How badly have we missed Kaka? No, not the Kaka that we have seen at Real Madrid but Kaka that we all witnessed and enjoyed watching play the beautiful game in a graceful way. The Kaka of AC Milan. In the past two years we have basically missed one of the best players in the world at his position.
The move to Real Madrid should have meant that Kaka would reach new heights as he had achieved everything at Milan and was basically worshiped by the fans of the club. In fact, the president of AC Milan, Berlusconi was it, said that “I have told my son to cut my hands off if I sell Kaka”.
Such was Kaka’s status at AC Milan, but at Real Madrid it has been far from that. The obvious reason for that is, Kaka has been unable to produce the same quality of football which he produced at AC Milan.
You know, the kind of the football which won him the Player Of The Year award 2007. The kind of play which helped AC Milan win the Champions league and thrash Manchester United before leading to the final. Who can forget the two absolute peach of a goals he scored at Old Trafford against Manchester United. I mean, two words for those goals, pure class.
However, Kaka does not have the quick feet and tons of pace he had at AC Milan. He has looked rather like a isolated figure in his two years with Real Madrid. He has not looked himself at all playing for Real Madrid, for whatever reason. The point is that he can no longer claim to be the finest talent in the world at his position because of his disappointing displays for Real Madrid for the past two years. And admit it, we have all missed Kaka’s brilliance.
It has to be said that the biggest reason why Kaka has not been able to replicate his form of AC Milan to Real Madrid are injuries. Injuries have plagued his 2 years at Real Madrid. He had some bad knee problems and after that he had the hernia. So if there was some luck that Kaka needed to jump start his career at Real Madrid from the get go then he did not get that luck.
The price tag of 65 million euros did not help Kaka’s cause and would have put immense pressure on his head to perform well for Real Madrid. For the amount of money Real Madrid payed for Kaka, we could have bought two or three rising stars who would have developed at Real Madrid and would have been stars by now, like Higuain and Marcelo.
Anyway that did not happen. Kaka could not handle the pressure like Ronaldo did. Ronaldo made Real Madrid his own with his prolific striking rate. It was just plain old scary watching Ronaldo play for Real Madrid. Goals after Goals, solo runs after solo runs, it was all too common to see from Real Madrid’s Ronaldo.
Kaka on the other hand had to fight really hard in order to prove that he was still the Kaka of AC Milan but I think it is safe to agree that he could not convince anyone.
Ronaldo has overtaken him in more than one way at Real Madrid. Kaka was expected to produce the kind of performances which would have had us make comparisons between the poise and grace of Kaka with the raw power and pace of Ronaldo. Ronaldo basically won everything and Kaka won nothing.
Ronaldo dominated everybody at Real Madrid, both in terms of individual performances and the respect of his teammates. I think what Ronaldo has done (having the pressure of being the most expensive player in the world) is just unimaginable.
Now, is the time Kaka has to prove himself as the worlds best at Real Madrid otherwise, I am afraid with Jose Mourinho heading Real Madrid, next season will be his last for Real Madrid. His knee problems are behind him, he has loads of time to prepare for the next season. The omission from Copa America, though disappointing, is a blessing in disguise. He would have some extra time off in order to bring his body in peak optimal condition.
Kaka’s biggest challenge now, is going to be competitive with other Real Madrid teammates and find a way into Jose Mourinho’s starting line up. That is no easy task as while he recovered from injury in the past two seasons, Real Madrid have made rapid strides towards the goal of being the best in Europe and are pretty much close to it.
The player he has to beat his Mesut Oezil given that Mourinho stays true to his formation of 4-2-3-1 where Ronaldo and Maria will be play on the wings with Oezil in the middle. Oezil was not hailed as a Galactico when he first arrived at Real Madrid (very unlike the reception Kaka got, who basically filled the whole stadium with fans on his presentation day) but his performances last season have been nothing less than of a Galactico.
He has made 24 assists in 53 games which is staggering by any margin. He has been the best at his position across Europe. He still has some improvements to do , like his fitness and his physical strength but to beat him to the first 11 is going to be a tough ask for Kaka.
What does that mean then? It means that Kaka’s playing time next season is far from definitive. He can learn a lot from Oezil. Oezil from day one (with Real Madrid) knew what was expected of him and performed his tasks with assuredness and precision that Kaka was expected to show.
Kaka has the further pressure of proving some critics wrong and show that the Kaka of AC Milan is still alive and can very much contribute to Real Madrid in a big way.
Many people need to be convinced of Kaka but from a players perspective, Jose Mourinho is the man Kaka needs to be looking at. He needs to be in Jose Mourinho’s good books. Mourinho is not unaware of the fact that Kaka can be devastating on his day and hence called him a NEW SIGNING when Kaka returned from injury last season.
Mourinho however did not use him much as he thought Kaka was not fit enough neither physically or mentally to compete with the best on a regular basis. He was not convinced that Kaka could produce the magic he produced at AC Milan.
But there is time for Kaka to turn around his Madrid career. That time is now. That time is the whole of the next season to prove that he can attain the levels of play he attained at AC Milan amidst all the uncertainty and controversy surrounding him and his future with Real Madrid.
And it is not like Kaka does not know these things. He knows it and probably will do everything in his power to comeback to his mercurial best. He has been self critical of his performances for Real Madrid and has admitted that he has not lived up to the expectations.
Well, admitting something is the first step towards improvement and Kaka is bang right on that one. Lets see and hope what happens with Kaka as the season progresses. He still has time and if he can rediscover his form of AC Milan at Real Madrid, then Real Madrid would add another huge weapon in its all ready impressive arsenal of attacking talent that would lead Real Madrid to Champions League glory.
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