James Rodríguez and the Al Rayyan club, without reaction in Qatari football

Al Rayyan once again saw the face of defeat in Qatari football after falling 2-3 at home to Umm Salal and again worries about relegation places. James Rodríguez returned to be the constant head of the team after a month without activity, but he is seen wandering in a football that does not suit him and where there is no clear project, the newspaper publishes Mark from Spain.

James went to Qatar in exchange for a millionaire and the history already known in Everton. Apparently it was going to be the cornerstone of a solid project of Al Rayyan, but nothing of that is seen: the Colombian wears the number 10 on his shirt, but his functions are not noticed and he looks increasingly lost in football as does his team.

The coffee grower plays at times as a net creative shuttlecock and at other times he leans on his sides as a kind of winger. The greater offensive responsibility of the team rests on its feet and does what its current performance allows, but it is not enough and there is no connection with its teammates.

Brahimi (Iranian) and Nzonzi (French) are the only ones who seem to be more or less up to his quality, because the rest of his teammates usually ‘return a brick’ when he throws a ball in front of goal. And to this is added the imprecision of James in his middle distance shots that together are bad results for Al Rayyan.

Laurent Blanc was on the verge of being fired, but the Qatar Cup (in which James did not play because he was incredibly not registered due to deadlines) saved his position. However, his team does not know what he is playing and the defense is a puzzle. There is no good midfield that gives James a hand in the generation and the Colombian must always go back several meters to look for the ball and thus facilitate the work of the rival behind.

To top it off, the strong leg is a common denominator and James is constantly punished with vehement infractions in the middle of the court (where he does not represent a danger for the rival but for his physique). And in the still ball it is the only factor where he can stand out with good centers to the area for his teammates who tend to miss the goal.

It is expected that Al Rayyan will seek to save the season by avoiding relegation and will not do much more in these 10 remaining games of the Qatar league. Then we will have to see what happens with Rodríguez and his future thinking about the possible participation of the World Cup and a football flight from a foreseeable debacle in this Asian destination where there is everything, except football. (D)