2021/22 James Rodriguez

[BNJ1878]

I would add that I would like to see him play on Tuesday to judge his efforts, but I'm not sure we're going to see him.

I wouldn't mind seeing him on Tuesday.

I am not sure it's the best place for him to be included. Really tight little ground, team flying high in the Champ, they will certainly feel they have a chance. Even if they play a second-string they will be well up for it.

We are going to have to play a second string, we cannot afford any more injuries.

 

[ToffeeTim]

I wouldn't mind seeing him on Tuesday.

I am not sure it's the best place for him to be included. Really tight little ground, team flying high in the Champ, they will certainly feel they have a chance. Even if they play a second-string they will be well up for it.

We are going to have to play a second string, we cannot afford any more injuries.

It seems like the right time for me with our lack of availability options. I'd like to think he's itching to get a game.

 

[BNJ1878]

Congrats everybody!

Page number 400 for a player yet to kick a ball this season.

Richarlison won't be happy being in 2nd spot with a miserable 80 odd.

Our most consistent player this season stuck on 49. Poor little Demarai. What's he gotta do?

 

[BNJ1878]

It seems like the right time for me with our lack of availability options. I'd like to think he's itching to get a game.

You'd hope so.

Time will tell.

 

[Bkk Andy]

Congrats everybody!

Page number 400 for a player yet to kick a ball this season.

Richarlison won't be happy being in 2nd spot with a miserable 80 odd.

Our most consistent player this season stuck on 49. Poor little Demarai. What's he gotta do?

400. He won't play that many minutes this season

 

[Brennan]

Said before...it is important. We get the same amount of points as last season, it means that's the points tally we should aim for every season. Anything less after that is going backwards.

Under Moyes we averaged between 55-65 points. So anything above 50 was the aim (hence the running joke of "40 points is the aim" each season goal)

Since him our average is between 45 - 55. And one anomaly in 72 points.

Rafael won't be going anywhere. And he shouldn't for another 2 seasons IMO

It doesn’t work like that though. The points you get is highly dependent on the strength of all the other teams, not just ours.

If we finish 7th with 55 points people will be a lot happier than last season. That would mean we were better than 13 other teams in the league that year which is what matters. Not the points total.

An example would be when we finished 8th on 54 points a couple of years ago. That was definitely a better result than last seasons 59 points.

 

[Bkk Andy]

It doesn’t work like that though. The points you get is highly dependent on the strength of all the other teams, not just ours.

If we finish 7th with 55 points people will be a lot happier than last season. That would mean we were better than 13 other teams in the league that year which is what matters. Not the points total.

I have vision's of Pep being blasted for winning the league with less than 100 points last year.

 

[BlueToff]

Needs to be fit. Needs to put himself forward.

That being said, assuming what RB said is true, I think we're seeing why players shouldn't actually 'run through brick walls' or always play through the pain barrier.

We've had to do that to Dom. He's now out for a month.

Coleman, ludicrously, played only a week after suffering a hamstring strain, and is now out for 2-3 weeks.

We've probably not helped Richarlison by him training on his knee all week only to now need 2-3 weeks out.

Of course fans want players to just play on and it be like the good old days but the simple fact is that's why all those older players from the 80s or 90s can hardly walk now. And if you push injuries too soon you just aggravate them.

But James also can't be a softarse because frankly right now we need him. If we had a fully fit squad we'd have the luxury but we don't and it was shown just how weak our squad is yesterday.

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

Needs to be fit. Needs to put himself forward.

That being said, assuming what RB said is true, I think we're seeing why players shouldn't actually 'run through brick walls' or always play through the pain barrier.

We've had to do that to Dom. He's now out for a month.

Coleman, ludicrously, played only a week after suffering a hamstring strain, and is now out for 2-3 weeks.

We've probably not helped Richarlison by him training on his knee all week only to now need 2-3 weeks out.

Of course fans want players to just play on and it be like the good old days but the simple fact is that's why all those older players from the 80s or 90s can hardly walk now. And if you push injuries too soon you just aggravate them.

But James also can't be a softarse because frankly right now we need him. If we had a fully fit squad we'd have the luxury but we don't and it was shown just how weak our squad is yesterday.

"People who think James Rodriguez doesn't try or isn't committed to the club, or doesn't want to be there, I think are barking up the wrong tree.

"There were times last season when James played in games that he shouldn't have played in. He was half-fit, he lasted an hour, you could see he was dead on his feet by then and they had to bring him off.

"But he had such a close relationship with Carlo Ancelotti, and Ancelotti needed him so badly for the way they wanted to play, and they were forced to do it. I think in in the end that came back to haunt them."

 

[ToffeeTim]

Needs to be fit. Needs to put himself forward.

That being said, assuming what RB said is true, I think we're seeing why players shouldn't actually 'run through brick walls' or always play through the pain barrier.

We've had to do that to Dom. He's now out for a month.

Coleman, ludicrously, played only a week after suffering a hamstring strain, and is now out for 2-3 weeks.

We've probably not helped Richarlison by him training on his knee all week only to now need 2-3 weeks out.

Of course fans want players to just play on and it be like the good old days but the simple fact is that's why all those older players from the 80s or 90s can hardly walk now. And if you push injuries too soon you just aggravate them.

But James also can't be a softarse because frankly right now we need him. If we had a fully fit squad we'd have the luxury but we don't and it was shown just how weak our squad is yesterday.

Most players are never fully 100% fit during the season. If he genuinely said he was worried about a little knock then I'm not impressed.

We need him to help the team on Tuesday. We are paying a lot of money so least he can do is make himself available to play.

Hamstrings are very serious. I hurt mine about 10 years ago at school rugby and it took months to get right. But little bumps and knocks are part of sport. Get on with it.

 

[BlueToff]

Most players are never fully 100% fit during the season. If he genuinely said he was worried about a little knock then I'm not impressed.

We need him to help the team on Tuesday. We are paying a lot of money so least he can do is make himself available to play.

Hamstrings are very serious. I hurt mine about 10 years ago at school rugby and it took months to get right. But little bumps and knocks are part of sport. Get on with it.

Hamstring strains are very serious and that's why Coleman, Everton, Benitez, the medical staff etc are all completely daft for him playing last week mate. They are a minimum 10 days rest at peak fitness. Coleman isn't at peak fitness and has a history of the issue. It was ludicrous for him to play and has now cost us.

I think the thing we know with James' calf issue is that it's not just a 'little bump and knock'. He got booted up and down loads last year, didn't he.

He has a long-standing issue with his calf. Colombian journalists and Ped from ToffeeTV can speculate all they want about his diet or training etc but he has a long-standing calf injury which will never get better it seems. So it has to be managed.

Now, I'm not impressed either if he's just thinking it's not 100% so he can't even make the bench. If Benitez however has agreed then again it's a manager/player decision (like it was a manager/player decision for the Brighton game when the talks with Porto were on).

But we absolutely need everyone to be putting themselves forward right now.

 

[kenada_blue]

It doesn’t work like that though. The points you get is highly dependent on the strength of all the other teams, not just ours.

If we finish 7th with 55 points people will be a lot happier than last season. That would mean we were better than 13 other teams in the league that year which is what matters. Not the points total.

An example would be when we finished 8th on 54 points a couple of years ago. That was definitely a better result than last seasons 59 points.

It's a measure of your own side, stability, consistency and level IMO. The last time the RS got less than 65 points was pre-klopp which is about 6-7 years ago for example which keeps them top 5 consistently.

We finish 7th on 55 points Id want the same points next season because if we get less than that we don't have consistency. We finished 10th on goal difference (pin points attack and defence) and 3 points away from 7th (shocking home form) last season. These things matter imo.

We don't have that.

 

[Loz]

Understandable?

Going into a game with your 2 best strikers out. The one we are starting is clearly unfit and the one attacking player on the bench is a kid who only started training after 4 month injury last week. We have only named 8 subs.

James had a full preseason and has trained normally for the last 4 weeks. But the manager won't even put him on the bench. And you think that's understandable.

God save me

If we assume the story coming out in which James appears to have told Benitez that he wasn’t fit enough to play has some truth in it, then it’s completely understandable that he wasn’t on the bench.
It’s pretty obvious that he has no heart and cannot be bothered to put himself on the line. Even his own national team aren’t bothering with him.
When God finishes saving you he needs to turn his attention to our club, because it’s being dragged down by successions of over paid pansies who can’t be bothered to wear the shirt or fight for it.

 

[gazzaa2]

It doesn’t work like that though. The points you get is highly dependent on the strength of all the other teams, not just ours.

If we finish 7th with 55 points people will be a lot happier than last season. That would mean we were better than 13 other teams in the league that year which is what matters. Not the points total.

An example would be when we finished 8th on 54 points a couple of years ago. That was definitely a better result than last seasons 59 points.

Under Allardicio we finished 8th with 49 points, the league was shocking that year. A couple of seasons later finished 12th with 49 points, followed by 10th with 59.

Therefore, points totals can be more of a barometer than league position if you're in the middle third of the table.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

All that matters is finishing position

Coming 1st on 84 points trumps finishing 2nd on 87 points

Arguing otherwise is just strange - mum we won the points tally award!!