- James left Real Madrid for Everton after he couldn’t secure consistent playing time
- The Colombian star revealed his admiration of Carlo Ancelotti when the two were at Real Madrid
It should come as no surprise that James Rodriguez was keen to reunite with Carlo Ancelotti at Everton. The Colombian superstar has always been a big fan of Carlo Ancelotti since they worked together at Real Madrid.
“Real Madrid was a big dream that I always had. To be where great to-class players have been and I get there with amazing players, there was everyone, you know.” said James.
“I think all of them are great players and I get there with some pressure because I played well in a World Cup.
“And I think: ‘Hey, I have to enjoy this, I have to live in the moment, I have to do things right.’
“So I worked with a remarkable top manager, Ancelotti. He’s wise, he knows a lot. He knows how to manage teams, so I really trusted him, I had a wonderful year. I scored 17 goals and I notched 17 assists I think, it was an incredible year.” he said.
“When you have a lot of talent and when you know you train well on a daily basis, you eat well, you take good care of yourself, you have people that care about you, it’s a lot easier for you to play on the field and do things right.” explained James Rodriguez
While James Rodriguez was full of praise for Ancelotti, he admitted he found things at Real Madrid a little more frustrating under Zinedine Zidane. When asked about the differences between Ancelotti, Zidane and Rafa Benitez at Real Madrid, Rodriguez revealed he had looked to leave the Bernabeu last year due to a lack of football.
He said: “They are very nice people, they are very kind.
“Everyone knows how Carlo was and how he trusted me.
“I didn’t have much time with Rafa Benitez because at four months I was already out.
“With Zidane, I didn’t play much in the first part because when you win things with certain people, certain players, you already trust them, right?
“So it was something that happened with him but from all three managers I learned things.
“I learned good things, bad things, and I didn’t play much with Zidane.”
He added: “I wish I’d left with the last three years here but I stayed this year because, let me tell you what happened, okay?
“Last summer I got a really good offer from a club, I don’t want to say the name, but I could go there because I knew I wouldn’t play much here.
“I knew it, so I got this offer with this club and I haven’t been allowed to leave due to several issues.
“So basically I’m here this year because of the circumstances not because I wanted to be, because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to play much.
