Candid Casillas Is a Worthy Madrid Idol, but Club Are in an Awkward Position

Few clubs turn players into idols as effectively as Real Madrid.

This is mostly because the record European champions have a series of criteria that must be met before the worship begins.

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First, you must have tenure. Gareth Bale, for example, might be appreciated by the club’s supporters, but the sculptors won’t be planning his bust until he has been in the capital a few more years.

And even then, the winger isn’t Spanish. Not a prerequisite for icon status, necessarily, but it was something Cristiano Ronaldo came up against in the early days of his association with Los Blancos.

A Spaniard who plays for the national team, establishes an early rapport at the Santiago Bernabeu and mixes it up with arch-rivals Barcelona checks all the boxes. And it’s arguable that apart from Raul, who left the club in 2010, there has been no one more idolised by Madridistas in recent times than Iker Casillas.

Which is why the harsh words of former manager Jose Mourinho hurt so much, why the whistles from the stands continue to wound—and why the goalkeeper and captain thought about leaving.

In a wide-ranging and unusually candid interview with Canal Plus on Monday, Casillas opened up about his 24-year love affair with Real Madrid, his fallout with Mourinho, problems in the Spanish national team and his current form.

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“I have had a bad streak,” he remarked when asked about his recent play, as per AS. “Especially after the injury that changed my life.”

That injury—a fractured hand that kept him out of the line-up during the heart of the 2012-13 season—compelled Mourinho to acquire Diego Lopez as a stand-in for at least three months.

But the Portuguese never returned the starter’s job to Casillas and, upon returning to Chelsea, claimed that he should have “brought in Diego Lopez” after his first season at Madrid, according to Goal.com.

“We did not do enough to sign him,” he said.

“Maybe I should have answered Mourinho, but I decided to zip it for the good of the club,” Casillas revealed to interviewer Inaki Gabilondo, as relayed by Marca. “I didn’t want to add fuel to the fire.”

He never has. And even as he went on to spend the better part of 14 months on the Madrid bench, he refused to exacerbate the problem, although he did consider requesting a transfer.

“Yes, I had thought about leaving,” he said, per AS. “You do not want to disturb things or create a bad environment because you always want Madrid to win. But then you think, ‘You have to compete and fight.’ These last two years have seen me fight and struggle.”

They’ve also seen Spain lose its aura of invincibility.

Casillas admits per AS that the growing hostility of El Clasico transplanted itself into the national setup and concedes he “did not like” how he played at the 2014 World Cup.

But he has no plans to retire from La Roja before Euro 2016—a tournament he says he is "dreaming about."

He is also under contract at Real Madrid until 2017, although with the summer arrival of Costa Rica star Keylor Navas, he’s likely to be pushed for playing time as his pact winds down. It’s entirely possible that the Diego Lopez scenario—another 'keeper usurping the first-team role—could repeat itself in the short term.

It’s a situation Madrid have invited.

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By turning Casillas, now 33 years old, into an idol, they’ve put themselves in an awkward position. Should they leave it standing? Maybe give it a refit? Perhaps tear it down?

Thankfully for the club, whatever they decide will be met with the fortitude and grace of a player who has always had their best interests at heart.

It’s a loyalty that won him the affection of the Madridistas in the first place.

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