Isco‘s career at Real Madrid is one that did not seem to reach the great heights that many assumed it might, but that is only in the context of the club.
He had a tremendously successful time with Los Blancos and whilst rarely viewed as a key player in the team, he won countless trophies and played a part in lots of success.
His career has slightly drifted since, but he has spoken exclusively to MARCA about what happened. You can read the first part of the interview here.
Was appendicitis the turning point in your career?
You know what happens? You’re at Real Madrid and you’re at the top of what a player can aspire to. You’re at the biggest club in history, where you’ve also had some bad moments but in the end, I always managed to overcome them…. I always ended up playing forty or fifty matches.
You were there at the same time as BBC (Bale, Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo)
Exactly, that’s why I say so. That in the end I always overcame adversity and played. I was a starter in two Champions League finals, in the cup finals, in the Super Cup finals. Until 2018 I managed to be in all the important moments and as I said, Real Madrid is the greatest team in history. And here, in inverted commas, comes the problem. Because leaving Real Madrid at the right moment when you have to do it is the most complicated thing in the world and it has happened to many, many players. And now I come back to 2018. I had emergency surgery for appendicitis. The doctors told me it was a complex matter, with more than a month off work. But twenty days later I was already playing. The doctors had warned me that they were going to put pressure on me to come back early, that I was going to feel fine, but that I wasn’t going to be fine, that I was going to suffer…. But the team was going through a bad moment, with several defeats like against Alaves, CSKA and I felt that I had to make an effort to help my team.
How was it when Lopetegui was sacked and Solari arrived?
From then on, Isco didn’t exist for anyone. Not for the coach, not for the assistants, not for anyone. Nobody gave me explanations as to why I suddenly stopped getting minutes and when I asked Solari directly he told me that nothing happened, but that the coach decided. I remember playing against Melilla and without a word, he left me in the stands for several games, like against Roma. Not even on the bench. He made me travel to leave me sitting in the stands to watch the game. And I didn’t feel any support from the club or anyone else. And now, looking at it with perspective, I see that I should have left. But leaving Real Madrid is very difficult. Because, as I said, I always managed to turn the situation around. Other seasons, the club called me to tell me about all the offers they had for me, or that they were going to sign players in my position and that it was going to be difficult for me to play, but I always answered that it had cost me a lot to get where I was and that I didn’t care, that I competed with whoever was needed. But this time it was different… I should have left.
What happened with Solari?
Honestly I still don’t know. After one of those games in which he had left me in the stands without giving me any explanation, I received a call from him in which he told me that I was training well and that he was going to start to trust me. He also told me on a day when I was injured and didn’t make the list, but I thought that maybe things would change. The next game he left me in the stands again, so I don’t really know if he was laughing at me…. It’s clear that I was wrong and I should have left. But [Zinedine] Zidane had arrived and I had performed well under him.
Did you expect more from Zidane?
No. I think Zidane expected more from me, to be honest.
Did you lower your arms?
Zizou arrived at the end of the season and I wasn’t good, to be honest. It was a very tough year because of what I’m telling you, I was totally demoralised. Also after the World Cup, my head and my body couldn’t cope. The following season I started without playing, but there was a click in my head and what happened in other years happened, I started to play important games: PSG in the Champions League, Barcelona at Camp Nou, Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, against Manchester City in the Champions League I scored a goal…. I was coming back again. But then came the pandemic. And after the pandemic I stopped playing. Honestly, it was more my fault. And the following year I wasn’t good and my good moments at Real Madrid were over. With [Carlo] Ancelotti I played two or three games and that was it, but he was honest with me and I accepted it. I tried to train well and take advantage of the minutes he gave me.
There was a time when you were among the best players in the world and were considered a world star, a potential Ballon d’Or winner?
I have had some good moments, to be honest. The year of the World Cup in Russia and the previous season were great. But after the World Cup everything went wrong.
Did you stop having fun on the pitch?
It’s very noticeable in me when I have fun and when I don’t. When Lopetegui left, Solari arrived and I had no opportunities, I was apathetic. What else do I have to do to be considered important at the club? Yes, they renewed me in the year of the World Cup because I had a year to go and I had earned it. And because I had a lot of offers. There was a fear that I would go to a rival team.
Are you talking about Barcelona?
Yes. I’m talking about Barcelona. [Josep Maria] Bartomeu called me and with what Bartomeu paid at that time … But I was in Madrid very well, with my teammates, with an incredible atmosphere in the dressing room… It was the team of my dreams, in which I had won what I dreamed of… I wouldn’t leave Real Madrid for all the gold in the world. The city, moreover, is wonderful. As I enjoyed it in Madrid, I knew that I wouldn’t enjoy it anywhere else.
What did you do wrong on a daily basis?
During the pandemic, as we didn’t foresee to come back, it was an uncertain moment for everyone and I relaxed. I didn’t work at home as I should have trained. And when you get carried away in football, especially now that it’s so physical, it shows. And I paid for it. But from then on I can also tell you that I got back on my feet and worked hard, but football also depends on coaches, on team-mates who are better than you… And you have to accept that.
What will the team that signs Isco get?
A hard-working player, who wants to play football, who wants to show that he is physically fit. Well, that’s just it. I’m still motivated, with a great desire to play football. I’m young and I want to train, to score goals, to make people play, to have fun, to push in a team, to compete… I am very excited.
We don’t recall many serious injuries?
No, not serious at all. I’ve never had any muscular injuries. I’ve had a bad ankle, once in a while, but that’s it.
Is what you are going through worse than injuries?
I think this is worse than being injured. Because when you are injured you see your team-mates, you can go into the dressing room, you share moments, you go to watch the games…. Here you are alone, you are at home, you train alone? Now I don’t have the ball to laugh. But I hope it will be over soon. I’m in the moment of choosing, of deciding well, because I don’t want to make a mistake. I don’t want to make another false step in my career, which would be complicated to manage, although I think I would overcome it because I’m a brave guy and I would do it. But I don’t want to make a mistake.
You want to play? Rather than retire?
I’m not retiring. Wherever it is, I’m going to play. I’ve been playing football since I was three years old and I’ve never stopped. Until now. But soon I will be back. I’ve had offers from Italy, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Spain. But I didn’t want to go anywhere where I wasn’t mentally prepared. Now I am.
Do you prioritize Spain?
I prioritise, on this occasion, to go abroad. I played for Valencia, Malaga, Sevilla and Real Madrid. I look forward to the experience of playing in another league, learn another language, grow personally also outside of Spain … I do not close doors to anything.
Have you watched much football lately?
Yes. I’ve been disconnected for a while, but in the end I carry it inside me and I end up watching the games. And watching football makes me want to play even more. I’ve been very envious of my teammates playing football, because I was born to play. I really miss tying my boots, the grass, going out to train…. I miss it a lot.
Personally, have you changed a lot?
I think I’ve always been pretty balanced. Now when things don’t go the way I want them to, I put my courage into other things. I have enjoyed many moments with my family that were impossible before. These moments of waking up and being with my children have helped me a lot.
Any dreams left to fulfil?
I see it as complicated, to be honest. But I would love to win something with the national team. I have a thorn in my side with that, because I’ve only been able to play in one World Cup. I’ve never been to a European Championship, for example.
Is it a big challenge to return after time out?
Why not? I have seen [Jesus] Navas, [Santi] Cazorla and [Raul] Albiol, who have returned at some point because they have worked hard and played well. I’m not losing hope or illusion. I want to make an effort and get rid of the thorn from these last few years in which I haven’t enjoyed myself so much, in which I’ve been more apathetic because of personal problems… I want to get rid of that thorn and in six, seven or eight years, when I retire, I want to be able to say that I was able to overcome the bad moments. I want to leave football in a nice way.
You’re using social media again
It’s true… Well, I also hear the noise that I’m lazy. And although I was a bit embarrassed to upload these workouts, I saw that other colleagues share it too and that it’s OK. With the help of my therapist and my trainers, I started to loosen up a bit. The truth is that I’ve been training two or three times a day for a long time and I also wanted the teams to know that I’m in a great moment and that I haven’t said goodbye to football. I’m looking forward to it more than ever.
When you read that your partner, Sara, is to blame for what is happening to you, what do you think?
That’s the biggest nonsense, to put it mildly, that a man can say, because only men say it. Limited men, of course. I don’t know how to say it so that it doesn’t sound bad. It affects my wife and I sometimes go in and read and also…. I see people insulting Sara because I haven’t been well. And then you see the profile… And anyway. I don’t know if they blame their mother, their wife or their daughter for what might happen to them in their jobs. I started with Sara and I had the best moments in Madrid. Those facts are there too. The truth is that my wife is always supporting me and encouraging me not to give up and not to give up pursuing my challenges and my dreams. She always wants me to improve and celebrates my triumphs as much as anyone.
Is that why you stayed away from social media?
I go on less and less because I see what is out there. People without faces, with false names, where there is impunity. The only thing they do is generate hatred, which we have plenty of. And the press also generates a lot of hatred, in sporting debates. Not all of them, and I’m not going to name names, but there they say outrageous things that many people then appropriate as their own. They do polls asking spectators if one player is fat, if the other is a provocateur…. And that translates into more hatred and polarisation between the fans. And of course, from the stands you hear threats and insults so radical that they should have no place in sport.
Would you like one of your sons to be a footballer?
Well, in the end it’s a very beautiful profession. If you like playing football, it’s great. You go out, you get to know a thousand cities, a thousand countries, you meet a lot of people. It’s a wonderful sport. I would love to, although I think it will be complicated for the three of them. They will be supported in whatever they decide.
What do you tell your children, especially the eldest, about your situation?
The eldest is the one who likes football the most at the moment. He’s always watching videos of me, of other players, of goals…. And yes, yes I tell him. He was always looking forward to coming to the pitch. He loves going to the games and travelling to see me. He has a very good memory, he remembers the final we played in Kyiv and many important moments in my career. And I tell him: “Son, don’t worry, I’m going to come back, you’re going to enjoy it with me and you’re going to travel all over the world to see your father”. And he is very happy.
Is the magic coming back?
I hope so. I hope so.
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