One of the reasons for this is that he played in several positions and at times that position was taken by a better player .
he spent a good chunk of his career as a striker switched to midfielder back to striker back to midfielder .
players like Mendita,Valeron,Baraja,Lucho,Pep..etc were great as well
forwards like Raul,Tristan,Moro,Luque and before them the likes of Kiko, Alfonso..etc
he just played at the wrong time but he is still one of the best passers of the game and he can cut the best defense out there when he wants too (not related to form but mood swings )