James Rodríguez would meet Rafa Benítez again in São Paulo: will he stay?

This Thursday, the São Paulo tricolor was left without a coach. The team's managers lost patience with Thiago Carpini, who had arrived at the beginning of this year to fill the vacancy left by Dorival Júnior to take over in the Brazilian National Team.

He barely lasted 18 games and won a title: he won the Brazilian Super Cup against Palmeiras (the day James did not want to travel with his teammates and fueled rumors of a departure that ultimately did not happen).

However, in the São Paulo championship they were left out in the quarterfinals, eliminated by the modest Novorizontino; They are last in the Brasileirão, without points, after losing against Fortaleza (1-2) and Flamengo (2-1), in their worst start since 1990, and in the Copa Libertadores they only got three points in two outings: they lost 2-1 against Talleres de Córdoba and beat Cobresal 2-0.

The statement regarding Carpini's departure had not yet been released when rumors began that São Paulo was looking for Benítez. That surprised the outgoing coach himself, who spoke about the subject on Wednesday night, in the Maracaná press room, after losing against Flamengo.

“Whether the board has been talking with other names or not, I don't know. I want to believe not, because we have always had a very respectful relationship on both sides. So I see it as speculation,” stated Carpini. Well it wasn't.

While São Paulo appointed Milton Cruz as interim coach, the news that Benítez could join the team, reported by journalist Gabriel Sá, spread like wildfire, especially in Colombia, where, immediately, the bad relationship between the Spaniard resurfaced. and
James.

Where was he born from? It should be remembered that James arrived as a great figure at Real Madrid in 2014, after the World Cup in Brazil, in exchange for 80 million euros, from Monaco. His first year, with Carlo Ancelotti as coach, was very good, but the team did not win the League or the Champions League and the Italian had to leave.

Benítez arrived to replace him. James, who had just played in the 2015 Copa América, asked for a few days of rest and that did not sit well with the new coach. At first he didn't take it into account.

“In the summer he has been on vacation for a month and is a little behind the rest in competition pace. As he has quality, sometimes he compensates for it and it is not noticeable, but when he picks up the pace he will give us play between the lines, assists, goals and everything he has,” he said.

But then, James went to a new call-up for the National Team and returned injured, which tried Benítez's patience. “There are too many games, I said it at a meeting in Nyon, but I don't make the laws, I give my opinion as a coach. You see footballers who go to play inconsequential games. Not only the friendly ones, but also the official ones,” he said, in clear reference to the Colombian.

It took James two months to return. Benítez, who had started well, began to have problems: Barcelona beat him 0-4 in the classic and was eliminated from the Copa del Rey due to Denis Cheryshev's irregular alignment. The Colombian wasn&#39
;t helping either: on January 1, 2016, the Police chased him to the training headquarters in Valdebebas, for speeding. Three days later, the coach was fired.

In 2021, history seemed to repeat itself. Ancelotti coached Everton, where James was. The Italian returned to Real Madrid and in his place they hired Benítez, who, from the outset, asked James to leave.

“The coach told me on the first day of the preseason: 'Look, you're old now, you're 30 years old, I prefer to have young people, people with a lot of strength, with a lot of energy, who run, so find a club.'”, James said in one of his Twitch streams. He managed to play three friendly matches, against Manchester United, Pumas de la Unam and Millonarios, before leaving for Al-Rayyan.

Now, São Paulo could close the hiring of Benítez. What will happen to James, who also has physical problems again? He is already 33 years old, three years older than when the coach told him that he was already old.
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