Uncertainty clouds Isco future as Real Madrid prepare

Santiago Solari called it a "sporting decision, nothing else" as if that made it better but he was only fanning the flames of what has become his first niggling problem at Real Madrid.

If Isco was injured, his absence from even the substitutes' bench for the Champions League win over Roma on Tuesday would hardly have warranted a second look, but Solari's tactical choice pointed to something deeper.

Solari had not picked him in any of his first five starting line-ups but three times brought him on, against Real Valladolid, Viktoria Plzen and Eibar.

Then, at the Stadio Olimpico, Isco was not involved at all, instead sitting in the stands, dropped beneath the likes of 20-year-old Federico Valverde, 21-year-old Javi Sanchez and 22-year-old Dani Ceballos.

Solari has demoted Keylor Navas fully below Thibaut Courtois in goal but Isco feels like the first marquee player to be significantly worse off under Madrid's new coach.

He underwent an appendix operation towards the end of September but the expected recovery time was only a month. He was also loyal to Lopetegui, who showed faith in him for Spain when Zinedine Zidane was ignoring him at Real Madrid.

"If they sack him, they should sack all of us," said Isco, when Lopetegui's job was on the line last month, a remark quickly rebuked by captain Sergio Ramos.

It has been suggested Solari took note and saw in Isco's comments the kind of cockiness some believe was the cause of the malaise under Lopetegui. But there was no suggestion of that in Italy.

"These are calls that you make in a certain moment," Solari said. "It was a sporting decision, nothing else. There are no guaranteed starters, or substitutes, in football. It is up to all players to be at 100 per cent, to make the coaches pick them." - Attitude -
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