Commentary
Brilliant for Spain, Isco finds himself in limbo at Real Madrid
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Apr 3, 2018
Only a world-class save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen denied Spaniard Isco against Germany, but he scored a hat trick against Argentina.
The 25-year-old Isco has emerged as the go-to attacker for Spain under Julen Lopetegui, who had him with the U-21s before he succeeded Vicente del Bosque as the national team coach in 2016.
La Roja is going to the World Cup thanks to a 3-0 win over Italy in the deciding Group G match in which Isco scored a pair of goals, the first on a free kick.
But Isco is no longer an automatic choice of Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid, where he has started just six of 14 La Liga games in 2018 and played just nine minutes off the bench in the second leg of the series sweep against Paris St. Germain in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League.
Since Zidane has adjusted his midfield, going with four across the middle and starting Marco Asensio and Lucas Vazquez out wide, Isco, used to starting as the tip of the midfield diamond, has been the odd-man out. Isco did not dress in the 3-0 win at Las Palmas on Saturday and is not assured of starting when Real Madrid faces Juventus in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Asked about Isco's situation on Monday, Zidane said, "For me, there are no first choice players or substitutes. I have 25 very good players and I am going to use all of them. There are moments when some play more than others. All of them are important, and Isco is just as important as the rest. It may be different with the national team -- they'll have seven or eight games a season while we have 60."
Lopetegui has tried to stay out of the debate about Isco's situation at Real Madrid.
"Isco is an important player for the national team," he told Radio Marca between the two friendlies. "It's important that he performs, but I won't judge a colleague."
But the Spain coach is clear about what he thinks of his star.
"It's one thing to have talent," Lopetegui said the 3-0 win over Italy, "but another to be a great player. Isco is in the second category regardless of the talent he has."
8 comments about "Brilliant for Spain, Isco finds himself in limbo at Real Madrid".
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Bringing him to the MLS. I think the MLS should start thinking big time!!!! US soccer landscape has moved way beyond what our fan base was during the NASL days when we imported great players and paid them great salaries without having a real big fan base. Our fan base has grown by leaps and bounds,soccer has become part of our culture and it has grown and become big enough. Just look at what we did a couple of summers ago at Ann Arbor, Michigan , we drew 109,000 fans for a friendly between ManUtd vs Real Madrid, without Ronaldo's presence. Guys, I think it is time that we should try to bring in younger talent, way younger than 36 years old. If you saw the excitement of the LA fans for Zlatan can you imagine if the league brought in about a half a dozen more players like that. We need it for the fans but it will also have other salutory ramifications, especially in our player development. Look at what Vieira is doing at NYFC. We need this foreign input for we are ready ,more than ever, as compared to the foreign input we had during the NASL days, to make use the foreign expertise to further the US development in soccer.
The NASL although it failed it kickstarted US soccer development by bringing in all the stars to fans to show how soccer should be played. It laid the seeds for soccer to grow,here. So many of older guys still remember the excitement of that time. I think now we have come to the second stage to bring in the some great ,exciting stars in a more focused approach in order to lift our soccer to a higher level of play as compared to the NASL days when we allowed Stars to introduce the game.
I like your thinking Frank, not sure the money is here yet, certainly not for Isco however.
Yeah, you might be right about Isco, Ships, but I do think we can bring in some quality players.
Yeah, you might be right about Isco, Ships, but I do think we can bring in some quality players.
Yeah, you might be right about Isco, Ships, but I do think we can bring in some quality players.
Yeah, you might be right about Isco, Ships, but I do think we can bring in some quality players.
Yeah, you might be right about Isco, Ships, but I do think we can bring in some quality players.
In the future I hope MLS rosters will look more like the Bundesliga than the EPL. Meaning of course a good share of US players, not Germans, on the rosters. :) While the English fans are well served by the EPL, English soccer is not.