Where James Rodriguez fits in at Bayern – and why Ancelotti is his perfect manager
James Rodriguez has had a rough couple of years in Madrid, but Bayern Munich have sensationally rode to the rescue and signed him this summer.
Real Madrid had a tremendous campaign in 2016/17, their best for about 15 years, but James was mostly just a witness to all of that success. Los Blancos won La Liga with James managing just under 1200 minutes; only five Madrid players saw less action (17 played more) and one of them was their back-up goalkeeper. He didn’t even make the matchday squad for the Champions League final.
When Bayern Munich emerged as a port in a storm for James, their president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said, of the rumours: “I ask for understanding that I cannot reveal our plans. I do not want to talk about any rumour because it gets us nowhere. In cases of doubt it makes things more complicated and expensive.”
Rummenigge’s comments only served to fan the flames of expectation, and then today Bayern made it official. They signed James on a two year loan with an optional buy clause should be prove to be a massive success. But will he be a success? Will he fit in at the Allianz Arena? Squawka investigates!
Real Madrid had a tremendous campaign in 2016/17, their best for about 15 years, but James was mostly just a witness to all of that success. Los Blancos won La Liga with James managing just under 1200 minutes; only five Madrid players saw less action (17 played more) and one of them was their back-up goalkeeper. He didn’t even make the matchday squad for the Champions League final.
When Bayern Munich emerged as a port in a storm for James, their president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said, of the rumours: “I ask for understanding that I cannot reveal our plans. I do not want to talk about any rumour because it gets us nowhere. In cases of doubt it makes things more complicated and expensive.”
Rummenigge’s comments only served to fan the flames of expectation, and then today Bayern made it official. They signed James on a two year loan with an optional buy clause should be prove to be a massive success. But will he be a success? Will he fit in at the Allianz Arena? Squawka investigates!
Style of play
James Rodriguez is a superb attacking midfielder. A classic no. 10 in many ways, in the modern style he is often shunted to the wing positions of a 4-2-3-1. There he can play a decent role but is always at his best drifting into the central areas of the pitch.
James is a superb creative force who cannot be tamed, even by playing the 6th fewest minutes in the Madrid squad. Despite only playing 1186 minutes, his 44 chances created is second among all Madrid players (only Toni Kroos has more).
Creatively he’s off the scale, and in terms of scoring goals he is consistently productive. Who can forget how he carried Colombia to the World Cup quarter-finals in 2014? And since then for Madrid in La Liga, only Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo have scored more than his 28 goals, and they’ve all played a whole lot more. It’s not just a steady stream of goals, either, it’s the dazzling array of them. Well-timed finishes from close in or spectacular strikes from range.
James Rodriguez is a superb attacking midfielder. A classic no. 10 in many ways, in the modern style he is often shunted to the wing positions of a 4-2-3-1. There he can play a decent role but is always at his best drifting into the central areas of the pitch.
James is a superb creative force who cannot be tamed, even by playing the 6th fewest minutes in the Madrid squad. Despite only playing 1186 minutes, his 44 chances created is second among all Madrid players (only Toni Kroos has more).
Creatively he’s off the scale, and in terms of scoring goals he is consistently productive. Who can forget how he carried Colombia to the World Cup quarter-finals in 2014? And since then for Madrid in La Liga, only Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo have scored more than his 28 goals, and they’ve all played a whole lot more. It’s not just a steady stream of goals, either, it’s the dazzling array of them. Well-timed finishes from close in or spectacular strikes from range.
Space in the squad?
Bayern Munich are an old side, especially in attack. Their key creative forces in the front line are 33 year-old Arjen Robben and 34 year-old Franck Ribery. Both players still possess immense quality but cannot produce at a consistent level for an entire season anymore, especially as they are both prone to injury.
So Bayern need options out wide for the coming season, and while Kingsley Coman is obviously one such option he is young and just coming back from a serious injury. Douglas Costa could have shouldered a lot of the load but he will be moved on soon. Thomas Müller played there a bit last season but never looked comfortable – if he’s to thrive under Ancelotti it would have to be in a different role.
But James? James will slot into one of those two wing roles comfortably. Alright he’ll play them kind of “false” and drift centrally to threaten opponents in key areas behind Carlo Ancelotti, but that will just create space for overlapping full-backs whilst helping Bayern overload the central areas – something that is always key for Carlo Ancelotti’s sides.
Bayern Munich are an old side, especially in attack. Their key creative forces in the front line are 33 year-old Arjen Robben and 34 year-old Franck Ribery. Both players still possess immense quality but cannot produce at a consistent level for an entire season anymore, especially as they are both prone to injury.
So Bayern need options out wide for the coming season, and while Kingsley Coman is obviously one such option he is young and just coming back from a serious injury. Douglas Costa could have shouldered a lot of the load but he will be moved on soon. Thomas Müller played there a bit last season but never looked comfortable – if he’s to thrive under Ancelotti it would have to be in a different role.
But James? James will slot into one of those two wing roles comfortably. Alright he’ll play them kind of “false” and drift centrally to threaten opponents in key areas behind Carlo Ancelotti, but that will just create space for overlapping full-backs whilst helping Bayern overload the central areas – something that is always key for Carlo Ancelotti’s sides.
Synchronicity with Ancelotti
The biggest problem James Rodriguez faced at Madrid is that he’s not a rough-and-ready kind of player. He’s very much a throwback kind of no. 10 who needs to be loved and indulged a bit. His struggles under Rafa Benitez at Madrid were obviously down to this, and even though Zinedine Zidane is an Ancelotti-esque “friendly” manager, James was never in his plans and was thus cast out.
But Ancelotti? Carlo Ancelotti is ideal for James Rodriguez. He’s a friendly manager, but is even more friendlier (and cuddlier) than Zidane. He’s nowhere near as harsh or critical and will be content to indulge James’ creative tendencies in order to get the most out of him.
After all, that’s exactly what he did when he was Real Madrid boss back in 2014/15 and James Rodriguez was their newest signing. James settled into life in Madrid almost immediately and was outshining everyone else in white that wasn’t named Cristiano.
Thanks to Ancelotti’s coaching, James unloaded on La Liga. He blasted 13 goals and got 13 assists (creating 77 chances overall, more than any other Madrid player) and would have gotten even more had he not missed two months with a metatarsal injury in February.
Expect similar levels of dominance for Bayern this coming season as James and Ancelotti hook up again and the Colombian reminds the world just how good he is.
The biggest problem James Rodriguez faced at Madrid is that he’s not a rough-and-ready kind of player. He’s very much a throwback kind of no. 10 who needs to be loved and indulged a bit. His struggles under Rafa Benitez at Madrid were obviously down to this, and even though Zinedine Zidane is an Ancelotti-esque “friendly” manager, James was never in his plans and was thus cast out.
But Ancelotti? Carlo Ancelotti is ideal for James Rodriguez. He’s a friendly manager, but is even more friendlier (and cuddlier) than Zidane. He’s nowhere near as harsh or critical and will be content to indulge James’ creative tendencies in order to get the most out of him.
After all, that’s exactly what he did when he was Real Madrid boss back in 2014/15 and James Rodriguez was their newest signing. James settled into life in Madrid almost immediately and was outshining everyone else in white that wasn’t named Cristiano.
Thanks to Ancelotti’s coaching, James unloaded on La Liga. He blasted 13 goals and got 13 assists (creating 77 chances overall, more than any other Madrid player) and would have gotten even more had he not missed two months with a metatarsal injury in February.
Expect similar levels of dominance for Bayern this coming season as James and Ancelotti hook up again and the Colombian reminds the world just how good he is.
Comments
Post a Comment