James Rodríguez, a loose ten in the Premier League
By Damian Didonato
James says: "There are many children who do not want to be ten. They say 'I am extreme, I am nine, I am average'. Soccer has created that, because everyone plays 4-4-2 or 4-3-3. And the few who there are, the technicians put it aside. They only want fast players, who win one on one, run, cross. That is hard for football. "
James Rodríguez is a number ten. Due to game characteristics and personal conviction. Almost by ideology. You can play a little to the right, further forward or further back. It can split as a double five, as an internal or as an extreme. But none of that matters. When he plays, James is a number ten in his every move and touch.
"James plays for James. He is there to generate game, to pass-goal, to define," César Luis Menotti once said. For ten, the tactical schemes do not matter. They don't need the stiff, classic 4-3-1-2 to play their way. Its function exceeds systems and numbers. It has more to do with a way of thinking about the game, with an energy expenditure more related to the mental than to the physical.
When the current Everton player says that he suffers when he sees that children do not want to play ten, he actually regrets because he fears the disappearance of a way of feeling football. These days, vertigo and speed are praised above all else. When a footballer jogs when he loses the ball, he is first criticized. It does not matter if that trot is to save the energy that will allow him in the next play to decide with the best possible criteria and leave the center-forward face to face with the goal. No, it is imperative to run a lot.
James run, sure. But think first. That, added to technique and talent, is what makes a number ten. To an irreplaceable, irresistible type of footballer. Everton fans and English analysts doubted the present of the Colombian, who came from hard times at Real Madrid. Most of those doubts were extinguished when he touched the first balls in the debut and showed his hierarchy. However, some kept to his idea even after the victory against Tottenham and said he should "commit more to the brand".
That requirement is another defect of that idea that despises the specialists and ponders the polyfunctional. It is not necessary for everyone to do everything in a soccer outfit. Yes, each one does his part well. In his role, there are few better than James. That is why almost all the critics changed their minds the next game, seeing that his influence on the team's game was so great that nothing more was needed than his vision, his passing and his creative ability. Because soccer is played like James plays.
"The Premier is very difficult, very physical," says the common place. It may be true, although that doesn't mean that a number ten raised and trained in South America won't be able to make a difference. James has been the player who made the most risky plays in these first three days. He shone in three very different games: against Tottenham his team handled the ball and played in the rival field for 90 minutes; against WBA he suffered at the beginning and took advantage of his opportunities to turn the result and against Crystal Palace he had to defend a good part of the game. In each encounter, a touch from James was enough to give flight to the attack.
"Right now, he's not playing like a number 10, but he has the quality to play there ... he's playing on the right side, but not as a winger because he likes to come in to use his skill in the middle of the field," Carlo Ancelotti said and with his explanation he denied himself. James is playing ten because he is a ten. He will always play that way and Carletto knows it and values it. As the whole Premier League values him.
