James must keep fighting to be a Madrid success, says Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti has urged James Rodriguez to continue fighting to become a success at Real Madrid.

Ancelotti was head coach at the Santiago Bernabeu when James left Monaco for Madrid after starring at the 2014 World Cup for Colombia.

James proved a hit in his first campaign in the Spanish capital, scoring 13 goals in 29 LaLiga appearances.

However, he struggled for form last term and has regularly found himself out of the team under Zinedine Zidane.

But Ancelotti believes it is not uncommon for a player to lose form and backed the 25-year-old to come good.

“I was surprised [James lost his form] a little bit, but he is very young,” he told AS. 

“Sometimes not everything turns out well. One year you can have problems. The important thing for a player is to keep fighting, even if you do not play every game. 

“Playing in Madrid is not easy, because there is much competition.”

Ancelotti, now coach at Bayern Munich, also stated that Madrid’s triumph in last season’s Champions League was not purely down to Zidane’s preference to play Casemiro in midfield over James.

“Zidane’s great success was winning the Champions League,” he added.

“[But] I played one season with [Luka] Modric, James and [Toni] Kroos and we went on a streak of 22 [wins] with those three.

“Everything depends on the commitment the players have.”