‘He can have a career there’ - Marc Casadó’s first Barcelona coach explains midfielder’s strengths

One of the unsung heroes of Barcelona’s extraordinary 7-0 La Liga win over Valladolid on Saturday was Marc Casadó, who had the difficult task of replacing Marc Bernal at the heart of midfield and passed the test with flying colors.

Casadó first appeared on the first team radar last season, but featured very little for Xavi Hernández and played most of his minutes under Rafa Márquez at Barça Atlètic both as an interior midfielder and a right-back. Saturday was his first true test as a pivot, a crucial position at Barça and a very important piece in Hansi Flick’s system.

But Casadó wasn’t rattled by the occasion and played a beautifully calm and poised game, completing 63 of 64 passes and providing important defensive cover to help kill off Valladolid’s (very few) counter-attack attempts.

Casadó played a very impressive hour until he was replaced by Eric García, and showed he can be a solid replacement for Bernal until Frenkie de Jong, Gavi and Andreas Christensen return from injury to add more depth to the defensive midfielder position.

The 20-year-old’s performance may have caught many who didn’t know him by surprise, but his first coach at La Masia knew the kid had potential. Current Toulouse manager Carles Martínez was Casadó’s boss at the Cadete A or under-15 level, and already saw many of the qualities that Marc displayed on Saturday.

According to Martínez, Casadó has all the tools necessary to have a long career at Barça and is the type of player who always wants to improve and evolve.

“He’s a player who always gives everything, understands perfectly what’s happening around him, is very competitive and always helps the team.

“He’s one of the midfielders I’ve trained who’s talked the most with me about the game, we just needed to look at each other during matches and already understood each other. He already knew at that age if he had to drift to the wing or stay more in the center depending on the situation. He understood the game really well.

“Casadó is a very smart player on the pitch, very good in the press and understands the need to be vigilant defensively. I believe he can have a career at Barça.

“He’s waited for his moment, and his debut came at a very normal age. We are in a time where it seems like everyone needs to debut at 16 or 17 years old, but that’s not the way it works. He’s worked very hard, he was a captain for the youth teams.

“The more he plays [for Flick], the better he’ll get and the more he’ll evolve day after day.”

Source: Diario SPORT

Casadó will certainly face much tougher tests as the current starting pivot than Valladolid at home, but the young man certainly appears to have the quality and the mentality to rise to the occasion and get better and better with more playing time.

As always, La Masia comes to the rescue when Barça need it most.