Gareth Bale, Isco or James: Who Misses Out at Real Madrid When All Are Fit
Things are looking good once again at Real Madrid: The fans are largely happy with the new manager, so is the president, so are the players...and the new boss remains unbeaten.
Zinedine Zidane has gotten good results mixed with offensive football in his opening six weeks at the helm, fitting in the majority of his biggest stars into a set pattern of play for the team and winning five out of six games—including his two true tests to date, against Athletic Club in La Liga and away to Roma in the UEFA Champions League.
The Frenchman's early success has been built on playing a very settled side, with no rotation other than for injuries. Even substitutions tend to come late on, to rest key players rather than change the flow of the game for the most part.
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While he has one or two injuries it has been reasonably straight forward to select his side, but there will be questions asked once again of some familiar faces once those currently sidelined are fit, most pertinently: Who misses out once Gareth Bale, Isco and James Rodriguez are all available?
Zizou's Plans
The manager has been consistent not only in his selections, but also his tactics so far. Real have played a 4-3-3, with Toni Kroos the most withdrawn of the midfielders and both full-backs encouraged to press upfield.
Between the front three they have a certain amount of flexibility in their movement and positions taken up on the pitch, so Real often end up looking (especially after losing possession) as though they have a 4-4-2 arrangement with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema through the centre. The key in this instance is for the other wide forward to be able to drop back and keep a little width when needed in build-up play.
Early on in Zidane's first games it was Gareth Bale who played on the right of the front three, with Isco coming into the team in central midfield as the most offensive-minded of the trio.
James Rodriguez had to make do with a spot on the bench and work his way into the team—but Bale's latest injury woes have given him a route back in. The Colombian hasn't wasted the opportunity either, scoring twice and assisting twice in his four Liga starts in a row.
Bale is expected to return within a short period, but Sky Sports quoted Zidane as saying the Welshman still needs time and that "we need to be patient because we need [Bale] to be 100 per cent fit."
Case for Bale
The biggest frustration for Bale over his most recent absence will be that it has interrupted his best run of form this season.
Both in terms of in-game playing contribution and his tangible end product in the final third, Bale was absolutely flying in the final days of Rafael Benitez's reign and the early weeks under Zidane. The Welshman scored five goals and assisted one in the last two-and-a-half games before succumbing to his troublesome muscular ailments and was an unstoppable force with his surges infield off the right, his ability to shoot from range and also his runs across the near post from closer in.
Bale is comfortably the biggest goal threat of the trio, and tactically he is a huge outlet for Real simply because of his pace and power, which is unmatched by probably anybody in the squad other than Danilo. As the right-back shows, though, pace and power without control is largely pointless—but Bale's continually improving technical ability and his vision to pick out clever crosses are also big bonuses.
The downside is naturally that he's available least often out of the three, but once the underlying cause of his calf issues are sorted, there's little reason to think he won't be consistently in the side once again.
Bale's price tag, his end product and his pace are all standout attributes, as is the fact he's the only "forward"—rather than offensive midfielder—out of the three in terms of his starting position and where he likes to take possession of the ball.
Case for Isco
Versatile, with great vision and perhaps the best technique and manipulation of the ball out of the three, Isco seems to split opinion: Some think he could be a world-beater with a regular role and trust in him, while others want to see more end product in the final third.
In a way, Isco is caught between two ideals at Real Madrid, a club where everybody is a phenomenal attacking talent but only those who rack up goals and assists are sometimes noted as performing well. It doesn't make sense, but then nor do a lot of things at the club. Isco has started five of the six Liga matches under Zizou, as well as the Champions League game on Wednesday night, and he totals one assist in that time.
When the likes of Ronaldo or Kroos are contributing bigger numbers, it makes Isco an easy target and easy to take out of the team, as does being the youngest of the trio at 23 years of age.
The former Malaga playmaker has performed in a variety of roles for Real, but clearly his best positions are either as an offensive central midfielder in the 4-3-3 (or as the No. 10 in a 4-2-3-1) or as a wider option when Real play 4-4-2, with the instruction to move diagonally infield to play in the hole anyway.
As a wide forward in a 4-3-3 he lacks the instinct to play in the box, doesn't have the aggression in his attacking play to target the posts with his runs and has far less end product in his shooting than any other option for Real.
From the middle, though, he offers good work rate, he can be aggressive and his first touch and quick passing—infield to Luka Modric, diagonally to the full-backs, etc.—is an overlooked part of his game at times. Isco understands when to hold the ball and dribble, and when to release quickly with a much simpler pass to keep the tempo of his team high.
For trying to break down deep, packed defences, he's perhaps the best bet. For counter-attacks, sustained periods of end-to-end play or in games where Real come up against equally talented players all over the park, perhaps Isco's lack of dynamism and dominance in a game counts against him.
Case for James
The first part of the argument in favour of keeping James in the team is pretty simple: he's the best all-round player out of the three.
Having better control and creativity than Bale, a more direct and consistent goal threat than Isco and being able to make runs into the box that go constantly unfollowed by defenders, James allies great movement with an excellent technical skill set.
James averages a goal or assist every 89 minutes this season for Real across the three competitions, showcasing his far better end product than Isco (155 mins)—though still being some way short of Bale (53 minutes), which again highlights the Welshman's more natural feel for the attacking roles.
James, though not often left in charge of them, also takes a wicked set piece, something the team should ideally make far more use of.
Earlier this season he suffered through injury and inconsistency, not being a favourite under Benitez and not doing himself many favours either with his attitude, but once back in the team, he has quickly displayed his footballing talent.
Whether it's appreciated as a legit reason or not outside the club, it has to be acknowledged also that James is a huge fan favourite which means big shirt and merchandise sales, and that is something in his favour over the other two. It's not definitive, but it's certainly a factor.
James needs to play as close to the penalty area as possible to get the best out of him, but it doesn't have to be in the wide forward's role. Like Isco, he shone as a wide midfielder moving out-to-in in a 4-4-2, and he has also excelled centrally for club and country previously.
Best Fit
It's a choice between three because they are vying for the same roles as each other, but in reality the selection has to be made between two; Gareth Bale must play.
The wide forward has a great link with the other front two, Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, and has an outrageously good strike rate when fit and in form. Put it this way: only seven players have scored more in La Liga than Bale this season, and five are the other parts of the BBC and MSN strikeforces. That quintet—Leo Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar, Benzema and Ronaldo—have all played more league minutes than Bale, but only the two centre-forwards, Benzema and Suarez, have a better goals-per-minute ratio than the Welshman manages.
It's not just about goals, of course, but goals do indeed win games and trophies.
Between the other two, individual preference plays a part and team tactics for any given match will also figure prominently in Zidane's end decision, but it would be no surprise to see James selected and Isco drop out again.
The Spaniard is a tremendous talent, but hasn't yet really put together a prolonged run of games—talking half a season or more—at his absolute best, which is what is required to be a regular at Real Madrid. James can do that, while also offering better end product.
The fact Mateo Kovacic has been busy vying with Isco for game time in this period without Bale is another indication that, although Zidane may trust Isco and want to give him opportunities to become a starter, he isn't quite there.
James moving into the centre of midfield gives Real Madrid a complete look, if he brings his tenacity and work rate to off-the-ball situations and helps out defensively—now all they need to do is get all three fit at the same time.
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