2020/21 James Rodriguez

[BlueToff]

Taken off, what was it a tight calf muscle? Strikes me that he is not 100% fit.

He was playing crap, and the game had passed him by.

He delivered a wonderful moment of quality. Like any player, he's allowed an off day.

Shouldn't be playing central though, unless it's in a free role off one striker. We need him in the opposition half, not dropping deep to get the ball off the CBs. He doesn't have any pace to drive from deep, so everything in that situation then needs to be a perfect pass and relies on our players to make a run - which in all fairness Richarlison was doing constantly yesterday.

 

[CharliePotato]

A pre-assist is a thing. The actual stat will go down as 'chance created', as it's a 'key pass' - a key pass is the ball which leads to the chance.

For example, that opener we score against Crystal Palace doesn't happen without James playing that superb reverse pass into Coleman. It's basically a way of quantifying that.

It’s a load of rubbish though that the stat men created just to fluff it up, there will be a pre pre assist soon because that would not have happened without someone laying it onto James.

 

[meagher94]

Having a dig but still using their own rubbish of pre-assist, need to jib that.

Why? The ball to Digne for Iwobi’s goal against Wolves. The ball to Richarlison to square it to DCL for the goal against West Brom. There’s more, but these unbelievable passes deserve credit so I’m all for it.

 

[UptheTofees]

Taken off, what was it a tight calf muscle? Strikes me that he is not 100% fit.

Hope it's not serious. That has been a recurring injury for him for years. I hope he is fine. Wanna see him tear up the spurs again

 

[CharliePotato]

Why? The ball to Digne for Iwobi’s goal against Wolves. The ball to Richarlison to square it to DCL for the goal against West Brom. There’s more, but these unbelievable passes deserve credit so I’m all for it.

Baller.

 

[BlueToff]

It’s a load of rubbish though that the stat men created just to fluff it up, there will be a pre pre assist soon because that would not have happened without someone laying it onto James.

It's not a load of rubbish though.

James might finish with 9 or 10 assists this season and you know full well other fans will say how that means he's not been worth it and Evertonians will be up in arms about it.

The important stat is chances created, which includes assists. That's the best way of quantifying his impact from a statistical point of view.

 

[UptheTofees]

He was playing crap, and the game had passed him by.

He delivered a wonderful moment of quality. Like any player, he's allowed an off day.

Shouldn't be playing central though, unless it's in a free role off one striker. We need him in the opposition half, not dropping deep to get the ball off the CBs. He doesn't have any pace to drive from deep, so everything in that situation then needs to be a perfect pass and relies on our players to make a run - which in all fairness Richarlison was doing constantly yesterday.

Actually

I read on a another forum that he had discomfort in the first half and that Carlo asked him to stay a little longer. Once we tied the match and we were on our back heels again, made sense to take him out

 

[UptheTofees]

It's not a load of rubbish though.

James might finish with 9 or 10 assists this season and you know full well other fans will say how that means he's not been worth it and Evertonians will be up in arms about it.

The important stat is chances created, which includes assists. That's the best way of quantifying his impact from a statistical point of view.

Yes

He is generating danger and goals for us. Whether he made the assist or not. He has been involved in most of the goals when he has played.

 

[BlueToff]

Actually

I read on a another forum that he had discomfort in the first half and that Carlo asked him to stay a little longer. Once we tied the match and we were on our back heels again, made sense to take him out

That's all well and good - but he was playing poorly. I had no issue with the sub, and think Carlo would have done it anyway.

I love James, but he was poor yesterday. But I also think a lot of that was down to playing him central which I just think doesn't use the best of his abilities to find space.

Hopefully if he does have any issue, it's not serious.

 

[CharliePotato]

It's not a load of rubbish though.

James might finish with 9 or 10 assists this season and you know full well other fans will say how that means he's not been worth it and Evertonians will be up in arms about it.

The important stat is chances created, which includes assists. That's the best way of quantifying his impact from a statistical point of view.

Agree to disagree.

To be honest I couldn’t care less what other fans think of his “stats”, it makes no odds.

Take a look at Siggisrons stats, makes great reading especially from a couple of years abo when he was slotting, however it doesn't take away the fact that he’s absolutely pony.

 

[CharliePotato]

Yes

He is generating danger and goals for us. Whether he made the assist or not. He has been involved in most of the goals when he has played.

Maybe what that R/S was saying then was that Thiago is creating openings with his “idea balls” that other player wouldn’t have any “idea” to do.

Both a load of rubbish but people slating them and then using pre assist in the same sentence are just as bad.

 

[Titus Bramble]

The technique for the touch and finish was superb, Doucoure really punched it at him and it wasn’t flat across the ground.

 

[Drico]

That's my thing mate

Some people here are like vultures just waiting for the opportunity to jump on him as soon as he is playing poorly

We are better off without him

He is a passenger we can't carry

Bring on Siggy, he'd be bossing this game

We are way worse with

We don't win with him

I can see why top clubs don't want him

He can't perform in away matches

Made his name in the world cup scoring against mediocre countries


Geez man. Lad has been phenomenal for us and some here are foaming at the mouth to tear him apart after a bad half

There's also a touch of, dare I say it, suspicion of flamboyant foreigner types in the world of pie and mash English football. I think people are entitled to say James didn't play great last night or on any night where he struggles. But anybody denying that even when he's struggling he's capable of changing a game in an instant just doesn't understand the player we have on our hands. A world star for a reason - and not because he's got a pretty face.

The "not one for blind adulation" comment would be fine based on a single game where James isn't performing. But anybody who has followed his career knows that James is a magnificent player. Any adulation has been earned on the pitch. As his goal last night showed, he's the only player in our side that could have taken that chance as clinically and beautifully as he did. All the auld talk of Richarlison being the best player at the club has long since died. And he was rated by many simply because "he got stuck in " not because of his glorious technical ability. Peter Beardsley was the last player at Everton who had the technical skills to compare with James. Some were suspicious of him too. Kanchelskis was more about pace and power (with no little skill) - but it was the pace and power that many admired.

We'll always be second raters in this league with inferiority complexes at places like Old Trafford and Anfield until we embrace players like James who turn up at these places and make their mark because, frankly, they feel at home there. As seen last night, even when out of sorts, James produced our best moment of skill in the game. At Everton, sadly, some will always prefer graft over talent.

 

[UptheTofees]

That's all well and good - but he was playing poorly. I had no issue with the sub, and think Carlo would have done it anyway.

I love James, but he was poor yesterday. But I also think a lot of that was down to playing him central which I just think doesn't use the best of his abilities to find space.

Hopefully if he does have any issue, it's not serious.

Oh yeah he was poor. I hope that's why he came off because that calf muscle has caused him to miss lots or games

 

[BlueToff]

Agree to disagree.

Means to be honest I couldn’t care less what other fans think of his “stats”, it makes no odds.

Take a look at Siggisrons stats, makes great reading especially from a couple of years abo when he was slotting, however it doesn't take away the fact that he’s absolutely pony.

Well, James leads the way for us this season with 28 chances created in the league (20 of them from open play). From those 28 chances, five of them are assists. He was third in the league up until his injury lay off, behind KDB and Fernandes. Now it's Grealish (75!) who is top of the charts.

We don't create enough, is what that shows, though our top creators have all being out at times this season (Digne is only 22 chances created, for example).