James & Ramos: A divided dressing room at Madrid
People are clearly out to get Real Madrid manager Rafael Benitez, although in most cases, things have been exaggerated.
The reality, at the moment, is that the Madrid dressing room is divided by their coach's methods, although the majority are still behind him. The defeat in the Clasico to Barcelona even strengthened his ideas, with is shown that Real Madrid cannot line up with all their stars because no-one defends.
However, there is hostility from two players - Sergio Ramos and James Rodriguez - towards their manager and his two great allies, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos, who understand and defende his philosophy.
That bad mood is evident, even though Ramos and James's complaints have not dragged their team-mates down. Ramos is well thought of within the squad in general and has been angry with Benitez since he publicly criticised him. In addition, the defender is also at war with the club's medical team, who Benitez has defended.
Despite all this, the biggest confrontation is with James Rodriguez. Benitez is disappointed with his performances this season and, above all, with his attitude. He's prioritised the Colombian national team over Madrid and Benitez singled him out directly for his performance in the Clasico.
The Colombian has taken advantage of all of his opportunities to bite back at Benitez. He had not started many games despite being one of the galacticos and against Barça he demanded to start. The coaches had prepared the game without James, who was tired from his travels on international week, but were under pressure to play him.
His performance wasn't good and Sergi Roberto and Ivan Rakitic kept him quiet. Without doubt, it was the big mistake in Benitez's line-up and for the Champions League game against Shakhtar, James was back among the substitutes. It could be the same against Eibar. Until he finds his fitness again, James will not play because he's not at the level of his team-mates.
Benitez's allies are in midfield. Both Kroos and Modric know more than anyone that Madrid are not a competitive team if they don't have any balance.
For that reason, they have applauded the inclusion of Casemiro, a player who allows Kroos and Modric to creat more. The Croatian sent a clear message after the Clasico: "If we are not compact, we are not a team. When we all fight, we're good, but if not, teams can come through us."
Modric has become Benitez's biggest hand both on and off the pitch and he is clear that there's no room for the BBC and another attacker. Florentino Perez has also realised now and will leave Benitez to do what he feels best regarding leaving the likes of James, or even Benzema, on the bench.
On top of that, the relationship between Cristiano Ronaldo and Benitez is much better than people have commented. The Portuguese respects his coach and the coach is happy with Ronaldo's attitude and professionalism. Gareth Bale's another story. The Welshman has not integrated into the team, nor will he integrate. He looks set to be another galactico flop from Florentino.
