Player Focus: Does Kaká Have A Place in the Same Side as Özil?
.jpg "Player Focus: Does Kaká Have A Place in the Same Side as Özil?")
Real Madrid's 5-0 win over Espanyol on Sunday night was unremarkable in many ways. It was Real's 12th win in 13 home league games and the 14th time they've scored four or more goals this season, but one standout point was the fabulous performance of Kaká.
The Brazilian playmaker hasn't had the best of times since arriving in the Spanish capital in the summer of 2009. A spate of injuries have restricted his participation and disrupted his ryhthm, but on Sunday he looked back to his best with a trademark dash past Dídac Vilà and cute finish for the fourth goal, as well as two sumptuous assists to help Gonzalo Higuaín refind his goalscoring touch.
The goal took Kaká's tally to six in all competitions this season and his six assists in the league are good enough to put him joint eighth on the list of La Liga's goal creators, alongside Xavi and ahead of the likes of Andrés Iniesta, Xabi Alonso and Ander Herrera. So why has the former World Player of the Year's contribution been so overlooked this campaign?
There are a number of contributory factors, but the two most obvious answers are Mesut Özil and Ángel di María. Kaká's return of six assists from 1039 minutes on the field is impressive, but Real's real creative force has, along with Alonso from a deeper position, come for Özil with 12 assists and Di María with 13.
The Argentine's own recent troubles with injury have allowed Kaká more playing time but that has also forced Özil to play from a wider position on the right where his productivity and influence are diluted. Indeed, many of Kaká's better performances this season have come either when Özil hasn't played at all or to a lower level than average.
However despite the obvious qualities that Kaká offers, at this stage of his career it is Özil's skill-set that brings more to the team as a whole. The German has outperformed Kaká in key passes per game (2.5 to 1.3), pass completion percentage (87% to 85%), number of passes (47 to 29) and, even one of the Kaká forte's of the past, successful dribbles (0.9 to 0.7).
The only downside of Özil's involvement is his relative lack of goals. His solitary league strike this season came in the 3-1 win over Zaragoza last month and his 19 attempts on goal at an average of 0.8 a game is well below that of Kaká on 1.3 per game and Di María on 2.3. However, with Jose Mourinho's men hardly struggling in this department having scored 123 times in 40 matches in all competitions this season, the greater flow that Özil brings to their play is more important.
Di María meanwhile has been outstanding in almost every aspect. Allied to being the league's highest assist maker, he has also contributed five goals in just 15 appearances and his average WhoScored rating of 7.65 is behind only the Ballon d'Or nominated triumvirate of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi.
Moreover, on the one occasion that Di María had the opportunity to play as the central player of the three in Madrid's preferred 4-2-3-1 formation against Sevilla in December he was sensational, scoring once and setting up two more in a 6-2 rout.
What does all this tell us? Well, despite Kaká's recent flickers of his best form it remains likely that, assuming everyone is fit, when the crunch games in La Liga and the Champions League come around the pairing of Özil in the middle, with Di María to the right remains the best option.
However, it is also a glimpse into the staggering depth on offer for the Portuguese coach to choose from. How many other contenders to the Champions League crown can afford to leave a £56 million player on the bench?
Whether or not he is to be a decisive player in Real's march towards the title and challenge for their illusive 10th European crown, it is just nice to see one of the greatest footballers of his generation to some degree rekindle the form that made him so special.
Kaka is mad to stay at Madrid for so long, he clearly does not belong there, his character is too proper for a team composed of intimidating bullies. I think a move to a club like Chelsea, where he can become a point of reference is what he needs.
What I meant in my previous comment are Zaragoza away & Rayo home.
Have to be said both of them also have good game together. Ajax home & Espanyol home have to be there imo. Also that Zaragoza match, Rayo, and even Barca CDR second leg in which Ozil was man of the match.
Also, I wouldn't call Ozil to be having quiet game in Espanyol dan Ajax home. Ozil was fantastic in that match. I remember in that Ajax match he made like 7 key passes, very unlucky not to grab any assist from chances he created. In Espanyol match, Ozil was best player in first half when the game still in the contest and the main reason Real buried the game in 2-0, only in the later stage he's outshone by Higuain & Kaka who created & scored the rest of the goals, Ozil still played very good though. I think Ozil is very underrated in those matches.
I don't understand why the Ajax away game is listed there as Ozil didn't even play in that game. Real already qualified prior to that game, so Mou rested some players, including Ozil.
Hi guys, just to clarify the Kaka stats and Ozil/Di Maria ones come from their player profile on here http://www.whoscored.com/Players/3577 and agree re the Zaragoza game but I was looking at the more general trend that when Kaka is at his best, Ozil isn't. Cheers for the comments though
@Dave they completely left out the game vs real zaragoza, where ozil and kaka both had a goal and an assist. Kaka's assist was for ozil to score his first goal. And where did they get 6 league assists from? Kaka has a total of 12 assists with 9 of them being in la Liga and 3 in the champions league.
@thabet8 If you actually read the article it clearly doesn't just look at the bad games they've had, and particularly not Kaka. Quite the opposite in fact, it celebrates his best games this season
Kaka` is always beloved. He`s my personal idol and I worship him...
this article is very biased it only looks at the bad games kaka and ozil had.
yes vs zaragoza home
Very interesting about Ozil struggling when Kaka plays well. Are there any occasions where both play well?
'How many other contenders to the Champions League crown can afford to leave a £56 million player on the bench?' Well Chelsea sometimes leave Torres on the bench and he cost 50 million