James Rodríguez

[Matt]

23 minutes ago, Hafnia said:

I've seen him look pissed off too - rightly so.  The number of times his ankle gets stamped is a fucking joke - when he plays he first time pass watch how often a player leaves a bit on him and how often the ref ignores it.   Newcastle was a disgrace.

Does it slow him down? Maybe, he doesn't down tools though. 

If he played for the media darlings he would get looked after. 

I don’t agree with this bit at all. His work rate is his only negative for me, but it’s the trade off and a worthwhile one too most of the time. He plays when he wants, and if he’s been booted a few times then he tends to hide away for a period. It’s just his temperament I guess, and completely understandable because he does get unnecessarily roughed up with 0 protection from officials. 
 

all of this isn’t me having a go at him or not rating him. I’m still giddy when I see him in our kit. But the thought of him being central upfront is just a non-starter for me. On the shoulder of DCL yeah, makes sense like Naismith did with Jelavic, but not leading the line. 

[Btay]

Play him as the 10 and force him to get on the ball as much as possible. If he is on the ball around their 18 yard area things will happen. 

[Romey 1878]

4 hours ago, Btay said:

Play him as the 10 and force him to get on the ball as much as possible. If he is on the ball around their 18 yard area things will happen. 

A number 10 is exactly what he says he is. That’s where I want him playing as often as possible. A choice between Sigurdsson or James isn’t a choice at all. 

[Bailey]

56 minutes ago, Romey 1878 said:

A number 10 is exactly what he says he. That’s where I want him playing as often as possible. A choice between Sigurdsson or James isn’t a choice at all. 

The issue we have is that our "10" plays as part of a three man midfield rather than being allowed to roam like James wants. You could see him play instead of DCL / Richie in the formation we played on Monday but in our more common 4-3-3 there isn't really that role.

[Romey 1878]

1 hour ago, Bailey said:

The issue we have is that our "10" plays as part of a three man midfield rather than being allowed to roam like James wants. You could see him play instead of DCL / Richie in the formation we played on Monday but in our more common 4-3-3 there isn't really that role.

Then we really should change our formation to have that 10 as a floater. He would devastate teams and create a lot of chances if we just let him be what he is.

[Btay]

8 hours ago, Bailey said:

The issue we have is that our "10" plays as part of a three man midfield rather than being allowed to roam like James wants. You could see him play instead of DCL / Richie in the formation we played on Monday but in our more common 4-3-3 there isn't really that role.

I think without Doucoure the 3 man midfield can have 2 sitters so to speak and James drifting into space in front of them. Davies/Gbamin & Allan are suited to this with plenty of defensive ability to allow James to express himself 

[Bailey]

15 hours ago, Btay said:

I think without Doucoure the 3 man midfield can have 2 sitters so to speak and James drifting into space in front of them. Davies/Gbamin & Allan are suited to this with plenty of defensive ability to allow James to express himself 

I agree with you and Romey that it is something that should be looked at. The problem I have with that type of formation is it leaves you a body light in midfield when defending. Teams will go 3 v 2 and expose those two central midfielders and against decent players it will cause us all sorts of problems, especially when one of those two has to be Gomes/Davies/Siggy due to injury. That isn't just a problem in respect of chances against but our ability to get the ball off them. To make the most of the talent of someone like James, you need to be able to win and keep the ball as much as possible.

[Romey 1878]

Not that we didn't already know it but this fella is a different gravy entirely. The way he threads balls through the oppositions defence with exactly the right amount of power put on it is beautiful to watch. If we get more willing runners ahead of him, and around him, next season he could cause absolute carnage. 

It's of the utmost importance to keep him as fit as possible so he features in more games for us.

[Btay]

1 hour ago, Romey 1878 said:

Not that we didn't already know it but this fella is a different gravy entirely. The way he threads balls through the oppositions defence with exactly the right amount of power put on it is beautiful to watch. If we get more willing runners ahead of him, and around him, next season he could cause absolute carnage. 

It's of the utmost importance to keep him as fit as possible so he features in more games for us.

He is an absolute joy to watch when he plays like that.

[Romey 1878]

26 minutes ago, Btay said:

He is an absolute joy to watch when he plays like that.

At one point he played one of those threaded balls through the Spurs defence and Alderweireld went totally the wrong way for it. It made me laugh. Watching him play football brings me joy.

[Aidan]

7 hours ago, Romey 1878 said:

At one point he played one of those threaded balls through the Spurs defence and Alderweireld went totally the wrong way for it. It made me laugh. Watching him play football brings me joy.

When Alderweireld followed Sigurdsson making the run on the outside and James played it through to Richarlison in the centre? 

It totally did me too let alone Alderweireld. He played the pass and my brain made my eyes follow a make believe ball to Siggy. 

[Romey 1878]

21 minutes ago, Aidan said:

When Alderweireld followed Sigurdsson making the run on the outside and James played it through to Richarlison in the centre? 

It totally did me too let alone Alderweireld. He played the pass and my brain made my eyes follow a make believe ball to Siggy. 

That’s the one. It was brilliant. 

[Palfy]

Also the ball he put through to King was sublime, not only did he have to thread it into the space he had to also put the correct amount of pace on it for Kings 20 yard run across the area, so the ball was there at the right time for the player to get his shot off. That sort of precision is so hard yet he makes it look so easy when he’s on it he’s mesmerising. 

[c1982]

Bravo  

 

[Romey 1878]

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/everton-james-rodriguez-injury-ancelotti-20582128

[Wiggytop]

Not in the squad tonight, apparently he feels fatigued after Sunday. 
maybe this is one of the players Carlo is happy to see leave after his comments today.

We can’t build a team around a playmaker who can’t play two consecutive  games !

[RuffRob]

I would so much like to see him have at least one proper season here - with fewer injuries and the Goodison faithful present. But fear our love affair might be over all to soon. 

[Romey 1878]

As soon as the Sheff U game was over it was in my mind he wouldn't feature tonight. Just a gut feeling.

[markjazzbassist]

1 hour ago, RuffRob said:

I would so much like to see him have at least one proper season here - with fewer injuries and the Goodison faithful present. But fear our love affair might be over all to soon. 

Carlo's had him with 2 different teams i think he knew the injuries were just part of the package when he got him.  The tired bit today was a little weird, maybe a lost in translation thing or something.  

[Bailey]

I get the feeling now that James followed Ancellotti because he knows he can pull shit like this and get away with it (on the pitch too).

[Btay]

4 hours ago, markjazzbassist said:

Carlo's had him with 2 different teams i think he knew the injuries were just part of the package when he got him.  The tired bit today was a little weird, maybe a lost in translation thing or something.  

I dunno mate reminds me of the Fulham game where he just didn’t fancy it. Shame because he has all the talent in the world.

[Hafnia]

He's got to go.

Ffs .... We have a world class player who unfortunately has just epitomised the indifference we have watched from the players on the pitch throughout this season. 

I don't say this lightly either because I think he is genuinely brilliant.  The fact is - you can't have a top earner, global superstar in and around a squad of players and saying "he's tired".  

With an attitude like that - how can you hold other players to account when they put in 80% effort?  - in their heads they are thinking "at least I'm having a go, James has his feet up".

FFS. 

[pete0]

Don't get the not grief. He looks a lot more bothered than most when we're shite and is always trying to win. He's not gonna pull up trees getting back but he does enough defensively, plus the team is set up to enable him to focus on the attack.

He's been involved with nearly everything good this season.

 

 

[StevO]

1 hour ago, pete0 said:

Don't get the not grief. He looks a lot more bothered than most when we're shite and is always trying to win. He's not gonna pull up trees getting back but he does enough defensively, plus the team is set up to enable him to focus on the attack.

He's been involved with nearly everything good this season.

 

 

I’m with you Pete. Don’t know why anyone would want rid of him. The problem is we want him on the pitch more, so the answer can’t be to have him on the pitch less by moving him on. 
His time is going to need to be balanced to try to get as many games out of him as possible. If we get 25 out of him in a season that’s not so bad, we’d like more but it won’t happen. 

[Romey 1878]

Just now, StevO said:

I’m with you Pete. Don’t know why anyone would want rid of him. The problem is we want him on the pitch more, so the answer can’t be to have him on the pitch less by moving him on. 
His time is going to need to be balanced to try to get as many games out of him as possible. If we get 25 out of him in a season that’s not so bad, we’d like more but it won’t happen. 

Next season we should see more of him because the season will be a lot more condensed. We won't be playing every 2/3 days hopefully, so he'll have more time to recover between games. The structure of the league this season has made things look a lot worse than they really were in terms of him missing games.

[StevO]

15 minutes ago, Romey 1878 said:

Next season we should see more of him because the season will be a lot more condensed. We won't be playing every 2/3 days hopefully, so he'll have more time to recover between games. The structure of the league this season has made things look a lot worse than they really were in terms of him missing games.

I think so too mate. At the start of the season when we had weekend league games and mid week cup games he was fine sitting out the mid week games. 
I just want to see him in the flesh, at a full Goodison park, at full fitness. 
A fit James Rodriguez gets us more points. 

[Palfy]

1 hour ago, StevO said:

I’m with you Pete. Don’t know why anyone would want rid of him. The problem is we want him on the pitch more, so the answer can’t be to have him on the pitch less by moving him on. 
His time is going to need to be balanced to try to get as many games out of him as possible. If we get 25 out of him in a season that’s not so bad, we’d like more but it won’t happen. 

We also need some better quality around him if we don’t I don’t think we will ever see what he is truly capable of. 

[StevO]

48 minutes ago, Palfy said:

We also need some better quality around him if we don’t I don’t think we will ever see what he is truly capable of. 

I think (hope) he will have some better players around him next season. 

[c1982]

2 hours ago, StevO said:

I think (hope) he will have some better players around him next season. 

We will 100%
We may even have players who run and don’t just stand still waiting for the ball - imagine!!!

[Bailey]

I am really torn with him because who doesnt want to see James in full flight playing in an Everton shirt but if the best teams in the league can't afford to have someone not pulling their weight then we definitely can't.