Last season, when Real Madrid needed someone to depend on, up stepped Isco Alarcon. With his contract about to enter its final 12 months, instead of sulking and waiting to play the field, Isco produced some of his best football in a Real Madrid shirt. This was a guy who was desperate to show he was worthy of starting every week. Of all the ‘B’ team members, he was the only player to truly establish himself in the ‘A’ one before the end of the season.

Even Gareth Bale’s staunchest supporters had to acknowledge that Isco’s performances were on another level to the Welshman’s. So often rivals for that last spot alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, it was barely a contest. Bale was good but unreliable. Isco sensed an opening and took full advantage of it. Bale was fit for the Champions League final but Isco, rightly, got the nod. It was the crowning moment for a player so many in Spain love. He was now the man others needed to dislodge.

Isco has centre stage but the production is falling to pieces

Yet the switch of system and formation, to allow Isco to play in his natural no.10 position, is in danger of undoing all of the good work from last season. Injuries and suspensions to members of the ‘BBC’ – Bale is on the sidelines again – has seen Zidane switch to a 4-4-2. The midfield four are essentially a diamond with Isco playing just behind Cristiano or Bale and Benzema. This is Isco’s team but the results haven’t been good enough.

READ MORE: Balague – Pochettino’s Spurs deserve all the plaudits

READ MORE: Gossip – Arsenal ‘bid for Benzema’, Barca ‘want Kane and Eriksen’, Rafa ‘rejects Everton’

READ MORE: Neymar to mentor Mbappe and emulate Messi

It has a similar feel to when Bale was in the XI but the team was suffering in defence. Many believed Bale’s desire to imitate Cristiano meant he, like the Portuguese superstar, neglected tracking back. Isco’s workrate cannot be questioned and when Bale was on the treatment table again, Isco was the natural choice to replace him. The side, in that system, worked. So why did Zidane change it?

It’s hard to envisage Isco going into Zidane’s office and asking for the coach to change the formation to suit his style. Zidane comes across as someone calm and collected but also confident in the decisions he makes without outside interference. Zidane’s power at the club, after last season, is as strong as any manager in recent history. But the only beneficiary to this change is Isco. Unfortunately it’s to the detriment of other key positions.

Without Cristiano it made sense to experiment, less so now he’s back

There’s a case to be made that the 4-3-3 doesn’t quite carry the same threat without Cristiano in it. Any side in the world would miss a player who consistently scores 40+ goals over the course of a season. But this meant initially Bale, and later Cristiano, playing in a front two. Both have experience of playing as lone strikers for their country but not in a ‘two’. The same can be said for Benzema, an unselfish striker, but one who doesn’t really know how to play alongside a strike partner.

Now that Cristiano is available, why doesn’t Zidane revert back to a 4-3-3 with Isco or Asensio out wide?

Full-backs are unable to balance attack and defence

Another factor with this change of system is that it heavily relies on the full-backs to provide the width. Dani Carvajal is a major loss on the right-hand side but still Zidane persists with the four-man midfield. Achraf Hakimi continues to impress but there’s a lot of pressure on him to offer an outlet and he’s still learning. Only last year he was playing in the UEFA Youth League. It’s important to be patient with Achraf. He would benefit from someone further forward drifting out wide to give him more options. Going up against two markers is proving difficult despite his natural talent.

And it isn’t only an issue for the youngster. On the other side of the pitch, Marcelo is also finding it tough to control an entire flank by himself. The Brazilian firmly established himself as one of, if not the, best left-backs in the world last season. However he needs greater protection to avoid burnout or picking up niggling injuries. This season you sense too much is being asked of him and it’s his side of the pitch which opponents are exploiting. When he combined so well with Cristiano, why move the Portuguese man further in field and leave Marcelo exposed?

No one is replacing Bale’s goals

The problem if you want to replace Bale is that you also need to replace his goals and assists. Isco has featured in every LaLiga and Champions League match this season and has two goals and two assists to his name. Asensio has played a part in every LaLiga match and only missed the first game of the Champions League versus APOEL. He has two goals and two assists as well. Bale, who missed the match against Tottenham the last three in the league has three goals and three assists.

With timeframes on Bale’s return remaining uncertain, Isco is under no pressure to lose his place but I do think he – and the team – would benefit in going back to a 4-3-3. Isco’s two goals this season came in the only match he started on the right-hand side of the attack. With Cristiano getting back up to speed it makes sense to move him out to the left, even if he’ll drift in at times, and restore the stability throughout the team.

Playing Cristiano centrally makes it easier for defenders to mark him

We all saw against Tottenham how easy it was for the defenders to mark Cristiano out of the game. Even more so when Benzema came off for Asensio. Real Madrid’s team is full of creative, attacking talents but has a very limited set of genuine goalscorers. If you push Cristiano central, against two or three defenders, you reduce him to long-range efforts or headers. Why limit your greatest asset?

There’s a lot to admire about Zidane being bold enough to find a ‘Plan B’ as opposed to a ‘B team’. I can’t imagine this was a snap decision either but it’d take a bigger man to admit he was wrong. And that isn’t to say the system with four in midfield couldn’t work, it could. The problem is he doesn’t have enough attacking options in the final third for it to function correctly right now.

If only they had Mariano Diaz or Alvaro Morata to call upon. Both strikers are scoring for fun after leaving the club this summer.

The way forward for Zidane is to revert to his previous system until January. Then, if he prefers to have another viable option, sign a striker.