2020/21 James Rodriguez

[Sassy Colombian]

Some of you that follow Everton on Instagram may have already seen this but for those of you that don’t, enjoy it

 

[little elfin]

Who said we want to sell him?
Media: "...are thought to be..."
Benitez: "...big salaries that normally aren't playing"
If James doesn't play in pre-season games then Allardyce is right about Benitez

 

[Kever10]

How I took the press conference was Benitez being asked leading questions in his 1st live interview and being smart enough to play percentages. Everyone knows that James is a commodity, he brings with him as much media attention as anyone, and most of that media hate that he would lower himself to be with Everton. Anything Benitez says will be twisted and manipulated, so instead, he made it clear not to talk about individuals. If he goes down that route, says James is important and should stay, and then for 1 reason or another, he doesn't, he is instantly undermined. Alternatively, he says he's not in his plans, he further angers a set of fans who already don't want him here and causes trouble with what could could possibly be the 1 ace he is holding. It also opens up any number of similar questions for any other player, and honest answer is, while he probably already has ideas of what he would ideally like to add, sell and keep, a lot will depend on how the deals unfold. Why would you intentionally alienate a group of players from the offset for no reason?

The Coleman comment might appear to be the same, but it is not. Coleman is as big a fixture here as anyone. He is well liked and well respected by everyone, and this line of questioning was always going to single 1 specific player out, the current captain. The captain that has been in place since Marco Silva, and that Ancelotti did not change. Selecting a captsin is often the 1st big decision a manager will make. It was an obvious line of questioning and completely separate to the assessment of other individual players.

 

[Sassy Colombian]

ike it or not, and promoting the tour, with potentially any number of James' several million followers tuning in, would have been clever. Up till a few days ago, nobody knew even if James was gonna be in florida! Now they should be making the most of his visit, it'll bring in so much money. So either nobody told Benitez to do that, or he didn't listen / agree.

At worst, it's old beef coming back if he doesn't want to talk up James for personal reasons. If he thinks James doesn't deserve extra attention, it's silly, because James is the most famous and most successful player to come to us and obviously other players have to get on board if he's getting more attention. I fear our club culture can't handle James.

It wasn’t smart at all. But Benitez, or the Club, tried to make it up with this interview on Everton TV.

The cup promoters are definitely making it seem as if James is going to be part of the squad and if so the club should make the most of this outreach opportunity, if their wish is to continue growint the Everton brand abroad.

 

[Terrarian]

Madness letting him go instead of getting better players to complement him, utter madness.

 

[windymiller]

As blues we’re known as a fairly logical, patient
and reasonable fan-base.

Err, no. We're not.

 

[Terrarian]

Err, no. We're not.

Does he even read this site haha

 

[Bluesaint]

I think he's planning to stay for this new season at least. If you see any of his posts on Facebook or Instagram he's still living in the same house he was in last year in Formby (I think)? So he could possibly feel settled. Then again this is Everton so he's probably packing up right now.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

I think he's planning to stay for this new season at least. If you see any of his posts on Facebook or Instagram he's still living in the same house he was in last year in Formby (I think)? So he could possibly feel settled. Then again this is Everton so he's probably packing up right now.

I have a feeling he'll stay this season and leave next season by mutual consent.

Ideally the club should take that 1 year contract extension option at the end of next year to ensure we dont lose him on a free and get a few quid for him at least

 

[moyeslovechild]

Oh he's definitely staying this season I wouldn't worry about that (just a feeling)

 

[chippy1722]

Pure ‘Everton that’ we could have this player at this time with our current squad.
If he stays this season I hope he passes on some tips to the likes of Gordon.

While I’m not a fan of some of the soft reasons he misses games, It will be a joy to watch him in person, and it will be good for him to have a crowd to play too.

P.S

Fully expect a ‘Everton that’ lockdown before season starts and no fans.

 

[rams1984]

The ego/attitude is something Rafael doesn't like or is not comfortable with, if things goes well between the two, he might stay for another season. Rafael has been deflecting questions until now, might change after a few days in the training ground. MIGHT.

 

[Eagle Eye]

No one worked out yet he will stay because he can pick up a massive signing on fee as a free transfer next year. We'd all probably do the same...

 

[The binman chronicles]

The ego/attitude is something Rafael doesn't like or is not comfortable with, if things goes well between the two, he might stay for another season. Rafael has been deflecting questions until now, might change after a few days in the training ground. MIGHT.

Just think of watching all the players in training and then saying we need to get rid of him. I'd be like we can get rid of all of these, but keep James.

 

[Encoder]

Many tears will be shed when we inevitably flog this magician while Gylfi grasses his way to the 10 position for another season.