Right man for wrong job

[1]

Luka Modric’s career has crossed a historic milestone. By the time this page hits the newstand, Modric would have played a key role in Croatia’s World Cup qualifier against Serbia — the first time the two Balkan rivals face off on a football field since becoming independent nations.

But the playmaker, who loves freedom in the middle of the park, has not really made history in his club career at Real Madrid. Unfortunately, it’s not because he has been playing poorly, in fact he perhaps had his best run at Madrid in recent matches. Nor is it because there are far better players at his position at Madrid. For manager Jose Mourinho, Modric is simply the right man for the wrong job.
By definition Modric is a central midfielder but on field, the Croatian is much more than that. Modric is not a defensive midfielder who stays behind and concentrates on protecting the back-four with crucial interceptions and tackles. Nor is he Xabi Alonso who appends the defensive duties with long diagonal balls forward. Modric is the kind of player who orchestrates the attack with his twinkle toes, beautiful short passes and stylish dinks. He likes to kick-start the creativity from the centre, rather than just behind the striker. These attributes have made him one of the most in-demand players ever since his days at Tottenham Hotspur.
But Mourinho casts his team in a different mould. The Portuguese prefers central midfielders who are strong at tackles and keen on interceptions. Ball-winning is the primary job for a central midfielder under Mourinho-philosophy. True, his midfielders, over the years, have been good at counter-attacks and powering through the channels. But Modric is different. He is more like Xavi than Xabi or the great Claude Makelele.
Against Manchester United in Champions League and Mallorca in La Liga, Modric had good outings. First one since he was brought on soon after Nani’s sending off, meaning more space for him to operate. And with Real desperate for goals, Modric was no longer asked to play by the rule-book of a defensive central midfielder. Against Mallorca, Mourinho decided to rest both Alonso and Sami Khedira and paired Modric with Pepe. And with Pepe — who is traditionally a centre-back — focussing on just the defensive duties, Modric was able play his natural game. The game not only witnessed a stunning strike from the Croatian but more importantly 79 passes (stats from WhoScored.com) from his boots — a match-high. Just to bring in the comparison, after Mourinho brought Alonso in the 62nd minute, the Spaniard made three tackles while Modric, who played the full minutes, made just two.
But despite his recent success, Modric is likely to find himself on the benches for the upcoming matches as Mourinho returns to his preferred set up. So, as the season nears the end, the Croatian has to make up his mind whether he still wants to continue at Real in the eventuality of Mourinho extending his stay. He has to decide that the milestone he would see as he drives for practice next season should read Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.