Marc Casado: The Latest La Masia Gem Making a Name for Himself at Barcelona
The 2024 Barcelona summer window came with a lot of expectations. The great Catalan club had gone trophyless and this window had to be pivotal in resurrecting them especially with the recent departure and arrival of Xavi Hernandez and Hansi Flick respectively. The window especially needed a defensive midfielder.
Barcelona were linked to defensive midfielders like Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich and Amadou Onana but by the end of the window, they had signed none of them with Kimmich remaining in his last year of contract at Bayern and Onana leaving to a fellow Premier League team in Aston Villa instead.
This left the senior team no choice but to call upon the club’s great academy, La Masia to provide them with the defensive midfielders they need. The club took Marc Bernal and Marc Casado on their pre-season tour where both players greatly impressed.
Bernal, however, was higher up the pecking order and was Barcelona’s starting defensive midfielder until he sadly got an ACL injury that will keep him out for the rest of the season. With no other options to look at, Barcelona have to look within themselves and find that there is a defensive midfielder in waiting. The other one who impressed Flick during the tour. Marc Casado.
The 21-year old who captained the Barcelona Atletic side the previous season had to step up in the shoes that the great legendary midfielder Sergio Busquets had left behind to attempt to bring stability to the injury-riddled midfield. He made his first La Liga start of the season alongside Bernal against Valencia in matchday 1 but made his first start in place of him against Valladolid on the31st of August, 2024 in which Barcelona won by seven goals to nil.
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Interestingly, he did not have the best performance that day but afterwards, he seemed to adapt more easily. In the next game against Girona, he created a big chance, notched an assist and made six progressive passes while winning two of his three duels. Since then, he has easily been their go-to for the defensive midfielder role at the moment.
Casado has an array of skills at his disposal that make him a natural fit for that defensive midfielder role. He attributes his current performances to having Hansi Flick’s complete trust. He is always able to pick the right pass even in tight situations.
This does not make him risk averse however as he always wants to make the progressive passes, the one that bring Barcelona closer to goal whilst maintaining possession for the team and limiting the risk of turnovers or counter attacks by losing the ball in dangerous central areas.
The Spaniard ranks in the 92nd percentile for progressive passes for midfielders in La Liga this season with 7.9 progressive passes per 90. He also has a pass accuracy of 92% as well as 0.6 goal-creating actions from live ball passes every game from the deep role.
In possession, he is strong at passing into the pockets for the likes of Pedri, Dani Olmo and Pablo Torre. Despite the risks he takes with his positivity in passing and his responsibility in build up between the first and second phase, he is barely dispossessed.
An example of a match that shows this set of skills was against Getafe where he won seven of his ten duels, completed three of his three long balls, made eight progressive passes and made three tackles whilst having 91% passing accuracy. A wonderful display from the middle of the park, the heart of the Barcelona football operation. A talent like his would easily cost upwards of €45 million in the current transfer market — Barça got him for free.
As a midfielder, it is very important he has good timing to keep the game calm and he has thus far displayed his sense of ‘pausa’ in such games by delaying a second or two to attract the opposition and taking a quick touch to change his direction and play the pass to a better art of the field.
An example of this was displayed in his assist to Pedri against Girona as you can see from the images below where we can see him receiving the ball from Raphinha on his left foot, taking a touch to set himself properly on his right and playing a dashing through ball on to Pedri to finish, His talent is undeniable.
As the term ‘defensive midfielder’ implies, Casado is excellent at defensive work. In the 2024/25 LaLiga season so far, he ranks in the 99th percentile for tackles won per 90 in the attacking third (0.76) and also ranks high for tackles in the middle third with 1.5 per 90.
He also has a good rate for successfully tackling players who try to dribble him as he stops 54% of them. He is tenacious and even with a slightly less physical frame, he does not stop running or trying to make sure Barcelona has the ball. He wins an average of 3.9 duels every game.
Like every young midfielder, this academy gem also has a few flaws his game would need to iron out. Sometimes he shows much of himself to an attacker or might force passes he ordinarily would not be able to execute. His control of the ball in clustered areas and his ability to win second balls can also improve. However, the 21-year old has nothing to worry about as he can learn under the tutelage of Hansi Flick and the other senior midfielders at the club.
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Barcelona is mounting a serious challenge on all fronts and if they are to go through with it successfully, they would definitely need a healthy and on-form Marc Casado to help. With a rare mix of technique and stamina, Casado has the potential to dominate the center of the pitch for Barcelona for years to come. As he keeps growing and improving his skills, there’s no doubt he is destined to become a key midfielder for Barcelona and can be one of the best defensive midfielders in the world.
By: @princerequiem49
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Quality Sport Images / Getty Images