Iker Casillas or David de Gea? Real Madrid goalkeeper under pressure

As Real Madrid continue to be linked with a summer move for Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, the pressure builds on club captain Iker Casillas ahead of the latest Madrid derby…

David de Gea called Iker Casillas “the best keeper in the world” in 2011. The respect was mutual. “He will soon be fighting for my place,” said Casillas at the time. “He's a great keeper. We have to take care of him because he is the future. He will pension us all off.” Four years on and it seems the Real Madrid and Spain No.1 was more right than he knew.

The reports of Real’s interest in bringing De Gea back to the Spanish capital simply won’t go away. Spanish journalist Josep Pedrerol even told TV channel La Sexta that a summer move had been agreed for the Manchester United goalkeeper whose contract has a little over a year left to run. “David de Gea is clear,” said Pedrerol. “He wants to be the Real Madrid goalkeeper.”

It’s just the latest issue that Casillas has had to deal with in what’s been a turbulent few years for the 33-year-old. The midweek Madrid derby against Atletico puts him back in the spotlight after being booed by the Bernabeu crowd on his previous Champions League appearance in the stadium against Schalke. It’s become a familiar phenomenon for the erstwhile ‘Saint Iker’.

When Jose Mourinho first dropped Casillas in December 2012 it was initially seen as Jose Mourinho playing politics, but when Diego Lopez established himself for an extended period of time the water was muddied. “He had nothing against Iker,” Lopez told Canal+ recently. “I wasn't his nanny boy. If my form dropped, so would I be.”

Crisis of confidence

The experience could have spurred Casillas on but instead the doubts about his waning form have remained, mushrooming into a full-blown crisis of confidence. The player even admitted in a FIFA interviewed that he “cried, suffered, felt bad and had nights where I slept little, if at all” during his absence from the starting line-up.

Carlo Ancelotti retained Lopez as his La Liga goalkeeper last season and, while Casillas did get the glory of La Decima, his performances were not wholly convincing. Indeed, he was fortunate to escape the blame in the Lisbon final when at fault for Diego Godin’s opener – a goal only cancelled out in the dying moments of normal time – and followed up with a dismal World Cup showing.

Error prone?

Iker Casillas is the only goalkeeper remaining in this year’s Champions League who has made an error leading to a goal in the competition this season.

According to Opta, Casillas is the only goalkeeper remaining in this year’s Champions League who has made an error leading to a goal. The comparison with De Gea is not favourable. In fact, Casillas has made more errors leading to shots in the last two Champions League seasons (20 games in total) than De Gea has made in his last 89 Premier League appearances dating back to 2012.

Reactive goalkeeper

It’s not all damning for Casillas. He actually boasts a superior save percentage to De Gea inside the box in those same competitions. “Casillas is at the moment and what he has perhaps always been: a very good reactive goalkeeper but not so good proactively,” Guillem Balague told Sky Sports earlier this season. It’s De Gea who has worked hard to turn himself into the more commanding keeper.

Casillas is at the moment and what he has perhaps always been: a very good reactive goalkeeper but not so good proactively.

Iker Casillas and David de Gea have been sharing goalkeeping duties for Spain

It all makes Casillas’s position in the Real Madrid goalmouth increasingly precarious. “There are no reasons to leave Real Madrid,” he told Marca in December. “I still want to win many titles with this jersey.” But with United boss Louis van Gaal refusing to rule out De Gea’s departure – “in football, everything is possible” – Casillas’s hopes could yet prove forlorn.

With Lopez having departed for Milan, Casillas is now battling against Keylor Navas, the man who beat Thibaut Courtois to last season’s La Liga goalkeeper of the year award. While Casillas recently went six weeks without a win, Navas played in the only victory that interspersed that sequence and following it up with another against Eibar earlier this month, keeping clean sheets on both occasions.

If that challenge is winnable, the threat of De Gea has the air of inevitability first forecast by Casillas all those years ago. Perhaps the template comes from the national team. Casillas’s misjudgement of a free-kick against Slovakia in October contributed to Spain’s first qualifying defeat in eight years and saw him dropped in favour of De ea – a move backed by 86 per cent of voters in a Marca poll.

Carlo Ancelotti should play Pepe in central midfield against Atletico Madrid, says Revista panel

The Madrid manager has some tactical decisions to make ahead of the game after both Gareth Bale and Luka Modric limped out of their 3-1 win against Malaga on Saturday.

To add to Ancelotti's worries, Karim Benzema is also a major doubt for Wednesday's match that is locked at 0-0 after the first-leg.

Javier Hernandez is expected to replace Benzema up front but the central midfield position alongside Toni Kroos is up for grabs with Asier Illarramendi and Sami Khedira, who have been used sparingly by Ancelotti this season, the obvious like-for-like replacements for Modric.

However, Balague thinks that Ancelotti will bring defender Pepe into midfield for the game to give more licence for Kroos, James and Isco to push forward. 

“Pepe played in central midfield against Barcelona in 2011 and they managed to draw the game when Jose Mourinho was playing three strong midfielders," he toldRevista de la Liga. 

"Carlo Ancelotti would like to play Sami Khedira but he has his mind on next season and not at Real Madrid. He doesn’t like Asier Illarramendi.

"What is the biggest danger provided from Atletico Madrid? Set-pieces. If you play Raphael Varane, who was brilliant last week, Sergio Ramos and Pepe, who sometimes plays in that position for Portugal, you have a solution.

“It would allow Kroos to play in his natural position and you finally have the chance to play a defensive midfielder with a defensive mentality – something that Kroos doesn’t have. You also have the ability to attack with James on the right, Isco on the left and Chicarito and Ronaldo up front.”

Graham Hunter was in agreement with Balague regarding the thought process behind playing Pepe, pointing to a previous example of when Ancelotti decided to play a defensive-minded player in midfield in an important game. 

He added: “The last time Real Madrid dominated Atletico was last season in the cup when Pepe, OK, played as a defender. But he came forward, scored goals and mixed in the midfield. Ancelotti also started Ramos in midfield last season in El Clasico – it’s within his repertoire.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's best quotes on Barcelona ahead of PSG visit

When former Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic made a goal-scoring return to the Nou Camp earlier this season he was asked whether he still had friends at his old club. “Yes, 90,000 and 22 on the field,” he said.

The PSG ace scored 21 goals in 41 games for Barcelona during the 2009/10 season before moving back to Italy with AC Milan but, since his departure, the Swede has had plenty to say about his short stay in Catalonia.

Ahead of PSG’s Champions League quarter-final second-leg trip to Spain on Tuesday, here is a selection of his best quotes on Barcelona…

“I had a dream to come to Barcelona. But afterwards I am thinking that maybe you should keep your dreams, instead of making it come true,”that was Ibrahimovic’s view, when asked about Gareth Bale’s big-money move to Real Madrid.

“It started well but then [Lionel] Messi started to talk. He wanted to play in the middle, not on the wing, so the system changed from 4-3-3 to 4-5-1. I was sacrificed and no longer had the freedom on the pitch I need to succeed.” Ibrahimovic pinpoints the moment his Barcelona career turned, in his autobiography ‘I am Zlatan’.

“You bought a Ferrari, but you drive it like a Fiat.” Pep Guardiola’s man management of the striker didn’t go down well with Ibrahimovic. But it wouldn’t be the only time he had strong words for the Barca boss…

“I yelled: 'You haven't got any b****!' and worse than that I added: 'You can go to hell!' I completely lost it, and you might have expected Guardiola to say a few words in response, but he's a spineless coward. He just [...] left, never to mention it again, not a word.” Ibrahimovic recalls a heated exchange with Guardiola after Barcelona’s exit in the Champions League to Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan in 2010.

“I'd already got the impression that Barcelona was a little like being back at Ajax, it was like being back at school. None of the lads acted like superstars, which was strange. Messi, Xavi, [Andres] Iniesta, the whole gang – they were like schoolboys. The best footballers in the world stood there with their heads bowed, and I didn't understand any of it. It was ridiculous.

“Everyone did as they were told. I didn't fit in, not at all. I thought, just enjoy the opportunity, don't confirm their prejudices. So I started to adapt and blend in. I became way too nice. I said what I thought people wanted me to say. It was completely messed up. I drove the club's Audi and stood there and nodded my head. I hardly even yelled at my team-mates any more. I was boring. Zlatan was no longer Zlatan.” Ibrahimovic revealed in his autobiography that he struggled to fit into the Barcelona culture…

…And wasn’t afraid to rebel: “When I realised I would be on the bench for a game against Almeria, I remembered that line: ‘Here in Barcelona we don’t turn up to training sessions in Porsches or Ferraris.’ What kind of nonsense was that, anyway? I’ll take whatever car I want, at least if I can wind up idiots. I jumped in my Enzo [Ferrari], put my foot down on the gas and parked up right in front of the door to the training facility.”

However, when asked to recall his time with Barcelona he said: “About Camp Nou, it's fantastic. I had one year there, a great experience, a fantastic year. I learned a lot – outside the pitch, inside the pitch – and for me it is an amazing club and I have only positive things to say.”

Jordan Henderson set to sign five-year Liverpool contract

Jordan Henderson is close to signing a new five-year contract with Liverpool, according to Sky sources.

After a difficult first season following his £20m transfer from Sunderland in 2011, the England midfielder has become a key player for the Reds and has captained the team in the absence of Steven Gerrard this season

Gerrard is set to depart for Major League Soccer this summer and Henderson has been tipped to take the armband on a permanent basis after being appointed vice-captain by Brendan Rodgers last summer.

The 24-year-old has established himself in Roy Hodgson's England team during his time at Anfield and has 20 international caps to his name including two starts at the 2014 World Cup.

Henderson, who has played in 30 of Liverpool's 31 Premier League games this season, has one year left on his current contract but the new deal will see him stay at the club beyond 2020.

The former Sunderland midfielder has remained tightlipped over reports about his future while Raheem Sterling's situation has attracted numerous headlines.

Liverpool are looking to tie-up the futures of several key players with Phillipe Coutinho signing a new deal to 2020 in February and Daniel Sturridge pledging his future to the club until 2019 with a new contract in October.

Pep Guardiola under pressure as Bayern Munich prepare for Porto

Bayern Munich must turn around a 3-1 deficit in their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Porto. The pressure will be on in front of their own fans and that means more scrutiny on Pep Guardiola after a difficult week…

Tuesday’s game will see Pep Guardiola bring up 100 games in charge of Bayern Munich. The celebrated coach has seldom found himself under such scrutiny. With Bayern needing to haul back a two-goal deficit from the first leg against Porto, the pressure is on and the intensity has only been exacerbated by the untimely departure of long-time club doctor Hans Muller-Wohlfahrt.

The 72-year-old, an iconic figure in sports medicine, released a statement on Thursday claiming that the “relationship of trust has been damaged” and withdrawing the services of his medical team. Reports suggesting Guardiola had blamed them for the defeat to Porto, given the club’s injury situation, amounted to a public relations nightmare despite his attempts to play down the situation since.

Jurgen Klopp is perfect for Arsenal but the club should give Arsene Wenger two more years, says former legend Nigel Winterburn

Jurgen Klopp will leave Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season 

Arsene Wenger's contract at Arsenal has two more years to run until 2017

Jurgen Klopp would be perfect for Arsenal but the club should keep faith with Arsene Wenger, according to Gunners legend Nigel Winterburn. 

Klopp is on the radar of a number of top clubs after announcing that he will leave Dortmund at the end of the season.

The 47-year-old has long been linked with taking over from Wenger, but the Frenchman has two years left on his contract.  

'If Arsene Wenger decides to step down or move upstairs, then obviously he’s a manager with the credentials, the way his teams play, I think a lot of people would think it’s a perfect fit,' 

'I would like Arsene Wenger to see out the next two years, and see where we are then, but obviously, with Klopp leaving Dortmund, it sort of puts the conundrum in because he’s been linked with Arsenal before, particularly when Arsenal were struggling. 

'This year we've just had, in terms of the spending power and the players coming in, and the next two, where we'll see the vision of where Arsenal are going to go and where they'll be after that.' 

Wenger was coming under severe pressure, so I understand where it’s coming from but I would be surprised if there was a change this summer.

Liverpool set for summer overhaul with TEN Kop stars on the way out of Anfield... but at least Jordan Henderson is staying

Liverpool face a major rebuilding job this summer following a mass exit from Anfield.

Manager Brendan Rodgers, who has suffered another trophyless season after the shock FA Cup semi-final defeat by Aston Villa, could see up to 10 of his stars leave.

Captain Steven Gerrard has already agreed to join MLS side LA Galaxy, while defender Glen Johnson is out of contract and set to go on a free transfer. Kolo Toure is also out of contract and considering whether to accept the offer of a new deal. 

Raheem Sterling is embroiled in a contract stand-off with Manchester City certain to make an offer and Juventus the latest big European club linked with him.

Defender Martin Skrtel’s future is also unclear as he is yet to agree a new contract with Wolfsburg planning a move for him.

Right-back Javi Manquillo is set to return to Spain after failing to make an impact while Mario Balotelli’s £16million switch from AC Milan has been a disaster. Liverpool will listen to offers for him, although getting rid of a man on £90,000 per week will be easier said than done.

Balotelli’s fellow strikers Fabio Borini and Rickie Lambert could also depart.

Finally, Liverpool are looking for a goalkeeper to replace or put pressure on Simon Mignolet, meaning Brad Jones is the tenth name who would be surplus to requirements.

There was one good piece of news for Liverpool fans on Monday night when Jordan Henderson agreed a new £100,000-a-week deal until 2020.

Henderson, 24, is the third player in the squad to agree a contract extension, following Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho.