus. He joined them as a world class 29 year old and two years later after errors and disappointments, he was out. He said his confidence was gone. He needed 4 years with Fulham to get back to his peak again. The rest, as they say, is history.
He's getting a rough ride in the Madrid press today. Even previously loyal journalists are saying that he can't be first choice keeper any more. Even previously loyal fans are saying that he deserves a nice well-paid, low pressure job (like Monaco) rather than the risking losing his legend status at Madrid.
If the decision - to retain Casillas or Diego López - was made purely on footballing reasons instead of dressing room politics, you would obviously keep López and sell Casillas. I think the treatment of López by Real Madrid has been poor - he has a fantastic attitude and has earned his first team position. Maybe with a stronger backing, Casillas' form will improve significantly, but his main weakness (dealing with crosses) is always going to be present within his game, and that's partly why he shouldn't be first choice IMO.
I love that there is an add for erectile disfunction on there. You could argue that the Madrid performance was a little limp.Uh oh...
What has happened to Casillas? Is it just a natural decline?
He's no longer an elite goalkeeper - his positioning is average and he looks too fragile to have as first-choice.
He (Diego López) isn't good enough to be first choice for a team like Real Madrid, in my view. He had a great 12 months (second half of 12/13 and first half of 13/14 but poor since then. He was very good at Villarreal for years but never quite at the level you'd expect a starting keeper of Real Madrid/Barcelona etc to be at.
Interestingly enough, Casillas actually claims more crosses per game than Diego López, so if that weakness is enough to stop Iker being good enough it also stops Diego López? Do agree that he has a problem dealing with crosses though.
For clarification, I don't believe López is good enough to be first choice goalkeeper either. You need to be intrepid when replacing a legendary goalkeeper. However, he's had some good consistent spells with Real Madrid, since he returned, like in 12/13 and some parts of last season. He earned his position as backup, and it makes Real Madrid's position in this deplorable. Casillas has been average for the past few years IMO. I was always in awe of his excellent reflex saves and never took into consideration other aspects of his game, until the game linked below. It doesn't bother me too much, I'm not a Real Madrid fan, and I expect Keylor Navas to be first choice anyway.
Casillas is well past his peak to the point where it's painful to watch him. But is he on a par with, say, Joe Hart? Probably.
i actually don't see a huge error on his part for the second goal... that looks mostly like cristiano's fault. i've noticed now three or four times, when cristiano needs to win a defensive header and he only has a standing jump, he's really not dominant in the air at all and i remember clearly an incident with the national team where cristiano had to mark a player, and there was a similar cross, a hard hit low trajectory cross from the opposite cornerflag, where cristiano basically missed the header even though it was straight at him and at a reachable height.. for that kind of a cross, there's nothing a goalkeeper can do, you can't blame casillas there in my view.
hell go rewatch cech anyways if you want to talk about another goalkeeper who has a world class reputation... but has a shocking weakness in crosses. Probably for cech its even more inexcusable since cech has a good 4-5 inches of height advantage compared to casillas (and probably a stone). cech has constantly been giving up at least 4-5 cross goals he should have easily controlled every season even in his prime since he's been at chelsea.. but no one cares since chelsea have been overall successful and have had one of the best defences in the league consistently and he 'wins' clean sheets plaudits each year.
Oh dear..Oh dear oh dear
Read the first page again and you'll feel better.
I don't see anything wrong with that goal conceded,it looked like it was expecting the ball to ricochet of the player in front of him only it didnt and it swerved to his left.
not sure whats more ridiculous, the standard of goalkeeping shown or you not seeing anything wrong with itPlease. Please. Be a joke.
Can't believe he still gets picked as there number 1.
How awful must De Gea feel to be benched for that load of shite.
Jesus
He wasn't at fault for that second goal they conceeded, but once again he looked so amateurish trying to save it, I chuckled. He doesn't even look like top keeper anymore even when when he is not making mistakes, he just looks past it.
What's the reason for his form dropping off so badly? He's just turned 33, that's not old in 'keeper terms. It's a shame, because it feels a bit like a legend becoming badly tainted.
Is this a joke? He should be saving that end of!! Even if he judged it wrong which he clearly has he should be using his legs instead of trying to get his hands into an unnatural position
There's two types of keepers really. There's your Edwin Van der Sar's who have excellent positioning and anticipation and can play forever. Then there's your reaction keepers with incredible agility and reactions such as Casillas and Given. These type of keepers tend to drop off quickly and much younger than the other type. Casillas downfall has been overblown in my opinion. Yes he's been poor for Spain recently but he wasn't as bad as made out last season for Real and for some strange reason Diego Alves developed some sort of incredible reputation despite probably being poorer than Casillas. His confidence is also totally gone now though.
I may well be wrong, but wasn't he only played in the cups for Real?
Exactly, the least you expect there is for Casillas to be in a position where if the ball hits him (by chance) then it stays out.
That's what Im saying.
He was, however any mistake he made was talked about massively whilst anything Alves did wrong just went under the radar.
Yeah, which is where they were successful last season - winning the Champions League and Copa del Rey while Diego López's poor form went unnoticed in the league and contributed to their poor campaign.
Casillas was fantastic last season apart from that mistake in the Champions League final. He was terrible in the World Cup though and been dodgy this season too (though still an improvement on his World Cup form).
Agree. Diego Alves is Valencia's keeper though
