Isco Needs More Consistency to Be Considered Undroppable Real Madrid Galactico

Real Madrid possess one of Spain's top younger talents in playmaker Isco, but the former Malaga man hasn't quite been able to elevate himself into the echelon of undroppable attackers at the club alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

With rumours circulating that the Spain international will look for a move amid a lack of regular match starts at the Santiago Bernabeu club, it's worth remembering that although Isco is a top talent, he hasn't necessarily produced the sort of form associated with Real's very best players—therefore, he perhaps has no real foundation to his annoyance at not being guaranteed game time.

Isco has been linked with Juventus, according to Tuttomercatoweb (h/t Football Italia), and Manchester City, reported by the Mirror (h/t Express), in the past few days alone.

It's a double-sided argument, of course, and there is no reason to think Real should want to offload him. But to be a player who can continually and relentlessly push the team toward top honours, much more must be seen from him on a regular basis.

The opening game of the new season in La Liga was telling for Real Madrid in a tactical sense: Rafa Benitez's 4-2-3-1 lineup had Gareth Bale as the starting No. 10 (as he had been in preseason), with Cristiano Ronaldo left, Isco right and Karim Benzema up front. Those were the nominal starting roles, but there was huge fluidity and movement in the attacking quartet in the early fixtures of the season. Then, one after another—except Ronaldo—they began to succumb to injury.

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Just one change to that attacking portion of the lineup was made for the second game: James Rodriguez, who was unfit for the first match, came in for Isco, and that was equally telling.

It was the Colombian, not the Spaniard, who was starting the campaign as the first choice for the role. His job was to be the creative attacker, cutting infield from the right side and leaving space for Danilo (ahead of Dani Carvajal) to bombard forward and exploit down the flank.

Isco was only on the bench for one game out of the first few in La Liga, though, as he was the first in whenever anyone else was absent—which was with some frequency. Even so, the idea that he was there because others weren't, rather than on his own merit, couldn't be shaken—and a run of games in October to November seemed to verify that.

Lucas Vazquez, Denis Cheryshev and Jese all made fleeting appearances in positions Isco could have, and indeed should have, been nailing down as his own. The No. 22 was only on the bench against Celta Vigo and, counting Champions League games as well, has been subbed off or introduced as a sub in 12 of his 17 appearances this season.

Talented though he might be, has has not shown great consistency in the final third, and his end product is distinctly lower than could be expected so far. He's registered one goal and five assists across both competitions, but four of those assists came in his one particularly good run of form this term: a two-week spell in late September.

Quality levels and rumour-mongering?

Reports immediately in the aftermath of El Clasico, where Isco was left as substitute and then sent off shortly after entering play, suggested the player was unhappy to have been left on the bench and that "he is starting to think he never will be [first choice at Real]," according to Marca.

Well, he has a point.

Nobody, but nobody, doubts Isco's ability. As a playmaker, he has all the necessary traits to be a success: vision, close control, the ability to use either foot and a deft touch to play a ground pass or clipped half-cross into the box, accurately and with timing, to set up a chance. He could add more goals to his game, but even so, he has a good shot on him from range.

But does he display those attributes to their highest capacity often enough? Without question, he has not done so, so far at Real Madrid.

Last season his best form came from the side of midfield in a 4-4-2 and it's no surprise that such consistency in his game came when the team was successful, the system was stable, and Isco himself had a regular, reliable role. Confidence and improved playing comes with regular game time—but again, that came when at least one player was out injured.

As a simple No. 10 option, it's more than arguable that James Rodriguez has a better overall level of talent at this moment than Isco, even though they offer reasonably different styles, of course.

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And what about previous Real Madrid starters, important creators for the team whether they played centrally or from wide cutting in? Mesut Ozil, Angel Di Maria, Xabi Alonso? Even now, Luka Modric and James? How often did they, or do they, have not just a bad game, but a run of four or five matches where they contributed little defensively but also failed to provide output in the final third?

The Marca report above suggested Isco had trained particularly well in the build-up to El Clasico and so was disappointed to be left as sub, but what about his non-performances against Levante and Sevilla beforehand? They count far more toward the thinking of starting a player regularly than four or five training sessions ahead of the biggest game of the season, when everyone will be up for performing well.

Best XI

There are two sides to if Isco should play more regularly for Real.

Firstly, how many (fans, managers, analysts) would have him in a strongest Real Madrid XI, if everybody was fit and everybody was in-form?

Cristiano Ronaldo would be in. Karim Benzema would likely be in. James, too, and Luka Modric. And if we're genuinely discussing top form, as much as Gareth Bale has become a figure of abuse for many Real Madrid supporters, would there seriously be many who wouldn't have a powerful, goalscoring, lightning-quick attacker in the team ahead of Isco at his own scheming best?

It's a bit of a debate over preference of method of attack as much as anything else, but even the most closed-minded of answers to the question would give serious debate over whether Toni Kroos, Isco or Bale took the sixth spot in the forward-most positions.

The BBC (Bale, Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo) attack has been a highlight for Real over the past few years, even though it isn't functioning consistently well this season as yet. There is a reason those players are perceived as largely undroppable, and it's because they have delivered the goods, game after game, season after season.

The second part of the argument is more based in reality: It's improbable, as seen this season and last, that all players will be fit. It's not about a best XI, certainly not for Real Madrid, more like a best 13 or 14, perhaps even as many as 15, who need to be capable of flitting in and out of the side without the overall quality dipping.

If and when Real have that, they'll challenge for titles. While everybody worries about a 1-11 pecking order—Ronaldo over Bale as the chief, Isco in the 11 or not, etc.—it's all just a playground battle and Real will merely provide the backdrop to continued Barcelona celebrations.

Real opportunity

With his future perhaps in the balance, Isco needs some realisation to hit home: He's at arguably the biggest and best team he'll ever play for, and he clocks up the minutes with some frequency even if not as a guaranteed starter.

The simple fact is, he doesn't at this point produce enough to warrant it: On chances created per minute, he's well down the list at Real this season (per WhoScored.com), with regulars Modric and Bale slightly ahead and the likes of Jese, Cheryshev and James creating plenty more despite even less regular game time so far.

James has an average of more than five key passes per game, over double that of Isco, and has also scored three in just over 200 minutes in La Liga. Isco's single goal has come in close to 800 minutes.

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The 23-year-old Spaniard has to understand, and indeed his fans should, that consistency in delivering results is what makes players "undroppable" and were his performances to yield chance after chance, every game, then he would be in the team. Benitez could arguably be given the chance to field 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 on a regular basis to accommodate both Isco and James, rather than frequently searching to play whoever is fit.

Benitez is, above all else, a pragmatist. He wants players in his team who will have the fortitude and tactical awareness to not lose the match, then have the technical ability to go out and win it. Isco should have one, but he hasn't shown both anywhere near enough this season.

He now has a two-game suspension to sit through as his team attempt to bounce back in league play from the horrendous result against Barcelona—and if the response is good, if James or Benzema or Vazquez or whoever else is selected shows good form and consistent delivery of chances, Isco will once again have no option but to remain patient and work his way back into the XI over time.

And next time he gets the opportunity to start? Perhaps he'd be better off imagining he's in the build-up to El Clasico and performing accordingly, rather than offering up petulance and frustration as his means of expression once he gets onto the pitch.

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