Solari talks about Isco not featuring against Roma

Santiago Solari was interviewed after Real Madrid’s 2-0 win over Roma, where he was asked about the decision to leave Isco out.

“Dropping Isco was a specific decision for a specific moment. Coaches are in place to make decisions and that’s it, I am here to make decisions.”

“Sometimes we make the right ones, sometimes we don’t, but it’s easy to say that after the game. Decisions are almost always sporting, except in exceptional cases, although there are none of those here.”

”Starters and substitutes are fictitious problems that don’t exist. The players are here to give everything and be at 100 percent so they can be picked. The players showed they can take responsibility and we’re really happy to get the win.”

“We had to work hard and suffer, but sometimes that’s just what you need to do and we won playing like that.”

It’s interesting to see Solari say that starters and substitutes are not problems. Isco was neither of those against Roma, as he wasn’t in the roster for Tuesday’s match.

Since coming back from injury, Isco hasn’t really been a starter under Solari. Ceballos was interviewed several weeks back about the situation and alluded to Isco not being fully healthy yet.

There’s no real reason yet to suggest Solari has given up on Isco or that Isco won’t be a significant fixture on the team again moving further into the season, although it is weird that he wasn’t included against Roma after subbing on against Eibar.

COPE has now reported that Isco was left out due to a “lack of respect” showed towards Solari. This might be hinting at that Isco hasn’t been training hard enough more so than Isco arguing with Solari.

Solari says every match is a test at Real Madrid

Santiago Solari was also interviewed prior to the Roma match and asked about the loss to Eibar.

“All of the games are tests. Every day is a big test.”

“I’ve been here 16 years and I’ve had to go through lots of different tests. It’s for this reason that this is the club that has won the most in the history of the game.”

Solari, much like Zidane, has the unique perspective of being both a player and now a manager at Real Madrid. The pressure that comes with it is also fairly unique, as one match can change the whole perception of the club.

With Real now defeating Roma on the road after a disappointing weekend, they are back on the right track yet again.

The match against Valencia on Saturday will be yet another one of these tests that Solari and the squad must be ready for in order to have any hope of remaining in a LaLiga title race.

Monchi did not expect Real Madrid’s struggles this season

Roma’s sporting director Monchi was interviewed by MARCA about the match against Roma and Real Madrid’s perplexing season so far.

“It’s something that we’ve spoken about internally in the dressing room. They have also had problems with injuries, but [the lack of form] wasn’t expected.”

“Madrid looked very complete in the match against Roma.”

It certainly wasn’t expected that Real would struggle the way they have at times this season. It wasn’t expected that they would sack Lopetegui so soon after hiring him and losing his job as manager of the Spanish National Team.

This season has definitely had surprises, both good and bad so far. They have also had their share of injuries, which Monchi mentioned.

They were able to get a good result from the second half against Roma that they can now carry with them after the disappointment at the Ipurua. They need to continue their success under Solari even further.