The new position for German midfielder
It is not Kroos’s favorite position. “I am not a Casemiro” , the German came to say a few years ago. But against Valencia he will have to play him. From Tchouameni, rather. The Frenchman stayed in Madrid suffering from an injury to his left soleus and Ancelotti, after the departure of Case , once again was left without a specific replacement for the position. Kroos, who turned 33 on January 4, will have to play as a pivot again.
Not the favorite position for Toni
It is not his favorite position, but neither is it a demarcation that is strange to him. He performed it on many occasions during his international career with the German team (which he ended in the summer of 2021, after the Euro Cup) and has also had to perform these functions with Real Madrid. Without going any further, this season. Kroos has already played four games as a pivot this season. He did it against Mallorca, Elche, Celtic at the Bernabéu and, most recently, in Valladolid on December 30, in the league restart after the World Cup break.
Valverde was present in midfield in all four games, while Modric completed the midfield hat trick against Elche and Celtic and Ceballos was the third in contention in the middle against Mallorca and Valladolid. This season, the man from Greifswald has intervened in 20 of the 24 games that Real Madrid has played and scored the goal that ended up serving to add the three points against Cádiz. Kroos is, according to the artificial intelligence developed by Olocip , the fourth player who has contributed the most value (4.45) to Real Madrid’s game in the League . That is, his actions contribute to generating or avoiding a goal every 245 minutes. Only Valverde (who is also the leader of the championship), Vinicius and Militao have a greater significance for Ancelotti’s team.