Now that it is clear he is staying with the club this season, I believe James deserves his own thread. I noticed we closed his old thread 2 years ago and figured we could use a new one. "OJALÁ esta sea mi TEMPORADA en el REAL MADRID".@Fermincanas PRESENTA la PORTADA de #ElChiringuitoDeMega con las PALABRAS de @jamesdrodriguez. pic.twitter.com/Ue0ewbIPyI— El Chiringuito TV (@elchiringuitotv) September 10, 2019 James speaking today: "Hopefully this will be MY season at Real Madrid"
Anytime hes been healthy, motivated and wanted by the coach, hes been world class. He looks motivated. We will see about the others, but I'm excited
If he gets a fair chance, he'll be a starter in no time. Man, I'm glad he's back. I like the guy a lot, but more so because I'm glad one of your favourites is back. You deserve praise for your persistence over the years and this is the ultimate 'gift'!
I think we all hope he plays. Our games are such a borefest and I feel that he us our only midfielder that can brake it. James is our slower version of KDB with better passing.
What I disliked, the most about James’ game was his lack of pace.That is a fundamental reason why he shouldn’t play on the flanks/leading counters. Give him a deeper role where he utilizes his best attributes: vision-through passes and shooting. Plus, he should handle our spot kicks when on the field. He is clearly better than Kroos in that aspect.
I think the biggest key will be staying healthy. I'm still not sold on Zidane changing his ways, but with our thin squad and constant injuries... i think he will get enough opportunities to prove his worth and make an impact. Buuuttt he has to stay fit...
Forgot to mention that after Bale he is our most clinical finisher? So if Zidane wants to have a goal threat from the midfield he should find a way to start him more regularly.
Carvajal Ramos Militao Mendy ..................Casimero .....Modric .....................James Bale..........Benzema........Hazard As for whether Zidane would give James a fair shake, he said he will, Zidane has never been known to be a liar besides he’s started Bale in every game, a player he clearly wanted out as well so why would James be any different?
Bale did not have an established player like Kroos to send to the bench. His competition was injured(Asensio) or too green (Vini, Brahim) or a squad player (Lucas) . Not to mention Hazard was injured as well..
You were proven wrong once when you claimed James wouldn't play youll be proven wrong once again, wouldnt surprise me one bit if James started against Levante.
There is nothing factually wrong with what I posted above. If you understood me saying james would get zero minutes then you dont read me well. My point was he will be treated the same way he was treated before he went to Bayern.. only getting scrap minutes here and there. If a lot of players are injured/carded it is obvious he will see minutes. What you posted above in your lineup is he will bench Kroos which I don’t see happening..
Zidane's prior issue with James was his nightlife, apparently he'd show up to training hung over at times but by all account he's been super focused since he got back, trains harder than almost anyone else, reports say that not only are his teammates impress with his commitment but so is Zidane and his staff. Somehting else thats noteworthy is the fact that prior to the decision to keep James, Zidane never said he counted on him but now he has and as i said he isn't a liar, he will use James as long as the player keeps his down and works hard, might not bench Kroos but he'll get lots of minutes. he is currently our most creative mid, if we can see that so can Zizou.
Any credible source for your nightlife Zidane story? IMO he simply does not like/rate James as a player . Its happened before with other managers/players.. Yes he will use him now because we are really thin in midfield after we failed to get Pogba or a Pogba like player ..+ our history with injuries and there you have it. Things outside of Zidane’s control has kept both Bale and James this year in the squad.
Its BS if he cannot back it up with a source . He could have made that up.. El chiringuito is in essence the spanish press ..they just have a show and add their personal opinions about what is already being reported. The article from Marca today about Flo and his meeting with the board members was already out last night in el Chiringuito
I saw the story about James coming to training hung over on Xav Salazar’s twitter but his night life stories have been on Marca and As many times while he was here, even German papers had story about his lack of discipline so you can’t just chalk this up to fake news bud. Your opinion about Zidane not rating James is jus that, an opinion, there is no evidence of this, he doesn’t like him sure but we don’t know if he doesn’t rate him. I know he didn’t want him here but if he says he will use him then he will that’s all I’m saying.
I’ve never read a Marca/As story about James coming hung over to training. To me that is defamation and James could sue them for that. They did make a big deal out of him being followed by the police on his way to training. This guy Xav Salazar must have added his flavor to the story and you took it as gospel. People talk a lot of BS.. A quick google indicates this rumor about James and clubs originated from an article is sport.es a catalan source.. still nothing there about him arriving hungover to training.
I didn’t see the hung over story on Marca and As but I’ve seen story about how much he he partied, and his general lack of discipline, it’s strange to me that you haven’t heard about this. I’m not taking it as gospel but given that it’s pretty much a consensus that James used to party a lot then I don’t see it why this is far fetched.
And again that story originated from sport.es and everyone else reported it and people are taking it as fact. The spanish press is vile and poisonous when they want to harm a relationship and this was the time James was competing for a spot with the two Spanish and Real Madrid golden boys .. Asensio and Isco. So I don’t believe any of it.. If that was the case about his partying being the reason why Zidane did not like James it does not add up because both Asensio and Isco have had stories published about Noche Madrileña as well. You may think it’s a consensus but I don't see it that way.. These players go out on their days off and reporters running with a story to make things bigger than they truly are and then concluding that he went to training hung over is something totally different. You are also probably adding weight here to what that ex colombian NT doctor said recently about James.. We read a lot of things and cant go around believing everything out there is true specially from unconfirmed sources or sources with a bad rep and then start repeating it over and over believing it must be true to pass judgement on a player. I am not the only one here whose said this.. the spanish press can be very harmful when they want to be.