How do you solve a problem like Kaka?
By Didac Peyret - soccernet
"I'm not guilty of anything," said Kaka after Real Madrid's Champions League humbling at the hands of Lyon, but nine months after his £56 million move from AC Milan, the jury is still out on the Brazilian
The arrival of Kaka in June generated fevered excitement in the Spanish capital, the likes of which had not been seen since Zinedine Zidane made his world record move to the Bernabeu from Juventus in 2001.
However, since his arrival, Kaka has been a source of frustration for Madridistas. He has struggled to find his place in Madrid and his dream move has become something of a nightmare.
According to former Real director of football Arrigo Sacchi, anxiety has been consuming Kaka. "I have no doubt that the fans have not known the true Kaka," says Sacchi. "This is happening because the team is not playing well, because he has had fitness problems and because he must adjust to a new country and a new club. But he is a fantastic player. He loves his job and suffers from excessive strain; I feel sorry for him."
Kaka's statistics show that he has unbalanced Madrid's defending and has succeded with only 40% of his dribbles. As Publico recently explained, of the 30 players that have attempted the most dribbles in La Liga, the Brazilian has the worst success rate. Kaka has succeeded with just 36 of 90 dribbles, while Cristiano Ronaldo has succeeded with 55 of 94.
Kaka has also been wasteful with the ball at his feet. Only Marcelo has failed with more passes (269) than the playmaker, who has lost possession on 232 occasions. Indeed, as many as 25% of Kaka's passes have gone astray and he has lost the ball once every nine minutes on average.
There are myriad factors for why this classy midfielder is totally unrecognisable from the figure that appeared imperious for Milan. He appears to enter the field overexcited and has not demonstrated the explosive acceleration that he utilised so well in Serie A.
Sacchi charts the career of Kaka in terms of his behaviour. "Kaka is an introverted boy, with great sensitivity," says the former AC Milan manager. "He is a fantastic person but finds it hard to get used to new situations. He has class [though] and I don't think he is going to get demoralised. [Michel] Platini and [Marco] van Basten, for example, found it hard to settle into Italian football, but then succeeded. When you are on a new stage, it takes some time to recharge your self-esteem."
Indeed, in La Liga he has not enjoyed the same space that he did in Italy and he has played closer to the midfield than the forwards. In a team full of strikers, but with problems in their capacity for creativity, Kaka has not settled and has only shown flashes of his talent.
As another AC Milan great, Franco Baresi, said in El Pais: "He's not a midfielder, he is a striker. His best position is behind the forward. His game is more lucid the closer he is to the goalkeeper."
Kaka is at his best when making a devastating impact on a match. He is not the kind of player who is permanently connected to the game - like Xavi for example - and when asked to do so he becomes more predictable. Madrid have asked this of the player, most notably when Xabi Alonso was absent against Lyon. In Italy he was able to play more of an individual game, but in Madrid he cannot do the same. In the Spanish capital, it appears nobody knows how to solve a problem like Kaka.
Not everyone is pessimistic, though. Former Real coach Mariano Garcia Remon still retains confidence that the situation will be reversed.
"It reminds me of Zidane, who took a bit of time to adapt to a new team," he told El Mundo. "Anyway, the Kaka seen in Milan in recent years hasn't been the best Kaka. The player will grow up when Madrid grow in the way they play the game."
Robinho also has no doubts about his compatriot. "It's always the same in Madrid," says the former Real forward. "When things go wrong, they always blame foreigners. But Kaka is spectacular and will recover from this situation. For sure he is going to be a success in the shirt of Real Madrid and will achieve much success with the Brazil team."
But while a settled role with Real continues to elude Kaka, judgement will be withheld.