James Rodriguez and the story of a long goodbye

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It appears to have been a long time coming as James Rodriguez finally departed Real Madrid in order to join Bayern Munich on a two-year loan deal on Tuesday afternoon.
He leaves plenty of memories behind. Ever since an exciting first season at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, he has endured two disappointing years which have been well below the level he showed in 2014/15 after an exceptional World Cup.
In Bavaria, he will be hoping to recover his smile and spark under a coach with whom he shone in the past, Carlo Ancelotti.
The decline of the Colombian began with the departure of the Italian from the Bernabeu, with the coach's soft hand bringing the best out of players such as Rodriguez, who didn't react too well under a strict disciplinarian in Rafa Benitez.
The first cracks appeared when the former Napoli boss asked Rodriguez to join up with the squad before the Copa America and the No. 10 refused.
In the first LaLiga game of the season against Sporting, he was a substitute and after leaving for international duty, he picked up an injury.
Benitez didn't count him among his favourites but did surprise many when he recalled James from the bench to put him in the starting line-up in El Clasico, although he failed to have an impact as his side were thrashed 4-0.
At the beginning of January 2016, he suffered his worst incident as a Real player when he arrived late for training, speeding and being chased by the police as he made his way into Valdebebas.
It was an improper scene and one which is unbecoming of a Real Madrid player. Benitez left him out of the next game as a result and it proved to be his last in the Merengues dugout.
Then, Zidane arrived and it gave James a new lease on life, a new horizon opened itself up to him but once more, things didn't go as expected.
Zidane warned the player that he needed to be motivated for every game in order to win a place in the side. But soon, the public, the critics and even Zidane himself realised that Benitez had been right about the player.

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