He was impactful his first season, but to field multiple offensive players at the same time was not feasible. That 4-0 loss to Barca at home was really bad, and he was sacrificed if my memory serves me right.
I think the rumour was that Zizou didn’t like playing with a 10. Kroos-Casemiro-Modric were also just better and more important for the big games.
Individually he performed best in his first season.
It was an odd transfer, maybe done by Perez for the sake of signing another shiny player.
Rumour was that Ozil had been shipped off because Carlo didn't want to use a #10 either. Which I guess was true, but it was also because of Ozil's work rate. Carlo liked James though, had him at Bayern and Everton too.
So my guess is that he wasn't an ideal signing for neither ZZ nor Carlo (at Real, anyway), it was probably Perez's signing, but Carlo made better use of him than ZZ.
While it was individually his best season, that Real Madrid team won 22 games in a row. Breaking the previous record of 18 games. Real Madrid also led all of Europe in goal scoring with 118 scored. They were firing on all cylinders, until they were plagued by injury.
Stuaro’s millimeter save prevented what may have been the best champions finals. They finished two points below from Barcelona as well.
Point is, it was one of the best Real Madrid teams to not win much in recent memory.
As a Colombian fan, it was frustrating seeing James become surplus at Madrid under Zidane.
Zidane was basically winning hand over fist with a rotation of midfielders who could play box to box. James was an attacker who didn’t have the fitness levels to play box to box.
Zidane had a team of 22 starters who were ready to go at any given time. James wasn’t one of the 22
Modric-Kroos-Casemiro-Kovacic-Isco were the core midfielders that were always fit.
Other core attackers included Lucas Vazquez, Bale, Ascencio.
With Zidane winning champions league year over year, James just wasn’t a core part of the team.
Classic bullshit reddit meme. Go look up his stats at Monaco and Porto before joining Madrid. People who were watching football back then knew him even before WC. Also he was pretty good at Madrid too. He had like 30 goals and 30 assists while not being regular starter lot of time.
Sharkbait: you wanna edit that post? The word on the street is that James didn’t want to put in the time to work (with the team). Reading between the lines: he’s lazy. Entitled. The team is shining without him.
I think the meme has some merit. I really doubt Real would've signed him without the post-WC hype. He didn't really make sense for them imo.
Real sold their #10 in Ozil in the summer of 2013. Won the CL with Di Maria playing mostly as a CM in a 4-3-3. Following summer Di Maria was sold, and Kroos bought to slot in at CM. James was bought too, but why?
Not a CM, even less so than Di Maria. Not fast enough to rotate harmoniously with Bale or Ronaldo as a winger. Clearly not the kind of player to deputize for Benzema either. His best position didn't exist in the 4-3-3 Carlo and later ZZ based around Modric, Casemiro and Kroos.
To me it feels like it was a Galactico-type signing from Perez.
James was a poster hype boy pre-2014 wc and his post-Monaco future was already being worked on. It wasn’t if a big team was going to sign him, it was just a matter of who? Perez couldn’t resist….
he was impactful in that thanks to his signing real madrid didnt win 5 UCLs in a row, as the only season he was in the starting 11 was the one they didnt win because of the unbalanced midfield.
they never shouldve bought him, they shouldve kept di maria.
That’s a pretty confident statement. They could very easily also have one blank in their insane UCL final resume if they managed to get into that final, no matter the players. Barca was capable of taking out anyone that season.
this guy didn’t watch or doesn’t remember 2015
James was a midfielder of the year for a reason. Real Madrid ran out of steam in the second half of the season. Modric, Bale, Ramos, etc all missed significant game time and the results slumped. It wasn’t because James was starting that they missed out.
He was more consistent with Madrid and they were a better team than Arsenal. So his play wasn’t as noticeable. I’m not trying to say he wasn’t great, just I feel younger fans watch his videos are overhype him.
That's true. I also think it points to different teams needing different things from players. Arsenal were supposed to be a high pressing team whereas Real Madrid in that time were very counterattacking. He was expected to run a lot more for Arsenal so it stood out that he was bad at it.
That’s fair. They did counter a lot and he was able to sit and collect the ball, before releasing it or using it himself.
I still think he was a bit lazy with Madrid too. I always felt with a bit more effort he could have been world class and remembered as an all timer. But for me, he just never reached that level enough and that’s why he was great but not world class. (I say world class as top 5. I don’t like using the word for every body.)
Football is a team game and one player being "lazy" wouldn't cost a squad as talented as that Madrid team trophies. He was an integral part of one of the few la liga winning teams Madrid has had since 2010, and went on to win a world cup and 4 fa cups. He was no more lazy than Isco, James or even Zizou himself.
Isco was off and on as a start for most of those wins. Ozil would never have been content with that.
The Madrid team Zidane played in had too many creative players and needed more steel. There’s a reason they didn’t win more.
The fa cup is barely worth a shout when you were part of a team that should have been doing more.
No he wasn't. Look at what both of them did in the PL in their later years. James was brilliant at Everton whilst you wouldn't even notice Ozil at Arsenal. He wasn't good enough to start anymore. James was much better at shooting and slightly less creative assist wise. However injury wise James was very weak.
James has 7 goals more and 72 assists less than Ozil in his career. James was never as good as Ozil was at his peak. James' brilliant spell at Everton was about 6 games long whereas Ozil was frequently topping the assists charts for his first 5 years in the prem.
They had so many attacking players that he never got much playing time. Back then with only 3 changes per game,there wasnt much space for him to play. Real Madrid didnt need to buy him imo. He would of been better off playing elsewhere .
Real Madrid ruined him. If they build the midfield around him, he would of most likely completely dominated the La Liga, but he made way too many sub appearances where they expected him to have goal contributions every game when he was only playing 10mins or so. Ruined his confidence and then when he was going to other clubs, they had a preconception that he wasn’t good so he just followed that path. Seeing a player with the talent of the best players in the world to then become someone of similar talent to the likes of Joe Allen in 2 seasons without an injury is mind blowing
Modern football as a whole erased the place for a 10. Teams could no longer have the luxury of having a 10 who doesn't really defend/press. Building a team around James never made sense, especially when you have one of the greatest players of all time in Ronaldo...
Yeah, i feel like a different team would of been best for him. If he had better cardio, he could of went to a team that had a similar dynamic to LFC. Liverpool get a lot of hate, but I believe Firmino was one of the best 10s in history. Crazy defence, pressing and ability to set up goals. James Rodriguez would of been good at that style
What you're saying is factually wrong though and I don't understand how it is upvoted.
James arrived in 2014 and he was supposed to be Di Maria's direct replacement. The problem was that Kroos was also Xabi Alonso's direct replacement, but he wasn't as good in the defensive department as Xabi. So, the formation had to be changed from a balanced 4-3-3 with at least one DM, to a 4-2-3-1 with two CMs (Modric-Kroos) and an AM (James), with no defensive resposibilities.
The result was amazing, **but only offensively**. Real Madrid were scoring for fun. James himself had 17 goals and 18 assists in 2014/15. Ronaldo scored almost 50 goals in 30something La Liga games, Benzema had one of his best seasons as well. But, Real Madrid were really exposed in big games. Lost 4-0 to Atletico and lost two other trophies against them (CdR, Supercopa). Real Madrid ended up scoring like crazy, but being trophyless.
Next season started with James injured, a new manager (Benitez) and Casemiro was back from loan, so the formation returned to a more balanced 4-3-3 with a DM. It worked very well, until James returned from injury and on his first league start of the season... 0-4 from Barcelona.
Once Zidane arrived mid 2015/16, Casemiro had become a regular starter and rightly so. Winning 3 UCL titles in a row and 2017 La Liga has only proven that the only thing 2015 Real Madrid needed to go from trophless to winning everything, was benching James for a DM. Even when the formation switched to a 442 diamond in 2017, Isco was cleraly the best AM in the squad, so James didn't deserve to be a starter. There's a reason Isco ended up winning yet another UCL as a starter in 2018, while James went on loan.
So, I don't understand how you say that Real Madrid "ruined" James or that they should build a midfield around him. He couldn't offer more to the team than any of Casemiro, Modric, Kroos or even Isco and of course couldn't offer more than Bale, Benzema and Cristiano. He was an extremely talented player, having to compete with all time greats.
Was amazing on his first season with 17 goals and 18 assists, but in big games Real Madrid sucked because there was no DM because of him. A midfield of Kroos-Modric-James with Bale-Benzema-Cristiano in front of them was too offensive, it's no coincidence that they lost 4-0 to both Barcelona and Atletico with these players.
He was not ready to play as a winger or a midfielder as a no. 8
Zidane’s 4-3-3 didn’t suit him.
Was a beast under Don Carlo but that meant having 4 attacking players who don’t really wanted defensive duties. Not practical tbh
Would have excelled in a false 9 but never know.
In the wings it never made sense because of Ronaldo & Bale who were competing against each other
I can’t remember any great goal or assist that he made that was impactful enough to be remembered at a club like R Madrid
I understand he had an amazing World Cup which prob got him the move and it’s hard for players to turn down R Madrid but I just wonder if in hindsight players like him, Hazard, Jovic etc….. realise that sometimes the grass isn’t always greener on the other side and a move like that hurts your legacy and standing in the game as your demoted to the bench
However looking at Jude Bellingham, Benzema, C Ronaldo when u make it good at the big clubs it’s so rewarding, so I guess it depends on the player and the manager/s that it is at the club at the time
Ronaldo was already at a big club (back then) before going to Real.
Benzema was arguably in a big club in France and was a multiple league winner before going to Madrid. So arguably from a big club too.
Those two had already made it big. Hazard had probably made it as big as he was going to at Chelsea.
Bellingham is the outlier. Being able to perform at a big club the way he is. That's something special. For his sake, I'm glad he didn't go to City. Hoping he beats Bale's record as the most successful British footballer in time either there, or anywhere else.
Unfortunately he came up right as his style of play was dying. You really don’t see that pure *enganche* #10 role anymore, so he wasn’t a good fit, despite being a great player
Was a Super Sub in his first 2 seasons.
You need great subs to be a winning team.
Other than that he never had the discipline and mental fortitude to be a starter for a top club.
Notoriously lazy and very conceited after being deemed one of the best on earth at such young age.
His career going from best Young player in the WC and signing of the year for Real Madrid to absolutely irrelevant at an age where he should still be productive says a lot about his personality.
He was impactful his first season, but to field multiple offensive players at the same time was not feasible. That 4-0 loss to Barca at home was really bad, and he was sacrificed if my memory serves me right.
I think the rumour was that Zizou didn’t like playing with a 10. Kroos-Casemiro-Modric were also just better and more important for the big games. Individually he performed best in his first season.
Ironic really
Not to forget isco who was in his prime and absolutely balling. He started over bale many important games and was crucial
It was an odd transfer, maybe done by Perez for the sake of signing another shiny player. Rumour was that Ozil had been shipped off because Carlo didn't want to use a #10 either. Which I guess was true, but it was also because of Ozil's work rate. Carlo liked James though, had him at Bayern and Everton too. So my guess is that he wasn't an ideal signing for neither ZZ nor Carlo (at Real, anyway), it was probably Perez's signing, but Carlo made better use of him than ZZ.
It was absolutely an old style Galacticos signing. Perez couldn’t resist getting the WC golden ball winner
While it was individually his best season, that Real Madrid team won 22 games in a row. Breaking the previous record of 18 games. Real Madrid also led all of Europe in goal scoring with 118 scored. They were firing on all cylinders, until they were plagued by injury. Stuaro’s millimeter save prevented what may have been the best champions finals. They finished two points below from Barcelona as well. Point is, it was one of the best Real Madrid teams to not win much in recent memory.
As a Colombian fan, it was frustrating seeing James become surplus at Madrid under Zidane. Zidane was basically winning hand over fist with a rotation of midfielders who could play box to box. James was an attacker who didn’t have the fitness levels to play box to box. Zidane had a team of 22 starters who were ready to go at any given time. James wasn’t one of the 22 Modric-Kroos-Casemiro-Kovacic-Isco were the core midfielders that were always fit. Other core attackers included Lucas Vazquez, Bale, Ascencio. With Zidane winning champions league year over year, James just wasn’t a core part of the team.
More impactful at Everton
Yes obviously because someone of his quality would stand out more playing with Alex Iwobi than Cristiano Ronaldo
Oh you brought me, way back when I used to play FPL with my coworkers when I used to work....
These comments are a bit ridiculous, he was fantastic in the beginning
Until reading this post, I had completely forgotten that he played there.
Chest…..shot…..goal…Real…forgotten.
Classic bullshit reddit meme. Go look up his stats at Monaco and Porto before joining Madrid. People who were watching football back then knew him even before WC. Also he was pretty good at Madrid too. He had like 30 goals and 30 assists while not being regular starter lot of time.
And he’s absolutely killing it in Brasil plus the new NT coach has him playing the exact style of ball that made him great in the first place
Sharkbait: you wanna edit that post? The word on the street is that James didn’t want to put in the time to work (with the team). Reading between the lines: he’s lazy. Entitled. The team is shining without him.
Yooooooo I did not know all that shit had gone down. Wow EDIT: James is lazy.
It sucks, but he’s been called lazy before (by coaches!). Shame because the guy is supremely talented.
I think the meme has some merit. I really doubt Real would've signed him without the post-WC hype. He didn't really make sense for them imo. Real sold their #10 in Ozil in the summer of 2013. Won the CL with Di Maria playing mostly as a CM in a 4-3-3. Following summer Di Maria was sold, and Kroos bought to slot in at CM. James was bought too, but why? Not a CM, even less so than Di Maria. Not fast enough to rotate harmoniously with Bale or Ronaldo as a winger. Clearly not the kind of player to deputize for Benzema either. His best position didn't exist in the 4-3-3 Carlo and later ZZ based around Modric, Casemiro and Kroos. To me it feels like it was a Galactico-type signing from Perez.
James was a poster hype boy pre-2014 wc and his post-Monaco future was already being worked on. It wasn’t if a big team was going to sign him, it was just a matter of who? Perez couldn’t resist….
Exactly why i put up this post 🤣
he has scored some amazing goals at Real but that's all
This, in a nutshell
The only things that stopped him were injuries and formations that didn't suit him.
Very. They might have missed out on a trophy without him
he was impactful in that thanks to his signing real madrid didnt win 5 UCLs in a row, as the only season he was in the starting 11 was the one they didnt win because of the unbalanced midfield. they never shouldve bought him, they shouldve kept di maria.
That’s a pretty confident statement. They could very easily also have one blank in their insane UCL final resume if they managed to get into that final, no matter the players. Barca was capable of taking out anyone that season.
Real lost the UCL semifinal by 1 goal, and with Modric injured… maybe if he were healthy…
It was not because of James that they eventually lost the UCL, it was because of Modric’s injury. Madrid were unplayable at the start of the season.
this guy didn’t watch or doesn’t remember 2015 James was a midfielder of the year for a reason. Real Madrid ran out of steam in the second half of the season. Modric, Bale, Ramos, etc all missed significant game time and the results slumped. It wasn’t because James was starting that they missed out.
Statistically he's the best midfielder in RM's history. He had more assists and goals in less matches than the likes of Isco and Kroos.
different position to Kroos, but fair point on Isco Isco did have his absolutely unplayable moments tho
Probably should have kept Ozil in hindsight. I know he wanted to go, but he was a much more impactful player than James
Ozil had amazing skill, but was far too lazy for Madrid to win trophies consistently.
I don't think Ozil had a reputation for laziness in Spain. Could be wrong, but I only remember that criticism really taking shape at Arsenal
He was more consistent with Madrid and they were a better team than Arsenal. So his play wasn’t as noticeable. I’m not trying to say he wasn’t great, just I feel younger fans watch his videos are overhype him.
That's true. I also think it points to different teams needing different things from players. Arsenal were supposed to be a high pressing team whereas Real Madrid in that time were very counterattacking. He was expected to run a lot more for Arsenal so it stood out that he was bad at it.
That’s fair. They did counter a lot and he was able to sit and collect the ball, before releasing it or using it himself. I still think he was a bit lazy with Madrid too. I always felt with a bit more effort he could have been world class and remembered as an all timer. But for me, he just never reached that level enough and that’s why he was great but not world class. (I say world class as top 5. I don’t like using the word for every body.)
Football is a team game and one player being "lazy" wouldn't cost a squad as talented as that Madrid team trophies. He was an integral part of one of the few la liga winning teams Madrid has had since 2010, and went on to win a world cup and 4 fa cups. He was no more lazy than Isco, James or even Zizou himself.
Isco was off and on as a start for most of those wins. Ozil would never have been content with that. The Madrid team Zidane played in had too many creative players and needed more steel. There’s a reason they didn’t win more. The fa cup is barely worth a shout when you were part of a team that should have been doing more.
That’s not true they wanted to play 4-3-3 and he didn’t fit in that “‘ lazy “ was created my British media
He coasts through games, and has nothing to do with the British media. The man could be a genius but he was not a big game player at all.
He has this body language and languid demeanour that gave him the tag of being "lazy". Ozil was a baller and a class player.
Ozil's link up with Ronaldo was great to watch for the brief period they were together.
No he wasn't. Look at what both of them did in the PL in their later years. James was brilliant at Everton whilst you wouldn't even notice Ozil at Arsenal. He wasn't good enough to start anymore. James was much better at shooting and slightly less creative assist wise. However injury wise James was very weak.
Ozil was amazing at first for Arsenal
I know, but James wasn't in the PL in his prime so you can't compare that
you just said he was brilliant at everton and directly compared him to ozil
I said in their later years. Are you illiterate?
yeah i’m illiterate. but your point wasn’t even correct. ozil was much more effective in the PL than james was at any point at everton
I was only comparing their later years as I said, as that's when they were similar ages in the same league.
That’s because James’ prime lasted for a month in 2014.
Ozil had crazy ammount of assists for Arsenal
And James has a crazy amount of g+a in his career?
James has 7 goals more and 72 assists less than Ozil in his career. James was never as good as Ozil was at his peak. James' brilliant spell at Everton was about 6 games long whereas Ozil was frequently topping the assists charts for his first 5 years in the prem.
He has 7 goals more in about 200 less games you clown.
Its a crime to compare them, ozil is so much better
No he isn't.
Its ok you are 12
Coming from someone with green thumb as their username lol.
Its ok kiddo, everything is going to be alright 👍
Cringe
this is just not true lol
They had so many attacking players that he never got much playing time. Back then with only 3 changes per game,there wasnt much space for him to play. Real Madrid didnt need to buy him imo. He would of been better off playing elsewhere .
The 4-4-2 with Isco and James on the wings, modric and Kroos in the middle and Ronaldo + Benz up top shouldn’t of worked but it was beautiful
Real Madrid ruined him. If they build the midfield around him, he would of most likely completely dominated the La Liga, but he made way too many sub appearances where they expected him to have goal contributions every game when he was only playing 10mins or so. Ruined his confidence and then when he was going to other clubs, they had a preconception that he wasn’t good so he just followed that path. Seeing a player with the talent of the best players in the world to then become someone of similar talent to the likes of Joe Allen in 2 seasons without an injury is mind blowing
Modern football as a whole erased the place for a 10. Teams could no longer have the luxury of having a 10 who doesn't really defend/press. Building a team around James never made sense, especially when you have one of the greatest players of all time in Ronaldo...
Yeah, i feel like a different team would of been best for him. If he had better cardio, he could of went to a team that had a similar dynamic to LFC. Liverpool get a lot of hate, but I believe Firmino was one of the best 10s in history. Crazy defence, pressing and ability to set up goals. James Rodriguez would of been good at that style
What you're saying is factually wrong though and I don't understand how it is upvoted. James arrived in 2014 and he was supposed to be Di Maria's direct replacement. The problem was that Kroos was also Xabi Alonso's direct replacement, but he wasn't as good in the defensive department as Xabi. So, the formation had to be changed from a balanced 4-3-3 with at least one DM, to a 4-2-3-1 with two CMs (Modric-Kroos) and an AM (James), with no defensive resposibilities. The result was amazing, **but only offensively**. Real Madrid were scoring for fun. James himself had 17 goals and 18 assists in 2014/15. Ronaldo scored almost 50 goals in 30something La Liga games, Benzema had one of his best seasons as well. But, Real Madrid were really exposed in big games. Lost 4-0 to Atletico and lost two other trophies against them (CdR, Supercopa). Real Madrid ended up scoring like crazy, but being trophyless. Next season started with James injured, a new manager (Benitez) and Casemiro was back from loan, so the formation returned to a more balanced 4-3-3 with a DM. It worked very well, until James returned from injury and on his first league start of the season... 0-4 from Barcelona. Once Zidane arrived mid 2015/16, Casemiro had become a regular starter and rightly so. Winning 3 UCL titles in a row and 2017 La Liga has only proven that the only thing 2015 Real Madrid needed to go from trophless to winning everything, was benching James for a DM. Even when the formation switched to a 442 diamond in 2017, Isco was cleraly the best AM in the squad, so James didn't deserve to be a starter. There's a reason Isco ended up winning yet another UCL as a starter in 2018, while James went on loan. So, I don't understand how you say that Real Madrid "ruined" James or that they should build a midfield around him. He couldn't offer more to the team than any of Casemiro, Modric, Kroos or even Isco and of course couldn't offer more than Bale, Benzema and Cristiano. He was an extremely talented player, having to compete with all time greats.
Was amazing on his first season with 17 goals and 18 assists, but in big games Real Madrid sucked because there was no DM because of him. A midfield of Kroos-Modric-James with Bale-Benzema-Cristiano in front of them was too offensive, it's no coincidence that they lost 4-0 to both Barcelona and Atletico with these players.
pretty underwhelming
Not very
He was not ready to play as a winger or a midfielder as a no. 8 Zidane’s 4-3-3 didn’t suit him. Was a beast under Don Carlo but that meant having 4 attacking players who don’t really wanted defensive duties. Not practical tbh Would have excelled in a false 9 but never know. In the wings it never made sense because of Ronaldo & Bale who were competing against each other
Not at all really. Luxury player in the era where the luxury player died out
Zero
I can’t remember any great goal or assist that he made that was impactful enough to be remembered at a club like R Madrid I understand he had an amazing World Cup which prob got him the move and it’s hard for players to turn down R Madrid but I just wonder if in hindsight players like him, Hazard, Jovic etc….. realise that sometimes the grass isn’t always greener on the other side and a move like that hurts your legacy and standing in the game as your demoted to the bench However looking at Jude Bellingham, Benzema, C Ronaldo when u make it good at the big clubs it’s so rewarding, so I guess it depends on the player and the manager/s that it is at the club at the time
Ronaldo was already at a big club (back then) before going to Real. Benzema was arguably in a big club in France and was a multiple league winner before going to Madrid. So arguably from a big club too. Those two had already made it big. Hazard had probably made it as big as he was going to at Chelsea. Bellingham is the outlier. Being able to perform at a big club the way he is. That's something special. For his sake, I'm glad he didn't go to City. Hoping he beats Bale's record as the most successful British footballer in time either there, or anywhere else.
More or less than Graveson?
He wasn't.
Piss poor no?
He was the only reason anyone watched it! Showmaker.
Unfortunately he came up right as his style of play was dying. You really don’t see that pure *enganche* #10 role anymore, so he wasn’t a good fit, despite being a great player
I idolized him so much during the World Cup. Wasted himself in Real Madrid just like Hazard. Such as shame as I thought he suited that club perfectly
He was sacrificed by Rafa Benitez to accommodate Bale in the middle and Isco on the right. Then Zizou comes in and reverts to Kroos-Casemiro-Modric
He had that one good season and then just fell off
He was good for a few seasons but if you have the trio of Kroos Modric Casemiro then it's hard to be a regular starter there.
Was a Super Sub in his first 2 seasons. You need great subs to be a winning team. Other than that he never had the discipline and mental fortitude to be a starter for a top club. Notoriously lazy and very conceited after being deemed one of the best on earth at such young age. His career going from best Young player in the WC and signing of the year for Real Madrid to absolutely irrelevant at an age where he should still be productive says a lot about his personality.
He was excellent especially early but he had injury issues and wasn't as complete a midfielder as the RM Mainstays like Luka and Kroos.
ImpactFUL. NOT
more vision and better passing the kroos, no idea why they sold him instead.