James Rodriguez, at 31 years old, and with an extensive and successful career, is once again in the eye of the hurricane, now that his abrupt departure from Olympiacos in Greece has been confirmed. Media from that country reported unofficially that James is leaving the club after a recent conflict with the new DT, in a story already told many times.
(You may be interested: James Rodríguez: this is how the abrupt divorce with Olympiacos was cooked)
For some reason, the relationship with his coaches almost always deteriorates and James loses weight in the teams where he passes, including the Colombian National Team.
The history of conflicts
After a good time at Porto, James arrived at Monaco in 2013. There he met the Italian Claudio Ranieriwhich, initially, sent him to the substitute bank.
However, James accepted the coach’s advice and ended up playing and consolidating. The problems would come later, in other clubs, when he was already a star.
After the World Cup in Brazil, he went to Real Madrid, where his first season, led by Carlo Ancelotti, it was extraordinary. The problem is that the team didn’t win the League or the Champions League, and that cost the Italian his job.
Arrive Rafael Benitez with whom James never did not have a good relationship. There were two key episodes at that time: the first, the beginning of a streak of injuries, on September 8, 2015, he came out resentful of a friendly between Colombia and Peru.
Then, on January 1, 2016, the Colombian was going 200 kilometers per hour in his car. The authorities tried to stop him, but the player did not stop. Benítez, who was giving him less and less minutes, charged him.
The relationship was troubled and James ceased to have any real involvement in the team. He became a luxury substitute.
Benítez was dismissed and his replacement came Zinedine Zidane And that was worse for the Colombian, because James was increasingly relegated.
DT won the Champions League twice and the Colombian did not appear in either of the two finals. In the second, against Juventus, in Cardiff, he went to the stands. There, James was convinced that he should change his scene.
James has said several times that he never had a problem with Zidane, but his words have been rather discreet in front of a coach who did not have him as a priority.
In mid-2017, Real Madrid announced that James was on loan to Bayern Munich for two years.
In the first season, with Ancelotti first and Jupp Heynckes later, James gave up and came out as Bundesliga champions. But Heynckes left and in his replacement they hired the Croatian Niko Kovac. The Colombian began to give ground.
Kovac’s request was the same as Ranieri’s, the same as Benítez’s: “James has been doing well lately, but I am convinced that he can do more. He works hard in defense, but he can still help more and be more direct with the ball, ”said the Croatian.
Apparently the difference with Kovac lay in a football issue. “Kovac considers that James is a slow player for a game scheme based on speed, such as that of Bayern. It is for this very reason that the coach talks about him as player number 12,” the German media reported at the time. Bild.
In the end, although Bayern wanted to buy him, James himself said that he did not feel comfortable and returned to Real Madrid.
Troubles in the Selection
By that time, the Copa América in Brazil had already passed. Carlos Queiroz He did not call him back to the National Team in the remainder of 2019 and there were rumors that James had asked him not to be called up to win the position at Real Madrid.
The Portuguese denied it, but was emphatic in explaining why he wasn’t there: “I choose the best for the Colombian team and they are decisions that I make. To make good decisions we have conversations, facts, we talk with the coaching staff. And I never get tired of talking to players,” said Queiroz.
The Portuguese cycle ended very badly, with almost all the players at a low level and two painful wins against Uruguay and Ecuador. There were never-conformed versions of fights in the dressing room and of a ‘drawer’ to DT. Around those days, James issued a statement denying the accusations attributed to him.
He pointed out that he denied “all kinds of alleged information alluding to mistreatment, aggression, disputes or all kinds of controversy between players.”
With that scenario came Reinaldo Rueda to the Selection, to try to straighten the course. But there is already a conflict with James. Some players even seem to have sent a message to ’10’.
“We have always said that no one is more than the whole team. When we are united we are stronger. If someone leaves the teacher’s (Rueda) approach, everything is more difficult,” said Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, at the end of the match against Ecuador. one of those called now to assume the leadership of the Selection.
The situation with Rueda was also controversial, after DT removed him from the list for the Copa América. James felt disrespected.
In a ‘live’, which was also attended by Colombian soccer players Teófilo Gutiérrez and Camilo Zúñiga, James criticized the decision of Reinaldo Rueda and ‘company’.
“It was a decision of the coaching staff and I do not share it because they disrespected me. Before, I pushed for them to win and have a very good Copa América, but I did want to be there. It’s good that people know that”, commented the ’10’.
When James arrived at Everton, he once again received the shelter of Ancelotti, but he left again and left him unprotected. The bad luck for James was that Rafa Benítez took over again, and James knew that he was not going to have a chance. He then he went to Qatar.
“I went to Qatar because in Everton, the coach didn’t like me and I was not going to stay without being able to play. That year I had a couple of physical problems and the clubs that wanted me in Europe couldn’t give me a salary,” the Colombian commented at the time.
Outside Olympiacos
Now James is back in the eye of the hurricane. When it seemed that he found peace of mind at Olympiacos in Greece, in recent months his departure has been taking shape, which was confirmed this Thursday.
Greek media reported that James was upset over the weekend at being replaced in the match against Panathinaikos by the new coach, Jose Anigo.
Apparently, James reacted badly for what the DT asked him to apologize to the group, which he did not do. On the contrary, according to this version, he left training and did not attend on Tuesday. Reason for which, added to other reasons such as injuries and the recent low level, led the board not to consider renewing him and to terminate the link immediately.
PAUL ROMERO
Editor of EL TIEMPO
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