How Real Madrid Can Get the Best out of James Rodriguez in 2016/17

Real Madrid's pre-season campaign will kick off in North America, with Zinedine Zidane's side playing out three fixtures in the International Champions Cup before starting competitive action with the UEFA Super Cup in August.

Head coach Zidane has plenty to sort out over the next few weeks as he juggles different levels of player fitness, one or two absences through injury—including Cristiano Ronaldo—and decides which players he will offload and which will play a key part in the upcoming season.

One of those who has yet to find a clearly defined role under Zidane is Colombian attacking midfielder James Rodriguez, a star in his first campaign at the Santiago Bernabeu but who lost his form and fell well out of favour last term under Rafa Benitez and, later, Zidane.

A player of enormous quality, James is one of those the French boss will be hoping to find the best of in 2016-17, meaning his approach to the No. 10 must change somewhat—though Zidane was reported by Marca as saying he didn't view James outside of the first team in any case: "I'm not going to tell you that James will be a backup, as he is an important player for us. Sure, he's played less frequently, but I don't see him as [a backup] since every time I have been able to play him he has done so at a high level."

Cater to James: Play a 10

The first option to getting the best out of James would naturally be to include him, one way or another, in his best role: as a No. 10, able to take the ball between the lines, turn toward goal and shoot or play in team-mates.

There aren't many better, well-rounded attacking midfielders around the game who can create and score as many as James—at least when on form—and playing him behind the front line is a guarantee of 30 or 40 goals, combining those created and those he nets himself.

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At AS Monaco, he operated in the role from the tip of a diamond midfield, an alien system to this Real team, but playing two central midfielders in a pivot with James ahead, still with the three forwards in place, would be an option—if the pivot players were mobile, defensively minded and disciplined.

A Toni Kroos and Luka Modric combination, for example, would not be the way to achieve it.

That said, it seems unlikely that James will swing from being a regular sub to being the man Zidane changes his entire lineup for; Real Madrid don't play with a true No. 10, and that's likely the way it stays.

Revert to Ancelotti's 4-4-2

Having discussed in depth why Zidane should refer to the 4-4-2 of Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid team at times during 2016-17, it's obvious that James would stand to be a big beneficiary.

Playing wide isn't his best role, but it's not as though he's used as a winger from a starting point on the sides of midfield—instead there is an obligation to defensively occupy a channel but then freedom to drift infield and be a creative hub when Real have possession.

Indeed, James' inclination to attack makes him tremendously difficult to mark when cutting infield and looking to pick the ball up between the lines.

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Out of all Real's options in a 4-4-2, Bale and James probably offer the best mix of traits and attributes to make the system a regular success, but it still leaves Zidane with an issue on who to leave out from the midfield area.

It's likely to be an occasional, ad hoc system rather than a go-to formation for the manager—but whenever he does look to a four-man midfield, incorporating James is a must, to raise his involvement in the team and to show the Colombian there is a route back into the team on a more regular basis.

Human aspect

It's not simply tactical work which is required for James to return to form, though; like many of the squad, he seems to thrive when feeling valued and is hugely affected when it appears he isn't highly thought of.

Zidane must, in simple terms, make James feel important, wanted at the team, part of the plan.

A starting point for that can be in game time, certainly playing ahead (or more often) than the likes of Isco or Mateo Kovacic, but for those runs of four or five games when James doesn't play a big part, Zidane has to manage him off the field, too.

Zidane's comments about not being a back-up is part of that, and it has been a consistent one since the Frenchman took over: In April, the coach told Marca he didn't agree with comments saying James wasn't rated or wanted, while in May, the boss declared, per Marca, he "love[d] him as a player and a person."

All that is at odds with the view from Colombia, though, where James is a national hero.

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Carlos Valderrama, the James of the '90s in terms of national pride, the No. 10 shirt and focal point of the Colombia national team, suggested, per Marca, Zidane didn't like James and wouldn't play him even when he played well.

Tino Asprilla, the former Colombia striker, told Marca (h/t Goal) that the playmaker needed more importance in the team to show his best form.

Headlines from those close to him can make a big difference on the mentality of the player, and Real have to take steps to ensure what they say is what James listens to—and the only way to back up words of importance is to play him in games.

With the likelihood of Zidane remaining a steadfast 4-3-3 man, that means giving James time to show he can bring more to the team than Kroos at times in midfield, and perhaps most importantly, making James the first one to come into the side when any of the front three are unavailable or rotated—which has to happen a lot more than it did in Zizou's first six months at the club.

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