Ricardo Kaká was most lethal in the middle, right behind the forwards, and his most dazzling qualities were his dribbling, acceleration, incisive passing, and when he felt like it, his impeccable finishing.
By spearheading Milan’s 7th UCL triumph with an impressive 10 goals for an attacking midfielder, he showed the world he was a world-beater, and he deservedly won the Ballon d’Or by beating out two very good yet very young players in Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
These two titans were only just beginning to show the world their prowess, while Kaka had been riding the wave since 2003. The pinnacle of his Milan (and overall) career was indeed his Ballon d’Or and champions league win in 2007, however, even though 5 trophies in 5 seasons is respectable.
It was admittedly underwhelming for the caliber Kaka’s Milan side possessed…and at only 25 years of age, plenty more was expected of him, especially with the talent surrounding him.
Then Real shook the world and brought him to Santiago Bernabeu for 65 million$.
With Jose Mourinho in the hot seat of RM, things started to fall apart. Upon his arrival, he was subjected to various setbacks.
We’ve listed some reasons why Ricardo Kaká’s career does not flourish in Real Madrid.
Injuries:
There is no questioning about Kaka’s talent. But his game depended a lot on his pace, if you look at his AC Milan days, the confederation cup (where he outran Messi in the process of scoring a memorable goal), his pace was something which the defenders had to worry.
Injury can probably be highlighted as the biggest reason why Kaka failed at Madrid.
The playmaker’s injury troubles in his first two seasons didn’t go down well with the Madrid supporters as they had expected him to shine from the start.
Periodical injuries later on also hampered his playing time and availability with Jose Mourinho looking towards the likes of Jose Callejon and Gonzalo Higuain/Karim Benzema to start on the wings in Di Maria’s absence.
The arrival of Jose Mourinho:
Well, many believe Jose Mourinho is the one who caused a setback. Many fans were very disappointed with the way he was treated in Madrid.
It’s widely known that Jose always prefers a team of his own, field players of his choice.
The signing of Mesut Ozil, made kaka just a squad player. He was benched often, limited chances, probably, one major reason for his diminishing form.
Fans Expectation New signings at Real Madrid are always under pressure to perform their best.
The Bernabeu crowd is impatient and they demand a lot from the player since his very first day.
Kaka was under immense pressure to perform from the beginning as he carried a lot of expectations and the injuries that he suffered only added to the burden.
Lack of support:
The Milan team under Carlo Ancelloti was perfectly suited for kaka, he was given the free role to roam and succeeded so well and deservingly won the ballon d’Or.
Right after his move to Real Madrid, the players weren’t definitely of Milan’s class, leading to a few inconsistent performances.
To sum it up, Kaká was indisputably the best player in the world at one moment in time. His legacy also has to do with him always being a very humble and down-to-earth man.
A true gentleman of the game who was a lethal attacker, but “probably” peaked too early due to circumstances that were partially out of his control, even though his peak was very good.
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