Iker Casillas admits he is tired of discussing his situation at Real Madrid after setting a new personal record for minutes without conceding a goal.
The veteran club captain has not played a league game for more than a year after being overlooked for Diego Lopez by former manager Jose Mourinho and new man in charge Carlo Ancelotti.
He is currently Madrid’s ‘cup goalkeeper’ as a result of Ancelotti’s controversial rotation policy, and kept his sixth consecutive clean sheet in Tuesday’s 1-0 Copa del Rey first leg victory at Espanyol, making an excellent late save from Jhon Cordoba to secure the victory.
Casillas now hasn’t conceded a single goal in his last 592 minutes of action, beating his previous record of 520 minutes, and his fortresslike form goes back all the way to Madrid’s 4-1 Champions League victory over Galatasaray at the end of November.
His future at the Bernabeu has repeatedly been in doubt ever since Ancelotti confirmed his decision to stick with Lopez in La Liga, with Casillas occasionally contributing to the debate with intriguingly ambiguous declarations.
On this occasion, though, he was clear about his commitment to Los Blancos as he said: “I’m bored of talking about myself. I just have to train as well as I can and enjoy it when I play, because it’s a pleasure.
“I always want to play, the same as everyone. You have to work hard, be happy, keep working and make the most of any chances that come your way.”
Asked whether he wants to stay at the Bernabeu beyond the current season, he sighed: “Of course I do.
“I want to enjoy this season because we’re still in three competitions. Last season was very bad, and now I hope we can get to April depending upon ourselves.
“We have made up a lot of points in La Liga, which is good for team morale. We have Schalke coming up in the Champions League and we will take things one step at a time.”
Casillas also expressed his pleasure at his new personal record and the team’s recent defensive excellence in general, which has seen them keep six consecutive clean sheets including three in La Liga with Lopez between the posts.
“I am pleased about the personal record and about how the team are doing as a whole because we are really focused, working hard and Lapping it up: Iker Casillas has impressed in the few games he’s played this term. doing very well in defence,” he said.
