Why Colombia icon James Rodriguez has failed to thrive - opinion
His season in Greece was a summary of the Colombian's tumultuous and fickle pilgrimage in the post-Real Madrid era...
The story at Olympiacos
James started brightly at the Athens club. He arrived in September, and in October was voted the best player of the month in the Greek Super League.
But that was it. Seven months later, and James Rodriguez has now left the Albirrojos.
The announcement came one day after Olympiacos were eliminated from the Greek Cup, and with the team six points adrift in the league.
James did not react well to his half-time substitution in the derby against Panathinaikos last week, local media outlets claim; he was disgusted by manager Jose Anigo's decision and did not attend training the following day.
This episode convinced the board to terminate his contract with two months still remaining on it.
In his brief spell at Olympiacos, James participated in only 20 of his team's 38 matches this term, scoring five goals and providing six assists.
A bright start: from Banfield to Porto
Just like his early days in Greece, James began his career impressing everyone.
At the age of 14 he was the youngest player to start a professional match in Colombia, with first division side Envigado.
In just two years he moved to Banfield, and became the youngest foreign player to score in Argentina's top flight at the age of 17.
He soon became the "James Bond of Banfield" and was compared to the legendary Carlos Valderrama, a maestro of the midfield.
In July 2010, after enjoying his time in Argentina, he moved to Porto for €5.1 million.
At 19 years of age, his first season in Portugal was incredible. James scored 14 goals and bagged 12 assists playing mainly as a winger, and eventually won the Primeira Liga's revelation award.
He did not let his form drop at Porto and won three Primeira Liga titles, as well as the Europa League in 2011.
The peak: from Monaco to the World Cup
A player who looked like a mix of Valderrama and Cristiano Ronaldo caught the eye of Monaco, who decided to invest €45 million in the 22-year-old.
In his first season in Ligue 1, he was, once again, the team's player of the season and leading assister.
The following year, James reached his peak. At the age of 23, the No.10 arrived at the 2014 World Cup as a supporting player, but ended up winning over the world.
In Brazil, he led Colombia to the quarter-finals (their best result in history), and scored six goals in five matches.
James also won the Puskas award for the most beautiful goal of the World Cup in a 2-0 win against Uruguay in the round of 16.
Here, a brief personal account: I was at the Maracanã in this match, right behind the net Colombia attacked in the first half.
James' first goal in the 28th minute in that mythical stadium filled with yellow-clad fans was so wonderful that the immediate reaction of most of the Colombians around me was to put their hands to their faces in a gesture of disbelief.
Right behind me, two fans got down on their knees and started crying with emotion, hugging each other. It was one of those things that only the World Cup and its football stars can do.
James went on to make it 2-0 in the second half and finished the match to the ovation of the entire Maracana.
The almost: from Real Madrid to Bayern
No sooner had James finished the World Cup, he found his dream team. He signed a six-year contract with Real Madrid.
Again, in his first season at his new club, his numbers were great and he scored some sublime goals.
In almost all of his appearances, he either put the ball in the net or provided an assist. A total of 17 goals and 18 assists in 46 games.
The result? James was voted the midfielder of the 2014/15 La Liga season.
Then, his first problem: the departure of master man manager Carlo Ancelotti.
In 2015, the Italian coach went to Bayern, and Rafa Benítez took over Real. And his downfall began.
In a team full of stars, James never found his role, or even a position, in the Spanish coach's team.
Benítez left and, with Zidane, things got worse.
In addition to the Frenchman's preference for goal-scoring midfielders, injuries to the Colombian star began to pile up, his fitness began to wane and the intensity demanded by Zizou took any space James had in the team.
It was time to leave. In 2017, he followed Ancelotti and moved to Bayern on loan at the age of 26.
In Germany, it was two fairly decent seasons with 14 goals and 14 assists. According to Bayern chair, Rummenigge, the club wanted him to stay, but James asked the board not to activate the purchase option, which had already been agreed with Real Madrid.
James was unhappy in Munich. Perhaps because of yet another farewell with Ancelotti?
End of the line: from Real to Everton
After two years, he returned to the Bernabeu with Zidane again in charge. The Frenchman gave him just 400 minutes to play in 2019/20 and James decided to leave for good.
He left Real Madrid for Everton, because who was there? Carlo Ancelotti.
Straight away, the Colombian scored three goals and notched up three assists in his first five games on Merseyside.
But soon enough, more injuries arrived, and a certain discouragement. Everton dropped to 10th place that year and James fell alongside, recording just six goals and four assists in 23 games.
Ancelotti eventually returned to Real the following season - and guess who arrived at Everton? ... Rafa Benitez. What a fate, eh, James?
Towards the end of his time at Goodison Park, the mood turned sour for good when he admitted on a Twitch live that he didn't know who Everton would be playing against at the weekend.
On top of that, he was seen strolling around on a yacht in the middle of the Premier League season before he had played even a minute with Benitez.
Time to leave again. For Everton fans, there remained a taste of never having seen James Rodriguez play at his best.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, all of the Colombian's matches in the city of Liverpool were behind closed doors.
The bombshell: the problem interview
"The boy James is not focused. Instead of working for the new season, he went to tidy his eyebrows and hair while he should be working. Big teams like Real Madrid expect professionalism, but this boy has a weak head."
These were the words of former Colombian national team doctor Hector Cruz in August 2019 while James was suffering with injuries at Everton.
"I already predicted it would go wrong because he doesn't work," the doctor fired back in an interview with Colombian website Futbolred.
"James left the World Cup injured, hired a private plane, went to the beach and rested," Cruz said, adding that the player was "out of his mind".
Hector Cruz apologised for the interview a while later, but the damage was done.
The failure: from Qatar to Greece
From Merseyside, the No.10 went to play for Al-Rayyan in 2021, signing for a fee of €10 million.
After only a short time at the club, James hit out at Al-Rayyan fans and said he wanted to play for Valencia.
"I would walk, and I would even accept a decrease in salary," James said at the time, again on Twitch.
Dissatisfied with the team's performance in the Qatar Stars League and wanting to play in a more competitive environment "like Europe or MLS", James' comments arrived and Al-Rayyan in turn terminated his contract.
In Qatar, at 31, he made just 15 appearances for the club in a year, notching up five goals and seven assists.
The Colombian then went to Greece in September 2022, where he lasted less than a year, and the story is one you already know...
According to Spanish newspaper AS, James is in contact with Galatasaray and Besiktas, in an attempt to be a relevant No.10 again.
His injury and decommitment record shows, however, that his time as "James Bond" and the "new Valderrama" is long gone.
