- Is Marc Cassado the next Marco Verratti?
- Similarities between Cassado and Verratti
- What is the best midfield combination for Barcelona
La Masia is famous for producing some of the finest football players in the last three decades. The Spanish football academy in Catalunya is popular for producing legends like Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi.
After a long hiatus of producing star players, fans and supporters of the Spanish football outfit have been yearning for the famous football academy to produce star players to replace departed club Icons like Xavi and Iniesta.
The club have brought in several midfielders in the past few years but none have managed to fit in quite well with the style of play at Barcelona. Marco Verratti was once called the missing piece in Barca’s midfield but a move for the Italian failed to materialize.
Many years have since gone by without Barcelona playing its mesmerizing signature style of play, but it appears the good old days are once again returning back to Spotify camp nou thanks to a crop of homegrown talents which include a prodigy called Marc Cassado.
Marc Cassado has won the hearts of many football lovers around the world with his impressive play since allowed to prove himself at the start of the campaign.
The Spanish under-21 player was only brought in as an understudy for Frank De Jong and fellow la Masia graduate, Marc Benal who were preferred first-choice Defensive midfielders by the coach.
Luck shone on Cassado to prove himself at the onset of the league campaign when preferred defensive midfielders, De Jong and Benal both suffered unfortunate injuries. The coach even looked to bring in a new midfielder and mulled the idea of signing Joshua Kimich from Bayern Munich.
A move for the Bayern star fell through with the German side not willing to sell such an important player and Hansi Flick was left with no other option than to make do with what he had at his disposal.
Cassado was allowed to prove himself and occupy the defensive midfield role for the meantime, at least before one of the preferred choice players returned from injury.
But the Spanish player grabbed the rare opportunity with both hands and made the DM role his own to lose. The young star has shone so impressively that De Jong and Marc Benal would find it difficult to regain the DM role from Cassado.
Marc Cassado’s Style of Play
Marc Cassado plays like a typical defensive midfielder who makes all the runs and makes it difficult for the opposition to get to his defence. He covers the length and breadth of the pitch to tackle his opponents and frustrate their attack.
Aside from his defensive duties, the midfielder also has some impressive technical abilities like eagle-eyed vision, long-range passes, impressive ball control and awareness of immediate surroundings.
Cassado often scans his surrounding areas and makes moves that open up space for his teammates. He has a great sense of positioning which is vital for a team like Barcelona. His positioning promotes cohesion in the team and makes it easy for the team to play as a unit.
The defensive midfielder has a very similar style to Marco Verratti who likes to hold on to possession while facilitating play for his teammates. Like the Italian, Cassado also has a great vision to assist his strikers with amazing goal-scoring opportunities.
How Barcelona Crumbled because of Verratti
After a glorious era that saw Barcelona dominate the Spanish league for years, under the guidance of midfield maestro, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, the Spanish team suffered a period of little or no success.
After Xavi got old and entered the twilight of his illustrious career, Barcelona brought in Ivan Rakitic to replace the departing club icon. But Rakitic plays an entirely different pattern of football and found it difficult to cover the lacuna created by Xavi’s absence.
The club scout then identified Marco Verratti as the Ideal Xavi’s replacement. Marco Verratti’s pattern of play is identical to those seen in La Masia and he was touted to fit in perfectly at Barca and get the team firing once again.
It was said that Messi even sanctioned a go-get Marco Verratti plea then because the Italian was in the form of his life. Barcelona approached PSG with an offer but the French team rebuffed their offers and stated categorically that the Marco Verratti was not for sale.
PSG had Leonardo da Silva as sporting director then and the man was in charge of the project at PSG. The Brazilian rejected the idea of losing his star player to Barcelona. Instead, he managed to convince Neymar to join PSG from Barcelona and when the deal went through, the project at Barcelona crumbled.
Barca endured years of trying to rebuild their project and get back to the days of old glory. They spent quite some fortune bringing in star players like Coutinho from Liverpool, Dembele from Borussia Dortmund, and Antoine Griezman from Athletico Madrid among other star names.
With these new players, the team only recorded a few domestic successes with no success in Europe.
But in recent years, the team has gone back to its template of promoting players from the club academic. La Masia academy graduates carry the club DNA and know how special it is to do the colours of the club.
Unlike the past few years, the current Barcelona team now constitutes many La Masia graduates like Marc Cassado, Lamine Yamal, Pau Curbasi and a few others who helping to rebuild the team and return the old glory days to Spotify Camp Nou
Competition in Barcelona Midfield
Barcelona currently boasts one of the most impressive midfield collections in Europe. The club midfield features players like Franke De Jong, Gavi, Pedri, Dani Olmo, Marc Cassado, Marc Bernal and Femin Lopez.
The coach recently opened up about the difficulty of trying to keep everyone happy. With Cassado in great form and De Jong back from injury, the coach would face a selection headache throughout the league campaign in the defensive midfield role.
Also, in attacking midfield, the coach faces a selection headache in who to make his first choice between a more established club favourite, Pedri and in-form new signing Dani Olmo who has slotted in seamlessly at Barcelona in his first season with the senior team
Femin Lopez, another attacking midfielder who is a product of La Masia is also doing his best to make his mark with the first team. Gavi and Marc Bernal would need to put in extraordinary performances to get game time when fully fit to play.
The days of beautiful football and lots of trophies in Spotify Camp might yet be upon us if the current crop of players at Barcelona keeps up with their form as the season progresses.