Real Madrid News
Real Madrid worried over 25-year-old mainstay’s workload for club and country
The hectic schedule is the one great evil in the world of football. Players are overworked amidst the constant shuffling between club and international football, often leaving them with little to no time to recuperate.
Unsurprisingly, it does not come without consequences. There has been a tangible rise in the number and severity of injuries sustained by players, and Real Madrid are no strangers to the same.
After all, they lost Vinicius Jr, Eduardo Camavinga and perhaps Rodrygo Goes in just the recent weeks owing to the same.
Valverde under pressure
As revealed by AS, there is tangible worry in the Real Madrid administration over the situation of Federico Valverde.
The Uruguayan star is Los Blancos’ second most utilised player this season and has a cumulative of 1312 minutes under Carlo Ancelotti.
He is also an integral part of his international setup and thus sees no respite to his schedule when on national team duty.
In the recent international break, Valverde played all 90 minutes in Uruguay’s games against Argentina and Bolivia.
Valverde arrives in Spain today after a long journey back and has just two training sessions before Real Madrid’s game against Cadiz where he is all but set to be a starter.
No chance to rest
Carlo Ancelotti would ideally have liked to rest the midfielder in the team’s upcoming league fixture. However, such are the current circumstances that it is not even a remote possibility.
Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga are both ruled out through injury, severely depleting the manager’s options in the middle of the park.
Ancelotti must thus start with Toni Kroos, Fede Valverde, and Luka Modric on the night, with Dani Ceballos and Nico Paz his only other options in the middle of the park.
Even if Valverde does not start on the day, duty off the bench appears to be written in stone. Worry around his fitness is thus warranted.
Real Madrid’s performance against Real Betis was shambolic, to say the least as the team faced many of the problems that have haunted them over the past couple of years.
But on a night where most of the attackers struggled to create anything of note, Dean Huijsen emerged as a lone bright spark for Los Blancos.
Huijsen keeps his promise
As reported by MARCA, Huijsen was the standout performer for Real Madrid, marshalling the backline with real authority even as the team struggled around him.
There has been a noticeable shift in the young defender’s mentality this season, with the player showing more competitive nature and looking much fiercer.
This is an attitude Huijsen had always promised, having inherited the iconic number four shift from David Alaba, a number he associates with his idols Sergio Ramos and Fernando Hierro.
“What I do know is that I’ll give everything of myself every day, whether in training or in a game,” he vowed, and at La Cartuja he delivered on that word.
His primary task was neutralising Juan ‘Cucho’ Hernandez, and he did so superbly, drying up the Colombian’s supply and repeatedly anticipating danger.
He also held his own in a niggly battle with Antony, refusing to be ruffled by one of Betis’ most inspired performers.
His composure on the ball, one of the qualities that has elevated him, saw him venture forward, forcing a fine save from the goalkeeper in the 11th minute and later heading against the woodwork.
The Konate partnership grows
Alongside him, Ibrahima Konate did his job, albeit without matching his partner’s brilliance.
The Frenchman was a little less assured, both in and out of possession, reflecting the two speeds of the centre-back pairing.
Huijsen looks settled and increasingly commanding, while Konate is still building the sharpness needed to reach his best in white.
Nonetheless, the partnership is heading in the right direction, and in Huijsen, Real Madrid appear to have unearthed a genuine leader for an area that has long been a weakness.
Each performance is also an argument to Luis de la Fuente, as the defender looks to reclaim the Spain spot he lost before the World Cup.
