5 Real Madrid Players Whose Stock Tumbled in the 2014/15 Liga Season
Real Madrid began the 2014-15 season in fine form but ended the campaign having missed out on silverware, only collecting the Super Cup and Club World Cup before the turn of the year.
It was a season in which a number of players, largely those on the fringes of the first team, failed to produce what was expected of them, given their previous performances or price tags.
Here are five Real Madrid players whose stock tumbled over the course of the season.
Iker Casillas
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It has been sad to watch the gradual decline of Iker Casillas over the last three seasons—even more so because of the increasing abuse he has received from sections of the Bernabeu faithful.
Casillas has spent his entire career to date at Real Madrid, winning three Champions League trophies, two Copa del Reys and five Primera Division titles across more than 700 appearances for the club in all competitions.
Those accomplishments should have been sufficient to see his recent downturn in performance levels lead to sympathy from the Madrid support.
Instead, Carlo Ancelotti was forced to remove Casillas from the firing line, placing Keylor Navas in goal for three home league matches out of five games between mid-March and the end of April.
“Sometimes I’ve gone home angry but never crying,” Casillas revealed in a recent interview with radio programme El Larguero (h/t AS) when asked about the effect the whistling was having on him.
The 34-year-old is expected to remain at the club next season, even if they are successful in signing David De Gea from Manchester United. He is clearly no longer at the peak of his powers but deserves more respect from supporters who once used to cheer his every involvement.
Fabio Coentrao
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Fabio Coentrao has never been a regular starter since joining Real Madrid from Benfica in 2011, but this season saw his stock fall much further.
Per Soccerway, the full-back started just five times in La Liga and four times in the Champions League over the course of the campaign.
Carlo Ancelotti largely preferred the more versatile Marcelo, whose ability to both link infield and hit the byline made him the perfect foil for Cristiano Ronaldo down the Madrid left.
Coentrao’s appearances generally came when Marcelo was unavailable or when Ancelotti decided to rest some of his regular starters.
The few starts he did make coincided with some of the club’s worst performances, including the 4-0 thrashing away to Atletico Madrid in February and the 4-3 home defeat to Schalke in March.
Ancelotti’s side dropped points in three of the five league matches that Coentrao started.
The Portuguese had looked to be on his way out of the Bernabeu this summer. However, J. I. Garcia-Ochoa of Marca reports that he could now be set to stay for at least another season with Madrid struggling to find a suitable replacement.
The 27-year-old will therefore have to hope that the next occupant of the Bernabeu hot seat gives him more opportunities to impress than he received under Ancelotti.
Asier Illarramendi
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Carlo Ancelotti lost confidence in Asier Illarramendi toward the back end of last season.
Reported by Diego Torres of El Pais, the Basque midfielder’s poor performance in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund saw Ancelotti lose faith in him.
The Italian's decision to select Sami Khedira, who had only just returned from a long-term injury, ahead of Illarramendi for last season's Champions League final against Atletico Madrid spoke volumes of his lack of confidence in the 25-year-old.
That was made even clearer this season. Per Soccerway, Illarramendi started a little over half as many matches as he did during his debut campaign in the capital and received a full 854 minutes less action (2,478 in 2013-14 against 1,624 this time around).
When he did play, he failed to convince in or out of possession. There were audible groans inside the Bernabeu when he gave the ball away early into the second half of a poor performance against Almeria in late April.
Sapped of confidence and playing time, he currently looks a million miles away from the assured distributor he was at Real Sociedad.
Athletic Bilbao showed strong interest in signing him during the January transfer window, but Illarramendi chose to stay and fight for his place at Madrid, as per Jaime Martin of Marca.
If they go back in for him this summer, the 25-year-old may be best advised to return to the Basque Country.
Sami Khedira
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Sami Khedira endured a injury-hit campaign in his final season at the Bernabeu. But when he did take to the field, he looked little more than a pale imitation of the strong and commanding midfielder who was such a key part of the side during Jose Mourinho's time in Madrid.
The Germany international’s contract expired at the end of the season, and he often gave the impression that he was simply whiling away the time until his next move.
He produced a disastrously lackadaisical performance in the 4-0 thrashing away to Atletico Madrid in February—one of only three Primera Division starts he made all season.
The 28-year-old was similarly poor in the 4-3 home defeat to Schalke in March, which almost saw Madrid relinquish their 2-0 first-leg lead in the last 16 of the Champions League.
With performances such as those, there will be few within the Bernabeu mourning Khedira’s departure this summer.
Gareth Bale
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Gareth Bale enjoyed a highly productive first season at Real Madrid. Per WhoScored.com, he contributed 21 goals and 16 assists in league and Champions League play, as well as scoring the go-ahead goals in the club’s Copa del Rey and Champions League final successes.
He provided a direct contribution to 1.13 goals for every 90 minutes of football he played.
His output did, however, drop off quite significantly in his second season at the Bernabeu. He produced 15 goals and 10 assists at a per-90-minute rate of 0.66.
Criticism followed from supporters and the local media alike. A particularly nasty piece penned by Enrique Ortego of Marca in March stated: “After 20 months at Real, it is clear that he makes little or no effort to integrate himself in the team.”
The campaign ended with Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, publicly defending his client. “Real have to work with Gareth and pass the ball to him more,” he told the Telegraph. “Give him more of the ball and let him show everybody what he’s good at.”
Barnett’s words likely did Bale few favours in the Madrid dressing room. But the Welshman made it clear that he was looking forward to an improved campaign next time around.
“Will be working hard in the off season and looking forward to coming back next season stronger with Real Madrid,” he wrote on Twitter.
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