As you grow older, the memories of the past slowly begin to fade. It is as if a thick drapery of mist shrouds the paintings of the canvas within the mind. However, there are times when the nebulous gives away and you can see right through it the glimpses of the days gone by.
Childhood is the most special time for the privileged ones. While most of my childhood memories have been buried in some deep and dark oubliettes, there are some moments that appear during the aforementioned spells of haze weakness.
From them, one of the most perspicuous gatherings is the acts of redemption. Mistakes are unavoidable; they are bound to happen. Hence, everyone loves to have a chance to redeem themselves after making one.
Sometimes, however, people find themselves at the wrong side of the spectrum even without making a mistake. That, perhaps, is when redemption is most coveted. Such is the case of James Rodriguez.
A “galactico”
The Colombian, who is ranked 8th in the list of the most popular sportsman in the world, was once treated as the crown jewel of the football fraternity. He shone like a full moon among stars, but the moon seems to be enveloped in the darkness of the eclipse right now.
In the first line of the previous paragraph, I tactfully stated his popularity in the world to shed some light on why he was signed in the first place. While Barcelona might have the slogan of “more than just a club”, it is Real Madrid that actually operate in such a manner.
To be a Galactico, not only must the player be supremely talented, he must also have the media appeal that attracts fans, and money, like a magnet. James Rodriguez has that. Despite being Real Madrid’s most important player in a tactical sense, Angel di Maria was shipped off to accommodate James Rodriguez after the latter illuminated the world with his radiance in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Real Madrid, then, came calling. And he didn’t have the courage to say no. To be fair to the former Porto man, who does? After an admirable season-and-a-half, he now finds himself in the fringes with Zinedine Zidane at the helm.
It is not that James is to be blamed for the quagmire that he is in right now. When Nokia’s CEO, with tears in his eyes, announce the sale of the company, he claimed that it wasn’t their fault since they didn’t do anything wrong.
James scenario can be likened with that of Nokia’s: he didn’t anything wrong, however, he didn’t do anything right either.
Not adapting to the needs of the surroundings is what led to Nokia’s downfall. The former Monaco man follows the same predicament. While the likes of Isco, Asensio and even Mariano adapted to the needs of the coach, James simply didn’t show enough to warrant a place in the team.
Make no mistake, he wasn’t bad when he got a chance to display himself, he was decent—and that is where the problem lies, ‘decent’ just doesn’t cut it in a team where you share the dressing room with Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric… the list could go on and on.
A final chance to show his worth
However, now, with injuries to Gareth Bale and Lucas Vazquez, James Rodriguez could be given a chance to redeem himself. He might not be playing in his preferred central role, but if his time at Porto and then at Monaco tells us anything, it is that he is one hell of the player when cutting inside from the right.
While Isco is also being mentioned as a potential replacement, playing him on the right won’t yield much benefits as his skillset just doesn’t suit the right-wing. Marco Asensio is the other name that is being touted to play on the right. And it would make sense since he has played some games there during his loan spell at Espanyol.
However, Zidane is most likely to give James one last chance to show that has what it takes to play for Real Madrid. James might not be as quick as Gareth Bale or Lucas Vazquez, but his technical ability is far superior to the aforementioned two and he could use that to create a lot of petulance in the enemy territory.
Back when I was a kid and made a mistake, I tried to make amends by doing household chores even without my mother asking me to. James will get his chance to do the chores and this time, it will be his fault if he fails to make an impact.
