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It used to be a case of ‘no Isco, no disco’ at Real Madrid. Now there’s a broken-record feel to his prolonged absence from the starting line-up.
His tweet this week, in which he complained about a lack of opportunities, roused a few of his most ardent supporters but after Santiago Solari engineered a draw at the Nou Camp and has the team on an upward curve in La Liga the outrage at him being left out is increasingly muted.
Former Real Madrid player Ruben de la Red had tweeted earlier this week: ‘Isco has to understand that Madrid waits for no one.’
It used to be a case of ‘no Isco, no disco’ at Real Madrid before Santiago Solari took charge
But Solari’s resistance in playing Isco has led to better not worse results at the Bernabeu
Isco responded: ‘Totally in agreement with De la Red but when you don’t enjoy the same opportunities as your team-mates the thing changes.’
Does he have a point? Certainly his minutes in the first team have been massively reduced under Solari. He ranks 21st in the squad in terms of time on the pitch since the Argentinian coach took over. Only Vallejo, Mariano and Brahim Diaz are playing less.
And it’s also true that in a brief appearance in Real Madrid’s last league win he played a sublime pass in the build-up to the team’s third goal.
But Solari’s resistance in playing Isco has led to better not worse results. Real Madrid without Isco in the side play with greater intensity, defend better and are offensively more direct.
Ruben de la Red tweeted this week: ‘Isco has to understand that Madrid waits for no one’
Isco responding in kind and complained about a lack of opportunities at the club
Lucas Vazquez – one of those consistently ahead of him in the pecking order – has been one of the team’s best players since the turn of the year.
Isco supporters have pointed to the way, despite Marcelo’s apparent cliff-edge drop in form and fitness, he still featured in the starting line-up on Wednesday at the Nou Camp.
But there are two reasons why it’s unfair to accuse Solari of double standards. Firstly there seems to be some sort of royal decree that means a game of cup semi-final importance must have Marcelo starting.
‘He’s the club captain’ was Solari’s telling post-match comment on a player who he clearly has lost faith in judging from the way 23-year-old Sergio Reguilon is now the first-choice left-back in the league.
Only three players at Real Madrid have featured in fewer minutes than Isco under Solari
Without Isco Real Madrid have greater intensity, defend better and are offensively more direct
And secondly, if there is some unspoken rule that means Marcelo must play in certain games – as unfair as that may be – it can at least be said that after a decade of service playing more games and winning more medals than almost any other overseas player he has deserved some sort of respect.
Isco is yet to earn that. Which brings the story back to his complaint that he never gets the chance.
He has had opportunities from the bench but, that assist last week apart, he has not taken them. If Real Madrid have a player who has been hard done by in terms of team selection then it is Keylor Navas who has done nothing in the last three years to merit being replaced.
He came in at the Camp Nou in midweek and was outstanding once again. Navas has kept quiet, trained harder than ever, and grabbed every opportunity.
Even if Isco has a point, his complaints are unlikely to change Solari’s mind. And there is no doubt that the coach has the backing of the board – he is too politically astute to be leaving Isco out without the thumbs-up of those who will decide at the end of the season if he stays or goes.
Isco was banking on Solari leaving in the summer and that still may happen if Madrid win nothing. But the board – who will not be leaving – appear to have decided the future of the team will not revolve around Isco.
The Spanish playmaker has had opportunities from the bench but has struggled to take them
So where does he go at the end of the season? Would there be a Premier League escape route for him?
Manuel Pellegrini would love him at West Ham. No one has got a better tune out of Isco than Pellegrini when he built his Malaga side around him and reached the unprecedented heights of hard-done-by Champions League quarter-finalists.
But could Isco’s ego take the hit of going from Real Madrid to West Ham? It’s a common misconception that Pep Guardiola would love Isco at Manchester City.
Guardiola loves a baller but he also demands an intensity both mentally and physically, on the ball and off the ball, that would make them far less suited that might first appear.
Manuel Pochettino and Jurgen Klopp make similar demands on their players although they might be slightly more open to working on Isco and changing him as a player.
He sometimes holds on to the ball for too long, or comes too deep to look for the ball when his team need him to be higher up the pitch. Perhaps Unai Emery could work on those weaknesses and mould him into a Premier League player.
Manuel Pellegrini would love him at West Ham after their time together at Malaga
But it was Emery who sent him packing from Valencia when he was a kid coming through at Mestalla.
Isco is at his best when the team is built around him as it was at Malaga under Pellegrini. Perhaps in the post-Eden Hazard world Chelsea would be somewhere where he could become the focal point.
Real Madrid would certainly be happy to do the two deals in parallel if it brings down the price of the Belgian for them.
If there is no Premier League club calling – and there has not been yet – then maybe Serie A will be his route out of Madrid. Or he could just dig in and play out his contract until 2022.
It would be a shame if he did that but got no more minutes than he is currently enjoying under Solari, making the occasional defence splitting pass as a substitute and pinging off the occasional tweet.
He remains one of football’s most naturally gifted players but his time at Madrid may have come to an end. If he can’t get a kick now, then what chance next season if either Eden Hazard or Neymar or even both, are also wearing white?
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