Iker Casillas

[Beast]

I argued why Iker will not be the same as Buffon or others .. Iker is a completely different type of player to Buffon -Valdes or Neuer..excel in one on one due to his reflexes but on the other side even in his glory days he barely leave his goal line not in corner or crosses relying on his speedy reflexes .. which is not the case anymore..and those keepers don't tend to stay on top .. age is not kind to such gift .. Buffon is a monster who dominate his box so did Valdes .. sure all keepers make mistakes but since Jose issues it was not the same as before for him and Valdes was young and Catalan a mix that makes him stay in the club especially that the previous 1251531616 Keepers made Valdes Hercules in comparison even with his mistakes .... you say you watched the team since 98.. do you remember your keeper back than

let's not forget despite all it could have been his last year last season if Ramos didn't score that goal and save Iker's name from the terrible mistake he did which was clearly Iker fault for Godin goal.. Xavi nor Puyol left with such memory.. a complete world cup to forget last summer and several mistakes this year including some awful games like against Atletico.. ..
I love Iker a lot but it's time to move on for him & the club..
he is not that bad to be a sub for a younger keeper and not good enough to be Real Madrid no 1... that's the plain truth '
could have been different if he left on a high last year but this season he lost a lot both on club & national levels

 

[Beast]

Puyol didn't leave as a king ? Ofcourse he didn't, you only leave as a king having won titles, just like Xavi did. But did Barca fans ever booed Puyol ? It's not exactly a party time for farewells when you don't win anything like Barca did last year. Puyol didn't leave with fans wanting him to leave and club president pushing for it. The way Barca treated Puyol and the way RMA treated Casillas is very different, dare to say even opposite.

Can't understand hate towards Casillas of some Barca fans here, though. He was one of the Xavi's best friends outside of Barca's cycle of friends and his demise even begun because of his friendship with fellow national players who happened to be Barca's players. Also, I actually can't believe what his parents said, don't know if it's true or not, but they surely did a great job to guarantee a warm welcome from Porto's fans.

Can we go & check the posts in Puyol thread ??? because i'm quite sure there was lots of his too old and make silly mistakes play Barta , Play Pique & Mascherano etc.. i remember plenty of those on top of my head when Di Maria took him to school ..
as for the club showing him the door or not.. unlike Iker.. Puyol never spoke that much to the press .. he loved Barca & i'm quite sure whatever happened he would never speak like when left his managerial post several month later without opening his mouth... that's Puyol (I'm self confessed big fan of his reminds me a lot of Hierro)

 

[serghei]

Are you ?

not always

Not always, but pretty often. It just happens that in the last decade we are the most powerful and the most attractive team. Just like Madrid was in the early 2000's. A lot of players who were young during Ronaldinho's Barca started to sympathize with Barca (you think Arda Turan said he dreamed of playing for Barca because he likes the city or loves the club just like that? No. It's because in 2009, when he was still young playing for Galata, everybody was talking about Barca and about the sextuple winning team. Success brings success. With Figo it was the same, he left because Real Madrid was a better team at that time, strictly a financial and sportive decision, if not a cynical one. Real Madrid had a better pull back then, we have that now, although I'll give you that Madrid has an amazing pull as well in the present).

 

[serghei]

Valdes was young and Catalan a mix that makes him stay in the club especially that the previous 1251531616 Keepers made Valdes Hercules in comparison even with his mistakes .... you say you watched the team since 98.. do you remember your keeper back than

I agree Buffon is a more complete keeper (one of the most complete ever actually), and that works in his favour, but still, Casillas is one of the best keepers in the world right now, top 10 for sure. I fail to see how it is his fault that Madrid failed to win a title last season. Hell, I remember he made some incredible saves both against Juventus, and against Barcelona on Camp Nou. That save he made against Marchisio on Bernabeu was one of the best I've seen last season. I can't believe how easily fans take those saves for granted.

let's not forget despite all it could have been his last year last season if Ramos didn't score that goal and save Iker's name from the terrible mistake he did which was clearly Iker fault for Godin goal.

Let's also not forget he was one of the reasons why Madrid walked on the Allianz in the semis defending a lead instead of chasing a win. Some of his saves against Bayern on Bernabeu were amazing.

 

[Beast]

I agree Buffon is a more complete keeper (one of the most complete ever actually), and that works in his favour, but still, Casillas is one of the best keepers in the world right now, top 10 for sure. I fail to see how it is his fault that Madrid failed to win a title last season. Hell, I remember he made some incredible saves both against Juventus, and against Barcelona on Camp Nou. That save he made against Marchisio on Bernabeu was one of the best I've seen last season. I can't believe how easily fans take those saves for granted.



Let's also not forget he was one of the reasons why Madrid walked on the Allianz in the semis defending a lead instead of chasing a win. Some of his saves against Bayern on Bernabeu were amazing.

I didn't say he is finished.. but you remember Marchisio and forget the rest ? Atletico ? Schalke ? ... take a look at RM Iker highlights last year & you will remember ..
As for Bayern last year ... seriously ??? Iker had one considerable save to make from Robben .. the other one was Ribery (kind of ) the rest was all wide or too easy ..Bayern was all contained even before they reached Iker and mostly was after the first half damage was done & the tie was all over .. in the Bernabeu they created nothing until the 84th minute their first & only chance
it was a perfect 10 from the defense & midfield Coentrao & Cravajal had both Robben & Ribery in their pockets
.. arguably Iker didn't sweat over 180 minutes man .. you can't say we walked in the Allianz arena because of him at all ... at all .. he played no part in this one side affair

 

[Drexl]

Del Bosque will keep calling him up. Even if he played for Apoel Nicosia, he'd been calling up.

 

[serghei]

I didn't say he is finished.. but you remember Marchisio and forget the rest ? Atletico ? Schalke ? ... take a look at RM Iker highlights last year & you will remember ..
As for Bayern last year ... seriously ??? Iker had one considerable save to make from Robben .. the other one was Ribery (kind of ) the rest was all wide or too easy ..Bayern was all contained even before they reached Iker and mostly was after the first half damage was done & the tie was all over .. in the Bernabeu they created nothing until the 84th minute their first & only chance
it was a perfect 10 from the defense & midfield Coentrao & Cravajal had both Robben & Ribery in their pockets
.. arguably Iker didn't sweat over 180 minutes man .. you can't say we walked in the Allianz arena because of him at all ... at all .. he played no part in this one side affair

Against Bayern he had a match winning save against Goetze as well on Bernabeu late in the game. 1-1 and it's a different game in the return leg. Sure, he has made mistakes, but is he the reason why Madrid underperformed? No. Then why does he gets signaled out as the black sheep of the team? Only reason that makes sense is that Madrid is Florentino's toy and that he got bored of Casillas. That's how he makes transfers, he gets bored of the old players and then he cuts them loose, only to bring in the newest model. Ramos probably learned a few things about this, and he's prepared to make his move from Madrid before Florentino makes a move on him, like he did with Casillas. He probably realised that the same fate will be waiting for him a few years down the road.

Also, you as a Madrid fan should remember more the good saves than the bad moments, more than me, who I am a Barca fan, and shouldn't care much about a Real Madrid glory being treated like shit. I'm just trying to put myself in Iker's shoes and think about the feeling he must have, being pushed out by the club he dedicated most of his life to. It must hurt, no matter how much money you got from the deal.

Only thing I'm sad about is that Porto can't knock out Madrid from CL next season. Casillas knocking out Real Madrid would be a picture worthy of being called photographic art.

 

[Beast]

Against Bayern he had a match winning save against Goetze as well on Bernabeu late in the game. 1-1 and it's a different game in the return leg. Sure, he has made mistakes, but is he the reason why Madrid underperformed? No. Then why does he gets signaled out as the black sheep of the team. Only reason that makes sense is that Madrid is Florentino's toy and that he got bored of Casillas. That's how he makes transfers, he gets bored of the old players and then he cuts them loose, only to bring in the newest model. Ramos probably learned how things go and he's prepared to make his move from Madrid. He probably realised that the same fate will be waiting for him a few years down the road.

Also, you as a Madrid fan should remember more the good saves than the bad moments, more than me, who I am a Barca fan, and shouldn't care much about a Real Madrid glory being treated like shit. I'm just trying to put myself in Iker's shoes and think about the feeling he must have, being pushed out by the club he dedicated most of his life to.

I remember quite well.. read my post before we started to debate this ..
He was treated well but like Raul he over extended his stay .. you should know by now as a cule that for us the club comes first ahead of all the players.. it doesn't matter what you did in the past... its not about loyalty but to keep the club where it is ..

match winning save against Goetze ? that's the one i mentioned in 84th minute

here watch Iker highlights there was nothing till the Gotze on in the 84 minutes hardly the reason for winning.. the defense & midfield were superb that tie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCQcA2RIsa0

I don't think it would have been a different game.. Pep approach fell into Carlo's hand easily and it could have been a lot bigger score ..
he isn't singled out always.. don't you see what happen to Bale - Ronaldo - Benzema etc ? he lived in Real Madrid for 25 years he knows the drill more than anyone.. he saw it happening to the original Ronaldo to Zidane to Figo etc ... for what it's worth he didn't get worst treatment than Bale did this year and the later is the copa & CL winning goal scorer ... Perez didn't get board ... it's Iker that got old... how can i explain this to you ? ok Messi... brilliant all time GOAT.. when he has his ordinary game and score 2 tap ins without much effort he comes under fire.. not motivated , not running etc.. for any other player it's a MOM performance.. ? why ? because it's the standard he has.. it's the bar he pushed up high so when it's just 2 goals scored without much running or anything it's Messi is below standards.. when you see Iker before 2013 and compare him to 2014-2015 he is below his own standards... has nothing to do with Perez.. i'm one of those who believe the fans are always right those in the stadium feel the match and when they boo it's either because you are crap or because you are not giving them what they are used to have from you for a long time ---Iker is the later

Ramos is different he is getting his last contract & was promised a raise and hopefully he gets it & stay moreover Ramos is the actual captain for sometime now... while i support Iker leaving if a new keeper is coming i don't support Ramos leaving at all for all his leadership skills not defending skills

 

[Devils]

Well Puyol left without anything and he was our longtime captain. Our version of Raul.

Anyway I was just in Madrid and the talk is that Perez is willing to pay whatever United want for DDG. There will be no deep negotiations. 35me is the number being thrown around. Ridiculous for a GK in his last yr on contract but its Madrid we're talking about so we can't be too shocked.

Puyol left while being one of the most respected players ever to put on a Barca shirt. He has cemented the name El Capitan and if you put him in front of the Camp Nou today, 98,000 people would cheer his name. That's just fact.

He also rescinded his own contract and saved the club millions in wages because he knew it was best for the team.

Puyol didn't leave with silverware glory, but it's still complete opposite to the turmoil that Iker and Real Madrid's relationship has become.

 

[serghei]

Barca puts the club first as well, it's not like there is much separating the two clubs right now, both have money, top class players, players that dive, megatransfers and so on. I have nothing against a club selling a glory when he doesn't perform anymore, but the real issue is that Casillas is still a top keeper. Here is where the problem lies IMO, selling a club legend while he is still delivering, and treating him as if he is done at top level, when he is not (after all, we are talking about the captain of Spain's national team). Much like Alves' situation in our club, many of your fans perceive Casillas like ours perceive Dani, as players that are not good anymore, but once were the best in the world. It is wrong. I happen to remember the times when people said Caballero was one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and he disappeared from top football -- warming the bench at City and almost never playing. The same with Keylor Navas, when I saw him playing for Madrid he was twice as worse than Iker, and people were praising him all the time as one of the best keepers in the league (it goes to show that being the best in a team like Levante for example is pretty different, as opposed to being a keeper in a high-pressure environment like Real Madrid). Same situation with Alves, Zabaleta is much better, some said (never was and never will be), a few even said Montoya was "twice the player Alves is" (direct quote from Barcaforum, as crazy as that sounds). The thing is many people (speaking generally here, not directed towards somebody in particular) remember these players (Alves, Iker and others), from when they were out of this world, and now, when they are still among the best, but not quite as magnificent as they once were, fans wrongfully label them as bad.

Magnificent,
Great,
Very good,
Good,
Medium,
Pretty bad,
Bad,
Awful.

That's a legit scale of judging a player. Alves (just a fitting example IMO) never ranked lower than "good" (medium at worst) over the course of a season, yet, still, people said he was awful. Same with Casillas. As I said, I doubt there are 10 keepers that are better than him. Buffon, Neuer, De Gea, Curtois, maybe Bravo, maybe Diego Alves, possibly Hart. That's about it. Possibly Ter Stegen (he can even become the best in the world if he gains consistency). About as good as Cech.

1. Neuer, 2. Buffon, 3. De Gea, 4. Curtois, 5. Bravo, 6. Diego Alves, 7. Ter Stegen, 8. Joe Hart, 9. Petr Cech, 10. Casillas.

Edit. I forgot Lloris.

 

[Beast]

Barca puts the club first as well, it's not like there is much separating the two clubs right now, both have money, top class players, players that dive, megatransfers and so on. I have nothing against a club selling a glory when he doesn't perform anymore, but the real issue is that Casillas is still a top keeper. Here is where the problem lies IMO, selling a club legend while he is still delivering, and treating him as if he is done at top level, when he is not (after all, we are talking about the captain of Spain's national team). Much like Alves' situation in our club, many of your fans perceive Casillas like ours perceive Dani, as players that are not good anymore, but once were the best in the world. It is wrong. I happen to remember the times when people said Caballero was one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and he disappeared from top football -- warming the bench at City and almost never playing. The same with Keylor Navas, when I saw him playing for Madrid he was twice as worse than Iker, and people were praising him all the time as one of the best keepers in the league (it goes to show that being the best in a team like Levante for example is pretty different, as opposed to being a keeper in a high-pressure environment like Real Madrid). Same situation with Alves, Zabaleta is much better, some said (never was and never will be), a few even said Montoya was "twice the player Alves is" (direct quote from Barcaforum, as crazy as that sounds). The thing is many people (speaking generally here, not directed towards somebody in particular) remember these players (Alves, Iker and others), from when they were out of this world, and now, when they are still among the best, but not quite as magnificent as they once were, fans wrongfully label them as bad.

Magnificent,
Great,
Very good,
Good,
Medium,
Pretty bad,
Bad,
Awful.

That's a legit scale of judging a player. Alves (just a fitting example IMO) never ranked lower than "good" (medium at worst) over the course of a season, yet, still, people said he was awful. Same with Casillas. As I said, I doubt there are 10 keepers that are better than him. Buffon, Neuer, De Gea, Curtois, maybe Bravo, maybe Diego Alves, possibly Hart. That's about it. Possibly Ter Stegen (he can even become the best in the world if he gains consistency). About as good as Cech.

1. Neuer, 2. Buffon, 3. De Gea, 4. Curtois, 5. Bravo, 6. Diego Alves, 7. Ter Stegen, 8. Joe Hart, 9. Petr Cech, 10. Casillas.

Edit. I forgot Lloris.

That's where we will kind of disagree in the top level point.. Iker probably a top keeper for thousands of clubs but we are talking about a top 4 club in Europe here he isn't good enough now ..
And trust me it will be hard to replace him i personally have my doubts about DDG and any keeper will struggle to replace Iker but the difference is they have time on their side and can improve... and hopefully they will be better in time to overcome any short comings Iker brilliantly overcome by his speedy reflexes
There were people who believe Diego Lopez is /was better than Iker ..i don't see many great keepers around .. 4 out of the top 10 already above 30 (i think Neuer is ? or 29 ) .. DDG-Courtois and Ter Stegen will probably be the future for keepers in few years... and you know who will be exactly like Iker when he gets old ? it's Curtois.. both baseline keepers who rely on reflexes although the later is much much taller
Funny I remember the first man who wanted Iker out was actually Capello in 2006 because he said Iker is unable to dominate the box and weak in crosses & set pieces ...
Iker a legend ... but we have to look ahead and the future for Iker is elsewhere at 34/35 it was a great service & greater journey

FYI Navas was not twice as worse as Iker he didn't get the chance but i do remember his heroics with Levante a year before..he is a very good keeper & probably if it wasn't for this year on the bench he could belong to this list pity he didn't get his chance

 

[Beast]

The end...C’est fini

“C’est fini”. With those two words in French, a tearful Iker Casillas brought to an end his farewell statement on Sunday to the Real Madrid fans he has served as first-team goalkeeper and captain for 16 seasons.

Dressed in a dark blue shirt and sitting alone in front of the assembled media at the Bernabéu stadium, the 34-year-old, who is leaving for Portuguese side Porto, choked up several times as he thanked Real for “giving me everything”.

“This club also moulded me as a person and helped me to grow,” said Casillas, who joined the Real academy at the age of nine and debuted for the first team at 18.

“Beyond remembering me as a good goalkeeper or a bad goalkeeper, I just hope that people remember me for being a good person,” he added.

 

[FCBarca]

He was a legend even at 19, his impact was remarkable and in particular due to the incredible circumstances...They kicked a unique legend to the curb, fine example of one of many differences between clubs but no one can be surprised as it's happened several times before...It's just that I don't think there is a bigger Spanish legend for RM nevermind a cantera & blue collar local kid

Forget the Samu chant against RM, just remind them of Iker...over & over

 

[Beast]

Iker Message to the fans

-----------
After 25 years of defending the crest of the greatest team in the world, the most difficult day in my sports career has arrived: I have to say goodbye to an institution that's given me everything.

During all this time, we've suffered, laughed, cried and had a good time together. I’ve always felt loved and the club has been unfailingly there for me, in both the good times and the bad times. This club has not only taught me to be an athlete, it has pushed me to develop as a person. It has helped me to grow, instilling in me the values that its crest defends: respect, team spirit, commitment, humility... and I've tried to reflect those values wherever I've represented Real Madrid.

Today I'd like to make a special mention to all my team-mates. Throughout all these years, we've experienced unique and unrepeatable times together, team-mates with whom I've formed a family and shared tears of both joy and sadness. I'm leaving some great friends, but I know that wherever I may be, I can always count on them, just like they can count on me. My coaches and their staff have been my teachers, the best in the world: I'd like to thank them all, for their advice, their understanding, their experience and their professionalism. I’ve learned so much from all of them. I'd also like to thank all the staff: They've always been ready to support me and solve any problem.

And all my affection for my parents and all my family, who through their efforts and devotion helped me to embark on this journey. And above all, my wife and my son, because they will be by my side every day, sharing every second of this exciting period in my life.

And these final words, I dedicate them especially to all of you, Real Madrid fans, who know no bounds. Thank you for your unconditional support, for allowing me to raise each cup, for each victory, for being your captain, for being there in the good times and the bad, for extending your hand to me and for lifting me up. Don’t remember me for being a good or bad goalkeeper... Remember me as a good person, with its defects.

Thank you to so many for so much. I'll never forget you, and wherever I go, I'll continue to shout: Hala Madrid!!!!!
-----------------------

 

[Hamzah]

End of an era...

His parents are quite mad at the way Perez treated him. They said he was forced out to second division club Porto because Perez doesn't want him to succeed, and they'd rather he joined a club like barca.