James Rodríguez plays no role at Real Madrid after a good start to the season. The Colombian is still keeping fit and fighting against his reputation.
“The lazy man works twice over,” is a saying that Colombian James Rodríguez may have heard a few times before.
The meaning: Lazy people usually work worse and therefore have to do many jobs twice. This, or something similar, is how James might feel about Real Madrid.
The professional attitude is missing
Throughout his career, the 28-year-old was repeatedly accused of being lazy in training, not being very punctual and not having a professional attitude.
In his home country, some football fans and experts believe that his currently unsatisfactory situation at Real is also related to these reasons. “James is the sole culprit for his fate. If you lose the desire to train and are not disciplined you won’t get far in football”, Colombian trainer icon Luis Pinto, for example, scolded at Radio Caracol.
The fate of the top scorer of the 2014 World Cup is currently to watch his team’s matches from the bench or even the stands. James played his last league match on 19 October 2019, at which time his world was still looking splendid at the royals.
Zidane is surprised
The playmaker had returned from his two-year loan with FC Bayern in the summer, after the Munich team decided against a firm commitment, to the surprise of some fans.
At Real, James earned the trust of coach Zinedine Zidane, although the club initially wanted to get rid of him.
However, offers from Atlético Madrid and SSC Naples were turned down at short notice. This was partly because they were unwilling to let James go to the city rivals, but more importantly because Zidane said he was planning with the offensive player.
The Frenchman had been surprised by one detail in particular: The Colombian international’s excellent physical condition at the start of the season. In any case, he had no doubts about his playing ability.
In the first few matches he was therefore regularly in the starting line-up, with public praise from Zidane almost every week. On 19 October 2019, Real then suffered a bitter 1-0 defeat at the hands of promoted RCD Mallorca.
Ice Age between James and Zidane
James had not played well and was absent from the Galactic squad a week later because of his new paternity. Afterwards, an injury to his inner ligament incapacitated him.
Since then things have been quiet in Madrid for the exceptional player, who is (mostly) fit again, but is of no consequence to Zidane. According to ESPN, there is no communication between the two, with little hope of improvement. It’s strange that Zidane didn’t even nominate him for the squad in the end, after all his team’s performances were often mixed.
Atlético Madrid are watching the situation closely and are said to have knocked on their neighbour’s door again. According to the TV show El Chiringuito de Jugones, the Rojiblancos plan to make an improved bid for the attacking midfielder this summer.