James Rodríguez is back at square one. His aim is to return to the kind of dazzling form he showed under Carlo Ancelotti.
He knows that Zidane’s arrival offers him no guarantees of first-team football, but the Frenchman is going to have to face the same dilemma that Ancelotti and Benítez faced before him: Isco or James?
After featuring for 25 minutes in Real Madrid’s last match, James now looks set to start in this weekend’s game against Sporting Gijon. Zizou’s master plan involves giving certain players close to half an hour out on the pitch if they do not start the game. That is a rotation system that is going to affect both players.
Zidane has already made it very clear that the BBC are ‘unbenchable’. Kroos and Modric’s places in midfield also seem guaranteed which only leaves room for one other midfielder. The new Real Madrid boss expects more from James. He does not think that the midfielder is at his best and Isco is a hard man to compete with.
The Spaniard posted the following message after returning to the starting line-up: “Happy to be playing first-team football again”, he said after not playing a single minute in the previous three games under Benítez. James’s case is not too dissimilar to his. Now, with Zidane in the dugout, the two players have another chance… but they’re both going to have to earn their place!
Bron: Marca
