2020/21 James Rodriguez

[Toffeepot]

Here is another one of him playing with his kids on the field after the end of the game. Like @jinkyali mentioned on a previous post, it must be hard for James, or many footballers, to be away from his kids so James certainly is making the most of his time with them even if it is at the end of a match.

Also why he left early to go home when he wouldn't have been playing anyway at the end of the season. Gotta respect that after a long Covid year

 

[BlueToff]

Hope he gets a full preseason in, the niggly injuries don't bite again and Benitez knows what he's got with James - a world class, game changing footballer.

Give him the 10 shirt and the armband.

You don't try to accommodate James - you build the team around him and accept his injuries if they come.

All this talk of him looking disinterested, norarsed, wanting away is absolute rubbish imo - I see him training hard, looking happy and wanting to do well for us.

Just one game in front of a full Goodison and I think he's hooked on us - please make it happen.

Hmmm.

I don't think you can build the team around him - we tried that last year.

What you do is have a few ways of playing. That doesn't mean James can't be integral. It just means that he doesn't have to be pushed to the brink or relied upon for 38 games a season.

It also doesn't mean he has to play central. He can play where suits the team best, because he's got quality so it doesn't really matter.

 

[Shibbywiggles]

Hmmm.

I don't think you can build the team around him - we tried that last year.

What you do is have a few ways of playing. That doesn't mean James can't be integral. It just means that he doesn't have to be pushed to the brink or relied upon for 38 games a season.

It also doesn't mean he has to play central. He can play where suits the team best, because he's got quality so it doesn't really matter.

I don’t think we built a team around him last year, he was mostly shoehorned into a weird right wing position when he’s much more effective as a ten.

Ideally, we build a first team around him as a ten but have a good young understudy who can fill in when he’s not available or a plan B different shape! Last season if he wasn’t there to create we had nothing but relying on set pieces.

 

[jinkyali]

I agree with the concept. So far at least I’m not sure he has delivered enough. I think he is a lovely player to watch, he potentially put three match winning performances in, but that not enough

He's that good and can do stuff no one else in our team can that he doesn't need to deliver for 90 mins.
No one puts that pass in v Liverpool for Richarlison except him.

 

[andy4efc]

I don’t think we built a team around him last year, he was mostly shoehorned into a weird right wing position when he’s much more effective as a ten.

Ideally, we build a first team around him as a ten but have a good young understudy who can fill in when he’s not available or a plan B different shape! Last season if he wasn’t there to create we had nothing but relying on set pieces.

Actually think that right side is his ideal position. Floats inside and causes problems.

the problem we had with that last year is that we haven't had any quality at right back and so we were vulernable.

Also not having proper ball players in the middle doesn't help.

James could do anywhere along that front four. Stick some pace round him and he'll create tonnes. Just can't do it all on his own and cant do it for more than 25-30 games a season, which is fine as long as we have MORE WAYS OF PLAYING.

If we had a real quality ball player in CM, we'd have Docoure sitting near James so that when the RB needs support, he is there. If we ahve hard workers and pace on the wing tehn 4-2-3-1 with James in the middle can work just fine.

 

[BlueToff]

I don’t think we built a team around him last year, he was mostly shoehorned into a weird right wing position when he’s much more effective as a ten.

Ideally, we build a first team around him as a ten but have a good young understudy who can fill in when he’s not available or a plan B different shape! Last season if he wasn’t there to create we had nothing but relying on set pieces.

His best football came from that right flank - as did our best football as a team - at the start of the season?

He hardly played right wing at all from October onwards mate. Maybe once or twice.

Apart from that he was either up front or at the point of a diamond or as a 10. I'd say his worst displays came when he was starting centrally (Newcastle I think that happened, as it did v Sheff Utd) and he dropped too deep to try and get us going and we had nobody else making runs for him. Him playing wide would rely on a full-back to get up and down though, and we don't have that.

You don't have to build a team around a player who is central. Look at Villa with Grealish - he plays mainly left but the team is very much built around him.

Our creativity was definitely built around him last year, and we had no real sustainable alternative way of playing when he wasn't fit.

 

[APN_EFC]

Hmmm.

I don't think you can build the team around him - we tried that last year.

What you do is have a few ways of playing. That doesn't mean James can't be integral. It just means that he doesn't have to be pushed to the brink or relied upon for 38 games a season.

It also doesn't mean he has to play central. He can play where suits the team best, because he's got quality so it doesn't really matter.

It would be great to build the team around james, but more realistically have 1 style of play built around him, and another style of play built around wide pacy wingers. THat way you can use subs bench effectively or set up in a different way and rotate James on and off the bench.

 

[BlueToff]

It would be great to build the team around james, but more realistically have 1 style of play built around him, and another style of play built around wide pacy wingers. THat way you can use subs bench effectively or set up in a different way and rotate James on and off the bench.

As long as the style of using the pacy wingers isn't just long ball.

But for that we need a midfielder who can get on the ball and progress us through midfield.

If we don't get that player, then we're looking at a lot of stagnant play between our CBs and CMs.

The only positive I could think to someone like Winks is he has the passing range that we need from deep. But he doesn't possess the ball carrying that we need.

 

[twoblue]

He's that good and can do stuff no one else in our team can that he doesn't need to deliver for 90 mins.
No one puts that pass in v Liverpool for Richarlison except him.

That was one of the match winning performances

 

[twoblue]

We might have a place for a no. 10 in the middle next season. I would love to see him there

 

[Wat Tyler]

James Rodriguez changing perceptions on Everton future as transfer saga goes on

Rumours surrounding James Rodriguez's future at Everton have been spreading throughout the course of the transfer window, but have gone a little more quiet recently

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

I still he'll go but it will go right to the end of the window.

 

[allezlesbleus]

I think this is a bit of a myth.

He is not remotely fast but he does work for the team, he is always happy to take the ball and does indeed track back. He doesn't just stand there with his hands on his hips like some would have you believe.

If we are looking at him to be some kind of workhorse then we are not using him right.

Most of the time I see him tracking back and getting stuck in I wish he would stand away with his hands on his hips because he’s rubbish at tackling and gives away free kicks but that’s absolutely not why you have him in the team.
It’s like getting mad at your CB for not scoring enough goals!

In some games he was actually doing too much dropping back and working in the wrong part of the pitch because he can’t tackle or defend. He’s not in the team for that. Get him two thirds up the pitch and get 2/3 guys running past him into danger areas. His job is to find them.

 

[NathDogg]

Put pace and runners all around him, LB, RB, runners from midfield and pacy wingers....Play him number 10, give him the number 10 shirt and tell him to get back in position when defending. Centrally he is less of a liability than on the right. Also, with an athlete like Dumfries at RB and a midfield 3 of Allan, Gbamin and Doucoure he could play off the right in a 4-3-3.
The best player I have seen in a blue shirt since a 16 year old Rooney, and we aren't doing EVERYTHING to make him happy and want to stay, absolutely bewilders me!

Spot on mate, I don't get it with some of our fans.

Think how good he was doing for us until that thug van dyke tried to castrate him?

No one cared that James wasn't tackling like prime Peter Reid before that did they?

 

[little elfin]