Cesare Casadei: Profiling the Playing Style of Chelsea's New Midfield Dynamo
Shades of Michael Ballack's aerial prowess & Frank Lampard's late box-crashing runs offer reasons aplenty to be excited about the 19-year-old midfielder joining from Inter Milan.
Chelsea’s surreal summer rebuild only gathered pace after a deal was agreed with Inter Milan for Cesare Casadei, hailed as one of the brightest young prospects in an Italian youth setup that has spawned the likes of Nicolo Barella, Sandro Tonali and others in recent years. With a fee believed to be worth €20m (€15 + 5 add ons), the Blues have now shelled out generously for a second U19 star, after completing a deal for England U19 and Aston Villa midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka earlier this summer. In this article, we dive deep into Casadei’s game, analyzing just why Chelsea were keen on the Italy U19 international.
Cloaked Dagger
“He has been with us (Italy U19s) since he was 15,” Maurizio Viscidi, coordinator of the Italian National youth teams, told Gazzetta Dello Sport. “He’s a modern midfielder, because out of all the youth team midfielders he’s been the one with the greatest aptitude for attacking runs and goalscoring. He attacks the area penalty area better than anyone else we’ve seen, better than [Davide] Frattesi or [Nicolo] Barella.”
That high praise does not come without merit. In the Primavera, Casadei has notched up an eye-watering 24 goals and 7 assists in just 65 appearances. Last season, he was voted Player of the Season as Inter U19s won the league, with Casadei’s attacking exploits key to their triumph.
Casadei features as a mezzala (mezzo+ala = half-winger), or in non-puritan terms, as a right-sided 8 in Inter U19’s 3 man midfield (he features on the left for the Azzurri U19s) from where he functions as the primary link between midfield and attack. He is also comfortable as a 10, but his style of play makes him most effective as an 8. The 19-year-old’s best asset is his intuitive movement and late runs into the box, displaying an impressive interpretation of where space is likely to open up, a feature all too familiar to Chelsea fans since the Frank Lampard days. A regular ploy he utilizes is distributing the ball out to the flanks to shift the opposition defence’s attention out wide, before moving elusively into the box to attack deliveries. Keep an eye on the player starting the sequences below.
Aerial Menace
Standing at just above 6’1, Casadei is a colossus in the air. He possesses a strong, well-timed leap — his ability to attack crosses and attacking set-pieces aggressively, coupled with ability to ghost in unmarked, is reminiscent of Michael Ballack. A healthy proportion of his goals come from headers.
Strong all-round foundations
To hem him into the box-crashing, attacking CM category, however, would be a disservice to other well-honed parts of his game. He is technically sound, maneuvers well in tight spaces and is comfortable passing with either foot. His passing and vision are underrated aspects of his game; he often tries to pick out quality first-time throughballs and key passes to unsettle the opposition. The weight of these passes is well measured, but he could do with minimizing the “tell” on his passes by disguising them better.
In the middle and attacking 3rd, he is switched on to opportunities to intercept and start attacks by applying pressure. He is a willing runner, happy to position himself in spaces where the ball is likeliest to end up before pouncing on misplaced passes or acting on pressing triggers.
He utilizes the same principles of using space in advanced areas as well; looking to “pass and move” instead of taking on defenders. He isn’t an excellent dribbler, so is reliance on 1-2s and off-the-ball movement to attack spaces suits his strengths.
Threat from Deep
He is effective at progressing the ball from deeper areas as well. As an #8 he is happy to drop deeper when required, before progressing it either by carrying it through space or by passing it between lines. Casadei favours a quicker build up which allows him to pass and move into advanced areas. In the first clip, notice how he makes himself available as his CBs are pressed, scanning twice before picking out a neat line-breaking pass behind the opposition’s first line to start an attack.
In this second clip, notice his starting position, at RCB. This allows Zanotti, the RB, to take an advanced position between lines. Casadei then wanders up field; as Zanotti switches play to the other flank, Casadei attacks the box and scores.
In this third instance, he again starts at RCB and utilizes Zanotti to stretch play wide. After receiving the 2nd pass and moving inwards to drag the opposition defense narrow, he orients his body as if to pass out wide, before deploying an incisive pass to the last line, quickly making a late run to the edge of the box.
He is fairly press-resistant — his technical prowess, ability to shield well and his elegance on the ball makes it hard for opposition players to win the ball back from him. This technical elegance also leaves ample scope to mould him into a deep-lying operator as well, perhaps as the more progressive option in a double-pivot.
His shooting technique makes his direct dead-ball attempts difficult to deal with, with the side foot shot making his attempts dip over walls. Other than set-pieces, he does not attempt too many shots from outside the box. Refining his technique and amping up the quantity could yield interesting dividends.
Defense
The defensive aspects of his game are strong too; last season he won 61.1% of his defensive duels. His endurance at youth level is impressive, and he’s happy to press and get stuck into tackles to win the ball back. You can see in these instances how he shows clever anticipation – standing off his marker, luring him into receiving a pass, before aggressively looking to intercept, recover or tackle.
Where Does He Fit?
First team football could come a little too early for Casadei, who has excelled at youth level, making the recently concluded U19 Euros’ “Team of the Tournament.” His first minutes for Inter’s senior team came in a preseason game against Lugano; before that he was an unused substitute for the Nerazzurri against Sassuolo in February. Italian youngsters in general have struggled for first team game time due to a lack of trust in youth players across the league, which may explain his willingness to leave. The ideal pathway for him would be a loan to a side where he can play regular minutes as a left-sided box-to-box 8, a position in which he is familiar and a role which his characteristics suggest he can develop into. Here, for instance, he starts off defending against the England U19 winger at LB, before playing a quick interchange and taking a shot at the edge of the box. His physical and technical qualities plus his intelligence in picking his moments could see him develop into a player similar to Nicolo Barella.
There are lots of areas where he can improve – notably learning to play in a midfield two at the highest level, exerting added influence in central zones by controlling the tempo and volume of passing, as well as increasing his direct threat from in and around the box. One also imagines that his physical dominance at youth-level will not translate to senior football; so improving his strength and conditioning by playing regular first-team minutes will also be crucial. Although he is quick once he hits top speed, he would benefit from adding explosiveness over the first few yards, which would help him cope better with quicker players.
The addition of another promising #8 to an already bustling roster including Conor Gallagher, Carney Chukwuemeka, Mason Mount and Billy Gilmour could indicate a long-term strategy to shift to a 3-5-2, as Kalidou Koulibaly revealed in his first press conference, which then became reality against Tottenham this past weekend. Casadei adds a much-needed profile of a goal-scoring midfielder who can be nurtured in the long-term to improve a central midfield unit that has seldom contributes assists or non-penalty goals. Kante, Jorginho and Kovacic for instance, contributed 4 goals and 11 assists in a combined 5.604 minutes. Kevin De Bruyne alone managed 15 non-penalty goals and 8 assists in 2,201 minutes. Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan added 16 non-penalty goals and 8 assists in 4,714 combined minutes. That is one of the many gaps that the Blues are looking to bridge so they can challenge for the title again.
Overall, Casadei feels like an exciting long-term acquisition snapped up before the competition gets a word in sideways. With Mateo Kovacic and N’golo Kante already carrying injuries two games into the new season, it could well be an early introduction to the harsh realities of first-team football, but at a club where academy graduates are leaving indelible marks at the club and outside of it, Casadei could yet get his chance to fulfil his massive potential earlier than he himself would have expected. Patience, growth and regular game time will be crucial in ensuring shades of Ballack and Lampard begin to fill in the contours of Chelsea’s bigger picture.
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