3) Isco
If there was a player in world football now who isn’t functioning at his best because the system he plays in doesn’t have his natural position, it is Isco. The former Valencia star was signed from Malaga after a highly impressive season under Manuel Pellegrini.
Playing in the hole behind the striker, he thrived; scoring and assisting at will. It was for these performances that Florentino Perez sanctioned his signing. But it all changed after he joined the Blancos.
His arrival coincided with Jose Mourinho’s departure. In his first few games with the club, Carlo Ancelotti was still using his predecessor’s 4-2-3-1 with Isco behind Benzema. And, as expected, he was Madrid’s best player in those games.
However, to accommodate both Gareth Bale and Angel Di Maria, the Italian had to shift to a 4-3-3, thereby dissolving Isco’s natural position altogether. Many clubs would kill for a player like Isco and would change their system to get the best out of him. But at Madrid, he is just another brick in the wall.
