Olympiakos is six points behind joint leaders Panathinaikos and AEK Athens in the Greek league and lost to AEK 4-2 on aggregate in the Greek Cup semifinals.

The messages of the last few days, to be precise the last few weeks, clearly showed that the climate for James Rodríguez had turned. Talks of activating the experienced striker's renewal option for another year had faded from the limelight.

And their place had been taken by clouds, doubt and as the days passed the end of the collaboration.

The experienced midfielder made headlines with Olympiakos, who had the right until May to formally activate the 1+1 of his contract. To get here there has been a series of events regarding James and the team.



So let's see 4 main reasons

1. His many and accumulated injuries: While there was a sense and image that Hames would be ready for the away derby at Alexandra Avenue against Panathinaikos, the Colombian star from February 13 onwards with his injuries and problems his readiness had only 3 appearances in Super League 1 until then.

From the game with Panaitolikos from the middle of February (in a match against Agriniotes where he nevertheless had a good and convincing performance) until his departure, he played in just 4 games in the Greek Super League. A very small number of games and while his injuries affected him also in terms of his image in the Avenue match where he was particularly bad.

2. Mediocre to poor 2nd half of the season: Unlike his start at Olympiakos which up until the middle of the year was particularly good, the continuation for James was not comparable. The 2nd half of the current season for the Colombian star has been average to poor and it certainly played a part. Hames who in Olympiakos had 23 matches with 5 goals and 6 assists.

3. The height of the contract and the bar that was high: James' contract was at the level of Marcelo at Olympiakos. Together with the bonuses, it reached 3 million euros. It's not a small sum for a player of James Rodríguez's caliber. A footballer for whom the bar is always high.

4. The fact that he put "I" above "we": In the last few days, on the occasion of the game at Leoforos where Olympiakos was defeated 2-0 by Panathinaikos, there was also (according to the information obtained) an attitude of Hames who it did not bring out a positive sign within the Olympiakos Organization, that is, within the team. He had reacted earlier (under Michel) to his substitution and he did so now on the occasion of his substitution in the match against Panathinaikos. Where he did not have a good attitude and reaction even though the coach of the red and whites, Jose Anigo, had spoken to him before the derby against Panathinaikos and had shown him how much the team bet on him.

Despite the efforts made to calm the spirits and the next day there was a reaction from the Colombian who did not complete his training program, while on Holy Tuesday he did not show up at Olympiakos training. It's not always easy for a star like James, but at this stage he seemed to put 'I' before 'we'.

In a sense he had to play regardless of his appearances. However, both Olympiakos and himself wrote the best things about each other in their announcements.