If you crack open FourFourTwo’s recent January 2014 issue and skim through the table of contents, you’ll discover that their annual ‘Top 100 Players in the World’ article is out, up for debate as always. However, upon further inspection on page 80 it’s apparent that there is no #100. Curiously, the publication deems two players inseparable. Whether it was for true footballing reasons or an act to keep their hand out of the fire from such a heated debate, Real Madrid’s two shot stoppers Iker Casillas and Diego López can’t be severed according to the magazine that protected their views by comparing their decision to that of Carlo Ancelotti. Casillas and López, like Real’s starting spot, were to share number 99.
Capitán of arguably the world’s most famous club, Madrid icon, Iker Casillas, hasn’t played a league match in over year now. He may have Mourinho to thank for that, but despite his dwindling career minutes, the living legend is still seeing ink dedicated to his name on Spain’s sports pages. Following this week’s Copa Del Rey quarterfinal first leg at Espanyol, the old guard of Madrid’s posts struck the tune of records being broken yet again. Spain’s World Cup winning skipper surpassed his own personal benchmark of minutes without conceding by bumping the figure from 520 to 592 in Barcelona on Tuesday.
With Madrid holding a waning candle to the sky, a measly one-goal lead, San Iker was called upon to save the day in the wake of defensive hiccup by los blancos. Jhon Córdoba slipped in behind Real’s back line unnoticed in the dimming moments of the match. Iker, quick off his line, came toe to toe with the young Colombian heroically taking his effort in the body to preserve Madrid’s clean sheet and ultimately the win. “San Iker” was the hymn of choice from madridista support as Carlo Ancelotti’s men walked off the pitch at Cornellà-El Prat victorious and the call of praise was echoed in the press the next morning. Javier Aguirre, Espanyol’s manager, stated that the breakaway save was reminiscent of Casillas’ famous halt to keep Arjen Robben out in the 2010 World Cup final in South Africa. Not quite, but it didn’t go unseen by any means.
According to respected Real Madrid Twitter account @realmadridplace, in the 112-year history of the Copa del Rey, there has never been a goalkeeper who hasn’t conceded in the first five matches until now. The records again bow to Iker. At the time that the aforementioned FourFourTwo piece was written, Casillas also boasted the best save percentage of all the goalkeepers to appear more than five times in the Champions League this season, 80.95%.
Yet, despite all the plaudits and worship to the hands of Casillas, the majority of football fans know when Madrid trots out onto the Bernabéu’s manicured grass against Granada on Saturday for their next La Liga fixture, the goalkeeping shirt will read: Diego López 25. Carlo Ancelotti merely inherited the goalkeeping dilemma Mourinho gave birth to in the Spanish capital. Its dynamic is enigmatic to say the least. Whereas López plays the La Liga matches, the largest chunk of the season, the Copa del Rey games and Champions League outings are reserved for San Iker. At risk of sounding like everyone else, Madrid are ‘obsessed’ with winning their tenth European Cup, la décima, and the competition takes precedence over the others. In a close second place in terms of importance is the league, and subsequently the Copa del Rey falls in behind. So essentially Casillas slips on his gloves for the least and most important matches and Diego fastens his boots on for the majority of season. Puzzling, especially if Madrid pull off a heist to win this season’s domestic league title and the captain of the club, who hasn’t featured in the competition, lifts what would be Madrid’s 33rd league trophy.
Ever since the Special One’s proverbial dropping of Spain’s number one followed by the lack in playing due to Casillas’ hand injury a year ago, Europe’s mouthwatering monster clubs have been cutting each other in line to acquire a signature - but not just the scribble of Casillas but López as well. The larger European clubs are smart enough to realize how close the fight for competition is for the spot in the goalmouth at Real Madrid and understand that Ancelotti’s squad will not be pulling on threads to fill the position should they snatch either keeper. Simply just give one all the playing time, like a normal club. While Casillas has been courted by Premier League heavy weights, Diego López has been on the radar of some giants of the Italian game. Naturally, everyone has an opinion on it. Santi Cazorla, Spanish international has commented in the past week regarding his national team skipper.
“Casillas should try to play elsewhere,” was the Arsenal midfielder’s remark. Whether or not that was bait to reel the Spaniard to the Emirates seems irrelevant in light of recent answers from Iker himself, politically sound as always. After the Espanyol match Casillas spoke to the press, MARCA specifically:
"Please let's stop talking about my situation because even I'm bored of it!" he joked. "The coach makes the decisions and people should enjoy watching whoever he picks."
When questioned if he would be at Real Madrid next season, he replied simply, “Of course.”
It's probably not in Casillas' best interest to leave as is. Him and his girlfriend, Spanish television personality, Sara Crabonero have just recenty given birth to a child, Martín. Through social media, Casillas has already affirmed his newborn son's club membership to Real Madrid. As with any family, preparations for the baby's arrival were probably months in the planning and moving from Madrid would complicate Iker's personal life. It seems as if he's staying put. Let's move on and get back to the football.
Respectively, both Casillas and López have come up through Madrid’s youth set up to an extent but each brings different qualities to the goalkeeping art. Standing upright at 6’5” (1.96 m) López is a much more physical presence compared to the 6’1” (1.85 m) Casillas. Hence, Diego takes crosses at higher points, choosing to catch more often rather than punch as Iker tends to do more of. Though, quick for a big man, López’s footwork doesn’t quite compare to Casillas on the other hand. On the note of footwork, the comment is not referring to each goalkeeper’s craftsmanship with the ball but rather their ability to position themselves adequately to produce the right save technically. Nonetheless, Casillas brings his experience and organization to the table, sporting a jacket of many decorated war medals from personal accolades to team triumphs at club and international levels. That’s big game mentality. His presence may not be as physical as López but his status in world football must do something for the Madrid back line who can say themselves “Iker Casillas is standing behind me.”
That being said, even if you wanted to give tilt the scale in Casillas’ favor, Diego López plays so well with every outing, that you can’t justify dropping him. He's made very few errors since being bought from Sevilla in last year's January market. He’s been just as solid. In fact the pair combined are yet to concede a goal in 2014. It may only be January but that’s seven matches straight including the PSG friendly in Doha. So who is to say Don Carlo’s competition rotational policy isn’t working? For the time being, both goalkeepers are happy and performing well, very well. Casillas is getting quality minutes at a high level in the Champions League and Copa del Rey’s more dire stages and defusing whether or not Vincente del Bosque should keep him as Spain’s first choice with Valdés in arguably in his best form and De Gea improving (if you turn a blind eye to the League Cup semifinal blunder to Sunderland). Either way, whether it be Ancelotti or del Bosque, they say the best kind of headache to have is in fact a selection headache.
