Flick once again singles out Casadó after a busy summer at Barça. The German coach substituted him again at halftime to pull off another comeback, and Frenkie will return to being a regular starter.
Barça pulled off another away comeback after a sluggish start to the game. The Blaugrana managed to turn the score around against Oviedo by reorganizing their attack and with greater fluidity in their play in the second half. One of the key factors was undoubtedly the introduction of Frenkie de Jong, who came on to replace Marc Casadó, a player who was once again singled out as the first substitution by Hansi Flick. The youth academy graduate already had a difficult summer with constant rumors of a possible departure and much internal debate at the club about the advisability of making a good sale with him. It remains to be seen what his role will be for the rest of the season, as De Jong is set to be a regular starter
Casadó brought energy to the midfield against Oviedo, but Barça lacked fluidity in moving the ball out from the back despite Pedri's immense work covering the entire field and trying to give his teammates some breathing room. Barça managed to get past the Asturians on a few occasions, although Casadó did perform well and was alert in intercepting the ball. But Flick wanted a higher tempo and ended up substituting him so that De Jong could take charge, and the team's change was symptomatic. It is not the first time he has ended up substituting the youth academy player at halftime, something that already happened against Levante, making it clear that the midfielder does not have the coach's trust in critical moments.
Marc Casadó burst onto the scene last season as an unexpected alternative in the pivot position. The youth academy graduate had a good preseason and ended up being catapulted into the starting lineup, taking advantage of the absences in midfield. Flick had bet on Marc Bernal as the pivot in front of the defense, but the young Blaugrana suffered a serious knee injury in the early rounds of the league, so Casadó ended up becoming the master of the starting spot... until January, when Frenkie de Jong left him completely on the bench
This situation of ostracism and an untimely injury at the end of the season opened the way for a possible transfer in the summer. Barça needed to sell to comply with the 1:1 rule, there were very important offers on the table, and internally, it was believed that this could be the most manageable departure in midfield. In any case, Flick did not want Fermín to leave the Blaugrana team under any circumstances, and his attitude was colder towards Casadó, although in the end, the German coach came out publicly to defend his continuity. Flick prioritized keeping the group over signing new players and communicated this to the sports management and the board
At the start of this season, Casadó has also tried to make the most of his opportunities. The youth academy graduate has played very little since January of last year and wanted to show that he had a place in the starting eleven. Flick has once again given him a role in rotations, and the injuries to Frenkie de Jong and Gavi left him with a space that, initially, he was not going to have. But his substitutions in games where Barça was losing make it clear that his future could follow the same path as last season
Flick is managing his squad carefully this season, and Frenkie de Jong arrived with a knock from the international break. There is no desire to take any risks with the Dutchman, but now he is fit and it is more than likely that he will already be a regular starter in the majority of the games coming up until the November break. It is evident that his style brings more dynamism at the moment, just as it did last season.
And the Marc Bernal factor is also going to come into play: Flick and Barça are clear that he should be the midfielder of the future, but his serious knee injury means that the German is acting cautiously.
The idea is for Bernal to gradually get more minutes, just like Gavi did last season, and from November onwards, even start to compete for a starting spot in some games. For now, the youth academy player is not included in the rotations to avoid setbacks, but his time is approaching, and if everything goes well, Casadó could be affected. Undoubtedly, the blame for the 0-1 halftime score against Oviedo was not his, far from it, but being the only halftime substitution leaves him somewhat affected.