Why Atletico Madrid's Cristian Rodriguez Would Benefit from January Transfer

It's one of the most common phrases in world football. And rarely is it good news for a player when it's used in reference to them. 

"I'm open to any situation which may occur in the market, but I can't say anything about Cristian [Rodriguez] because nothing's been said officially," began Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone, per Football Espana, after being asked about Cristian Rodriguez's future at the club.

"He's a player we'd like to keep and who's always behaved properly," he added. "He's a great professional."

Rodriguez, when it was said, would likely have started packing his bags a little faster.

Indeed, phrases such as Simeone's, sentences about a player being "a great professional," are little more than polite ways of saying "I have no intention of playing him." It's the same as the dreaded "vote of confidence" that is often declared by boards about their managers in times of turmoil—a phrase that so often precludes the sacking of that very manager. 

In truth, for prominent identities in the game it's hard to avoid repeating these transparent statements; there are only so many things they can say in the public domain.

But that's the thing: Because of that we've heard most of them countless times and we have a good grasp on what the outcomes tend to be.

So when a manager begins to talk about a player's behaviour and professionalism (most often a rarely seen player), it's often because he has little to say on the player's genuine value to the side. 

Rodriguez is clearly aware himself that it's time to look elsewhere, recently admitting that he'd been personally negotiating a move away from the Vicente Calderon. 

In an interview, according to Inside Spanish Football, the Uruguayan said:

I'm calm and waiting a possible transfer.  I'm not eager to leave because I identify with the club.  We're improved a lot here at Atletico but a player is looking to compete, earn his place and regrettably I haven't been lucky enough to, at the very least, be named a starter for several month. That's why I'm looking to leave.  I'm negotiating my own transfer and this hasn't just come about now.  It's been coming since I almost had secured a deal to England following the World Cup.  I've been alone for several months and I'm looking to leave in order to play, to get fit and be in form for the Copa America.

In recent days, both Inside Spanish Football and Football Espana have reported that the 29-year-old is on the verge of officially completing a loan move to Serie A club Parma despite interest from Premier League duo Queens Park Rangers and Sunderland. 

Rooted to the bottom of the table in Italy's first division, the Emilia-Romagna-based side is in desperate need of a injection of quality this January, and, in Rodriguez, they might just get it. 

Should the deal be officially announced, it would be beneficial for a player whose career has completely stagnated in Spain.

Since joining Atletico Madrid from Porto in 2012, Rodriguez has made just 14 starts in La Liga in almost three seasons. And this season, he hasn't made one. Despite being a regular starter for Uruguay at the World Cup last summer, the attacking midfielder has seen nothing but five-minute substitute appearances at the end of games with Atletico.

The rationale for that is simple: He's not a natural fit for Simeone's preferred system. His game isn't all that dissimilar from Alessio Cerci, the Italian who also struggled to force his way into the team after a move from Torino last summer (he's now on loan at AC Milan).

Rodriguez, like Cerci, is an attacking midfielder who likes to roam forward and join in the attacks. A sort of hybrid winger. But in Simeone's rigid and very defined 4-4-2, there isn't an obvious place for the Uruguayan. He's not the prolific scorer the manager wants in his pairing up front, nor is he the sort of high-octane and technically adept midfielder Simeone prefers in his central bank of four. 

For Rodriguez to fit into an XI, he needs a system that uses an extra body in midfield, allowing him to push forward from his starting position on the left without leaving a disadvantage in numbers behind him. A 4-2-3-1—not Simeone's 4-4-2—would provide that.

Uruguay's use of wing-backs in the World Cup also suited the Atletico midfielder—an approach that Parma largely use as well. 

It should mean Rodriguez, provided the loan move happens, will get the chance to restart his club career after a difficult time at the Vicente Calderon. 

He needs that more than any other player at Atletico Madrid. 

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