Aurélien Tchouaméni seems to be living this season, his second at Real Madrid, on a roller coaster. The Frenchman has lost his status as a starter and the board does not like him despite his status as practically untouchable for Carlo Ancelotti. After fierce criticism for his poor play in the cup derby against Atlético and in the match against Almería, the Frenchman recovered part of his credit on Saturday at the Gran Canaria stadium with his goal that marked the victory of the whites against Las Palmas, the tenth comeback in this campaign.
After a first season in which he played 50 games and in which he was seen as a more or less acceptable substitute for Casemiro, in the current season the problems came suddenly for the French midfielder, who had to play as a center back from very early on, a position that he does not like too much, due to the successive injuries of Éder Militão and David Alaba, as well as the red cards to Nacho.
But it wasn’t just that. As a midfielder, his position was also questioned by the good form of his compatriot Camavinga, who offered much more dynamism as a defensive midfielder and was better associated with the fast play of the double pivot formed by Valverde and Kroos and Bellingham at the top of the diamond.
Tchouaméni was criticized for moving the ball slowly, not making defensive coverage quickly and contributing little in attack despite his good ball striking and his size when defending or finishing corners. To make matters worse, the Frenchman was injured in the classic on October 28 in Montjuïc, suffering a stomp that caused a fracture in the second metatarsal of his left foot. He reappeared almost two months later, on December 17 against Villarreal at the Bernabéu.
Then luck allied itself with Tchouaméni in the form of a companion’s misfortune. Camavinga was injured on November 23 in a French national team training session with a rupture of the external lateral ligament in his right knee after a challenge by Dembelé.
Tchouaméni arrived at the game against Las Palmas at the lowest moment of the season. A few days before, Ancelotti had criticized him in public, something very rare for the Italian, who said of him “that he could have defended better in Griezmann’s goal (3-2 in the Cup), there is no doubt about that.”
Tchouaméni paid for his poor performances with his substitution last Saturday on the day that Bellingham did not play due to an accumulation of cards and Madrid felt orphaned of the goals of its best player. That day, January 27, Tchouaméni turned 24 and spent the first 81 minutes on the bench. And football things. Tchouaméni came on for Camavinga in the 81st minute and scored the winning goal just two minutes later by heading in a corner kick from Kroos, his second goal of the season (the one he scored in Montilivi was exactly the same), in which he has played 22 games, 16 in the League.
After the match, Tchouaméni commented that “this is the type of victories that the League gives” and that he had celebrated his birthday by “eating a cake at the hotel.” On Thursday at the Coliseum against Getafe Tchouameni will once again compete for Camavinga’s position and the debate will continue.
