Raed
Dr. Raed St. Claire
You analyzed 90% of Isco in one great post ... probably the only thing i will pick here that i tend to disagree with you in is his passing skills
what make us Madridistas frustrated that he does posses the passing skills to make him as dangerous as Iniesta but instead he wants the limelight for himself
he wants to dribble and be the one to score.. while Iniesta would blindly and automatically picks what's best for the team... he hogs the ball and wants to dribble and score..you can also predict how he wants to score... cut inside from the left side.. send the curved ball in the right side of the goal... if i'm a goalie and i see Isco about to shoot i will throw myself in this direction and 9 times out of 10 i will stop it
He is very insecure very insecure person... last year when James came back he suddenly dropped in form after a stellar period where he was head & shoulders the most dangerous player... yet stats say Isco played a lot more minutes than any other player in RM except for the goalie
he feels a goal will make him better than James while the situation is very easy & very simple.. not all players are alike.. not all players have the same set of skills... James is natural goal scorer .. he can come from 4 month layoff or more and simple find the goal .. and many times with one hell of a goal.. that's a god given skill (look at Seville and before it when he came back later after copa america during pre-season and without game time he scored a great free kick and had another one off the post ... Isco should see that being a master passer never hindered Iniesta or Xavi .. they made their teams win trophies and made them irreplaceable ... the choice is easy for Isco..he has the skill but as long as he continue in him mind to compete with James he will lose everything including his place in the RM team
I have to clarify while I criticize Isco's passing skills average, my benchmark is the like of Iniesta, Silva or Ozil. If you insist he does possess the passing skills as good as them, I am afraid his performance in the past two seasons cannot justify your claim.
And then you said he usually tries to dribble and shoot rather than pass the ball is because he is too eager to score. I got to agree to some extent as it's hard to discern which is the cause and which is the effect. Too eager to score so don't like to pass or Not good at passing so try to dribble and shoot? I'd say both play into the situation.
Anyway, my point is if Isco cannot improve his game, he is done in the very elite level of football. Right now, I am sure any reasonable Madrid fan would regret they let Ozil go and Isco in.
Sorry, cannot agree with you when you say that a 23 year old player cannot improve.
While Isco's issues are mainly his, Rafa hasn't brought the best out of him either. Ancelotti tried to develop him into something better when he played him as a false 9, Rafa is doing what Mourinho is doing to Hazard and Oscar, destroying their flair.
In Isco there is a battle in his mind, and he is not of the same cut as Di Maria who is very strong mentally and a bit more like Benzema/Ozil. You couldn't shake the confidence of Di Maria, and if you want to play in midfield for Real, you have to be 150% self assured. The problem with Isco is that he sees Bale and James score goals, get all the praise and he gets barely none. What he doesn't realize is that:
1.) James is natural scorer (he is a classic #10)
2.) Bale gets a lot of shit Isco doesn't.
Because Madridistas will celebrate explosive football such as Bale and James, but they adore and cherish the maestros forever. If Isco is distracted by the limelight these two get, he doesn't realize that they also would not be getting any benefit of the doubt that he gets when he does poorly. Look at Toni Kroos, he isn't always in top form, but not a single word on him because the Bernabeu understands. Isco has had a lot of privilege he needs to use that and develop his own game. His best yet, was under Carlo vs Bayern in the first leg. If he replicates that, consistently, he will be a star.
I wouldn't call him insecure Beast, because he always came off the beach under Carlo and played multiple position and did well, but he is definitely distracted and in two minds. Carvajal had the same drop in form too when he learned of Danillos arrival, then he came back stronger than ever. Its normal. But I wouldn't count on Rafa to understand players anyway or help them through their phases.