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La Masia has developed a popularity for producing simple abilities who make a swift transition to Barcelona’s first crew. Gamers like Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi appeared destined for greatness from the beginning.
Nonetheless, many academy graduates take a much less direct path, typically flying underneath the radar. They need to overcome many extra obstacles and financial institution on Girl Luck’s generosity earlier than being heralded successful story.
Marc Casado is considered one of these gamers—somebody who has not acquired accolades on a silver platter however has steadily carved out his personal path to the highest.
After continuously being cold-shouldered final season regardless of the obtrusive absence of a defensive midfielder, it appeared unlikely that issues would take a flip for the higher this season.
Nevertheless, seizing each alternative with dedication, Casado has emerged as a transformative drive in Barcelona’s midfield underneath Hansi Flick.
Dominating the double-pivot
Casado showcased a number of encouraging indicators in the course of the pre-season, however his standout moments got here as a box-crasher with distinctive instincts for making late runs behind the opposition protection and working between the traces.
He firmly established himself as a final-phase participant, thriving off Marc Bernal’s management and orchestration of the sport.
So when Bernal bought injured, doubts emerged about Casado’s means to duplicate the position of an anchor. Thankfully, the nifty midfielder has dispelled these doubts with out breaking a sweat.
Casado celebrating with Pau Victor. (Photograph by Wealthy Storry/Getty Photos)
Even in essentially the most chaotic conditions, Casado’s means to keep up management from the double pivot has been stellar. Confronted with numerical disadvantages, his press resistance and ingenious first contact permits him to impose authority centrally.
The calls for on a defensive midfielder at Barcelona transcend merely controlling the crew’s tempo, as essential as that position could also be.
Casado has confirmed greater than able to ball-winning and reclaiming possession, main the season in profitable slide tackles (2.5), ranked forward of elite enforcers like Yves Bissouma, Hakan Calhanoglu, and Adam Wharton.
His sharp anticipation and completely timed tackles have successfully masked a lot of Barça’s out-of-possession vulnerabilities.
In any case, Casado’s eager understanding of positioning permits him to shut down areas fairly than gravitate towards the ball, making a extra compact midfield setup.
The prototype deep-lying playmaker
The facet of the 21-year-old’s recreation that has drawn essentially the most consideration in current matches has been his progressive passing.
Casado’s lengthy balls and cross-field diagonals allow the Catalans to swiftly change play, stretch opposition traces, and open area for advancing attackers.
Towards Bayern, he demonstrated this imaginative and prescient by releasing Raphinha into area with a pinpoint move, and in opposition to Actual Madrid delivering a dream through-ball to help Lewandowski.
Casado and Pau Cubarsi have fun Raphinha’s aim vs Bayern Munich. (Photograph by Pedro Salado/Getty Photos)
He earned his third consecutive help by taking part in supplier for Raphinha within the following recreation in opposition to Espanyol.
Barcelona can depend on him for the arduous, unglamorous work, but Casado can be able to delivering moments of finesse, typically threading incisive passes into the ultimate third.
His means to alleviate strain on Pedri not solely lightens the load but in addition enhances the Canary Islander’s fashion completely.
Given how successfully he pairs grit and charm, it’s not a stretch to label Casado as Barcelona’s blue-collar maestro, arguably each supervisor’s dream profile.
