Player Focus: Is Mourinho Right to Select López Over Casillas?

José Mourinho dared to do what no manger has done in the past 13 seasons. This season wasn't going as smoothly for Los Blancos as they are used to, and after a string of poor performances and plenty of goals conceded, Mourinho went and dropped Iker Casillas. He is a legend at Real Madrid, first choice goalkeeper for Spain, and is scarcely disliked by anyone, so there was little chance of it being a popular decision amongst the fans. As Mourinho looked at other options, Antonio Adán was deemed an inadequate replacement, and Diego López was brought back to the Bernabeu after a 5 and a half year hiatus at Villarreal and Sevilla.

López doesn't look like your typical footballer. He is rather rough and unkempt in appearance, particularly in comparison to the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos, alongside whom he now lines up. What is more, even with his links to the club, having played for Real Madrid 'C' and 'B' at earlier stages in his career, his €3.5 million signature was hardly that of the galactico status that the fans have become accustomed to in recent years. López was also relegated from La Liga last season with Villarreal. For him to usurp the fans' favourite, media charmer that is Casillas as first choice stopper at the Santiago Bernabeu seemed inconceivable. But we all know Mourinho, and he hasn't ever been one to stick to the script.

And so, just 5 days after completing the signing, amidst rumours of disagreements between Mourinho and Madrid stalwarts like Casillas and Ramos over poor performances on the pitch, López started a Copa del Rey tie against Barcelona. The game ended 1-1 and López has since retained his place in the lineup for the ensuing 18 matches, featuring in 5 Champions League ties along the way. Casillas hasn't had a look in even though Madrid have kept only 3 clean sheets in the 19 games with López in goal. All this in spite of the fact that the Whites managed 5 shut-outs in the last 6 matches before the former Villarreal man was drafted in.

So what is it, other than a declaration of his uncompromising power at the helm, that has persuaded Mourinho to stick with López in goal? His performances at Sevilla since his summer move were hardly that impressive. He maintained an extremely poor saves-to-shots ratio of 52% over his 8 games in La Liga - that is, he let in nearly 1 in every 2 shots on target he faced - leading to an average rating of just 5.97, with his last appearance coming in a 2-0 loss at Valencia that left the side 12th in the table.

Mourinho must have seen, though, that Sevilla as a whole were underperforming, and López would fare significantly better with a stronger defence in front of him. He has done just that, managing an extremely impressive save success rate of 74.5% since moving. That ranks him up there with the best in La Liga this season, with Willy Caballero of Malaga and Thibaut Courtois two of the league's best performing stoppers this term, enjoying respective rates of 75% and 74.2%. Both have been heralded as stars for their sides, currently sitting in the top 5 in the league, though López rarely receives such acclaim.

Casillas, meanwhile, has saved just 63.5% of the shots on target he has faced, ranking him 19th of the 22 goalkeepers to make more than 10 appearances in the Spanish top flight this season. That's the first choice keeper for the reigning Primera champions, as well as Vicente del Bosque's preferred choice for his World and European title holders, conceding nearly 2 goals from every 5 shots on target he has to deal with. It is not at all uncommon for a team for have 5 shots on target in a match, and that alone was cause for concern amongst the hierarchy.

Furthermore, it seems Casillas struggles with crosses significantly more than his successor, coming out to catch a cross on only 15 occasions in 19 league appearances this term, opting to punch clear 9 times. López, meanwhile, has successfully claimed 24 crosses in just 12 games in Madrid colours, choosing to punch the ball from danger only 4 times. It is a sign of a 'keeper who is confident in his ability that comes to catch crosses with such regularity, and the fact that Casillas did so, on average, less than once per game, could just highlight a weakness in his game.

Playing in a team where errors are fairly common often means shakiness permeates throughout the team, and can lead to goalkeepers making glaring mistakes that lead to goals. Both keepers, though, have made just one error which has led directly to an opposing goal this season, with López's coming in the 2-1 win at rivals Atletico this weekend, failing to hang on to Gabi's free kick, eventually allowing Falcao to score. His error, though, did not turn out to be costly. Casillas's, meanwhile, came with his side 1-0 up against Valencia on the opening day of the season, the goalkeeper coming for a Tino Costa cross when there was no need, getting nowhere near the ball, and ending up conceding the equaliser which turned out to be the final goal of the game. The Spaniard's incapability when coming for crosses was brutally exposed there, and it cost Real Madrid early points in the title race.

There is every chance that Mourinho was irked by the attitudes of the more senior members of his squad, but it seems his doubts surrounding Casillas were also for footballing reasons. Few would have foreseen a January return to the Bernabeu for Diego López, but it might just have been the right move by 'the special one', with the goalkeeper settling into the number 1 role well and outperforming his predecessor in many respects. Mourinho could be on his way out this summer, and it will be interesting to see if any new Madrid manager keeps faith in him ahead of the legend that is Iker Casillas.