Iker Casillas and How Not to Treat Your Legends

Iker Casillas in tears as he thanks the fans at his good-bye press conference. Cr: Getty Images

In May of 2015, I –having realized that I had been a responsible spender the last few months and therefore had a bit of extra cash sitting in my account — decided to splurge a bit and purchase a 14/15 Iker Casillas third kit from Real Madrid’s online store.

When my father asked me why him of all people (I own four Mesut Özil kits, so anyone else is considered a bit out of the ordinary), I told him that ever since Spain’s most un-glorious exit from the World Cup, I’d had a sort of bad, sinking feeling in the bottom of my stomach — like indigestion powered by paranoia rather than your grandmothers baked beans: Iker’s days at Real Madrid were numbered, and a legacy spanning 20 years, 510 appearances, 3 UEFA Cups, 5 La Liga titles, 2 Copa del Reys, and 5 World’s Best Goalkeeper awards would soon come to an end.

Now I thank the heavens I bought the jersey when I did, because as soon as it was announced that Iker Casillas would be moving to FC Porto, all vestiges of Iker’s presence as an active Real Madrid player, including his merchandise, were removed so quickly from the internet it was almost reminiscent of the tech-thriller movies of yore — when an insidious computer-hacker villain would insert his flash-drive containing a virus into the main computer, effectively erasing all traces of the hapless protagonist from the planet. All that remains of Iker Casillas on Real Madrid’s website are a few official statements, a link to his unceremonious and largely depressing press-conference, and a brief thank-you message.

Compare that to Xavi Hernandez’s farewell from FC Barcelona, and you can see why many fans and journalists alike are questioning Real Madrid’s apparent lack of respect for a club legend.

While some, like me, were shocked at the lack of fanfare at Casillas’ good-bye press-conference, in which the goalkeeper sat alone before the press without any representatives from Real Madrid’s administration present, others believe he had it coming.

He was, of course, the center of possibly the largest controversy in modern Spanish football, involving Spain’s fiercest rivalry, a locker room divided, a phonecall shrouded in mystery, and one Portuguese manager by the name of José Mourinho.

An entire book could probably be written on the controversy surrounding Mourinho’s short tenure at Real Madrid, and I’m certain someday someone will attempt one. For a more detailed description I highly encourage you to read Deadspin’s article from last October, which gives a very in-depth (but not comprehensive) explanation of the issue in question, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll just give a general overview.

The gist of the conflict is centered around the rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid. Before Mourinho arrived in Madrid, the relationship between both clubs, while not warm and fuzzy, was certainly not horrible. Clásicos were heated, but in general there remained a sense of respect between the two rivals. After Mourinho arrived, however, with his win-at-all-costs attitude and penchant for blaming anything and anyone other than his own team, things quickly turned hostile. Clásicos deteriorated into kicking matches, characterized by overly-harsh play, ridiculous diving, cursing, pushing, shoving and the occasional finger in the eye-socket.

Some embraced Mourinho’s militaristic no-shits-given type of attitude, others lamented the perceived destruction of Real Madrid’s core system of values: a system they believed to be personified by the likes of Iker Casillas.

At the height of the Barça-Madrid dispute, Casillas allegedly placed a phone-call to Barcelona’s captains, Xavi Hernandez and Carlos Puyol, asking them to set aside their differences with Madrid and make peace, lest the locker-room of the Spain national team become a hotbed of conflict. The captains agreed, and just in time to win the 2012 Euro tournament, but in the eyes of José, Casillas’ compliance with the enemy was a form of grave betrayal.

To make matters worse, Casillas suffered a brief dip in form and a broken hand later that fall, forcing him out of the starting goalkeeper position. José capitalized on his absence by bringing in a relatively unknown replacement, and rumors circulated that he was attempting to oust Casillas as Real Madrid’s number one. Shortly thereafter, whispers of a mole in the Real Madrid locker room began circulating among fans, as media outlets repeatedly reported on conversations only players and staff members were privy to. To many, Iker Casillas, with this sports reporter girlfriend and general dislike of Mourinho, looked to be the most likely candidate. The wheels had been set in motion for Casillas’ fall from grace in the eyes of both his club and a sizeable chunk of its supporters.

As Real Madrid struggled through another season, support for Mourinho spread within the club fanbase, as he seemed to be the last person fighting back against Barcelona’s apparent superiority in the league, while players such as Iker Casillas were too caught up in honor, dignity and respecting the opponent (in short, madridismo) to show any sort of fighting spirit. During this time Mourinho also openly acknowledged his issues with some players that believed themselves to be “above the rest,” an accusation that was generally thought to be aimed at Casillas.

By the time Mourinho left, Casillas was being whistled at matches with increasing frequency, and not even Carlo Ancelotti’s success with the club in the 13/14 season could ease the criticism leveled at Real Madrid’s beloved captain. His subsequent dip in form the following season and Spain’s dismal performance at the 2014 World Cup cemented his decline. His time is up, journalists and fans alike cried, he’s not fit to be number one anymore.

From what I have seen and heard from sources online and in real life, Real Madrid fans this season seem to be in three separate camps when it comes to Casillas. There are those who hate him, who have always hated him ever since the Mourinho conflict, and who believe Casillas thought himself bigger than the club and its management and deserved every insult hurled at him. There are those who love him to the ends of the earth. To them Casillas is a matyr, one of the last few players in the modern age who believed in an ideal bigger than himself and his club, who truly gave his all for Real Madrid, who deserved the number one spot at Real Madrid for many years to come and who was unjustly and unceremoniously dropped by Real in order to make way for a more profit and trophy-oriented type of football.

Then there are those, like myself, who are a bit more pragmatic. Those who acknowledge that Casillas is truly representative of madridismo, that players like him are increasingly rare, and that he is the greatest goal keeper Real Madrid, and arguably Spain, has ever seen, but who also believe his increasing dips in form to be indicative of his advanced age and his loss of confidence. To them, the sun had been setting on Iker’s time at Madrid for a while now. The only question that remained was whether, when the last rays of sunlight were gone, there would be fireworks lighting the sky, or only darkness.

The last 24 hours have shown us that the answer, at least where Real Madrid officials are concerned, is darkness.

Now I understand that Casillas has a legitimate reason for refusing a large good-bye party at the Bernabéu (after all, who wants to run the risk of being whistled on their last day at the club they love?), but Real Madrid’s hasty expulsion of Casillas from its website and social media networks, and lack of presence at Casillas’ actual good-bye press conference make the club’s reaction to his transfer seem more like a ‘good riddance’ than a ‘farewell, thank you for twenty years of service.’

In context, Casillas’ exit from the club did not happen out of the blue. It is the latest in a string of exits that many consider to be nonsensical and largely unbefitting of those leaving. Take for example Carlo Ancelotti’s sacking exactly one year after winning the Champion’s League trophy with Real, or the character assassination attempted by club president Florentino Perez on Mesut Özil after his abrupt move to Arsenal was widely criticized. Going further back we can see club legends Raul and Guti were treated in a similar manner when they left in 2010.

What happened today with Casillas is not new. It is however, the apotheosis of Florentino’s quest to purge the club members who many identify with Real Madrid’s philosophy of madridismo. No other modern player comes as close to being synonymous with Real Madrid as Iker Casillas, and many people, myself included, see his sending off as the end of an era. While homegrown players who embody the values of their teams are thriving at clubs like Barcelona, they are a dying breed at Real Madrid.

In a way history is only repeating itself. When he initially resigned in 2006, Perez cited the failure of the Galácticos policy of buying huge stars with no regard to whether or not they would actually play well together as one of the main reasons for his departure. Taking a look at Real Madrid’s recent purchasing habits, however, we can quickly see that this policy is slowly but surely making its way back into Real Madrid’s club culture.

My reaction to this realization, like many others, is one of disappointment. I love Real Madrid, and I’ll always support it. But my relationship with this club will forever be tainted by the disrespect I have witnessed these past few days, and the evermore obvious return of los Galácticos.

To Casillas, who I have loved and admired since I first watched him square off against Barcelona so many years ago, I hope your new club is a home away from home. I hope they welcome you with open arms, I hope they laugh with you, joke with you, make friends with you, and above all, respect you. You’ve suffered many indignities at Real, and all I can say to that is I am sorry. I am sorry the club you have played for since you were nine years old, the only club you have ever known, has forced you to walk away like this. I’m sorry that fans have such short memories, and that Real Madrid fans in particular are so fickle about who they whistle and who they cheer.

I hope going to FC Porto is an adventure for you. A journey. A breath of fresh air after spending so long underwater. A rebirth.

I hope that what you said today in your press-conference is true.

Today is not a good-bye.

Only a ‘see you soon.’

Update: After being slammed by an incredible amount of criticism over Casillas’ lackluster good-bye, Perez and Real Madrid management hastily prepared a farewell event at the Bernabéu this morning for the Madrid captain. A relatively small group of fans was able to gather in the short notice provided, and chants for Perez’s resignation could be heard before they entered the stadium. For many this gesture is too little too late.