2021/22 James Rodriguez

[Cels]

It will be interesting to see if James staying causes any friction between Farhad Moshiri and Rafá Benitez, especially if Moshiri insists on Benitez giving James some role in the team since he is being paid £200k a week (depending on what you have read) to play football and not sit on his rear end playing GTA at home.

 

[BlueToff]

Anyone who is for some reason angry that we've got this player at the club, please just watch this video (probably on mute) and appreciate what quality we have.

We know he has to get himself fit and we know he has to be motivated. But it's also on the club and Benitez to integrate him into the squad because this guy's talent cannot be wasted.

We now have an attack with some genuine width and pace which isn't as dependent on full-backs. We have the option to rotate James in and out and manage his gametime so as to reduce the risk of injuries. As an option for the squad there aren't many better.

The club cannot be stupid here. Hold talks with him, let him know he's here and part of the plans and we can reassess when the time comes. Until then, let's make the most of him.

 

[BlueToff]

It will be interesting to see if James staying causes any friction between Farhad Moshiri and Rafá Benitez, especially if Moshiri insists on Benitez giving James some role in the team since he is being paid £200k a week (depending on what you have read) to play football and not sit on his rear end playing GTA at home.

As I said earlier, Everton have regularly used players they have been actively trying to sell.

Tosun, Delph, Gomes etc

There is no way on Earth we shouldn't use James in some capacity in the squad when he is fit.

This idea we can just think we're set because we've won two league games is mad.

 

[Barnfred 55]

This season is ultimately a transition one for me as we simply never had the funds to do the required work in the summer window this year.

1. We aint bad enough to go down

2. We aint good enough to win something / finish top 6

Therefore im happy in Benitez starting to lay the foundations in terms of a recognised system / regular hard-working performances and a shift in the lazy mentality of our squad in preparation for next summer when funds will be there.

If James or anyone else who will be off next season is a detriment to us then I would rather they stay away and hopefully move on in January regardless of how talented they are.

This is a perfect season for the reset button to be pressed - we've seen the last 3 league games of a shift from the last few years I see no benefit in bringing players like James or Siggurdsson back into the fold barring an injury crisis.

Somebody would argue that you are getting your excuses in early. lol

The fact is we are going into the season with a very similar squad to the one we had last year. We have brought in a replacement for Kean, (which we didn't last year), have replaced Bernie and Siggy with Gray and Townsend, and have improved our back up keeper. Plus there is a chance that we will hopefully get some decent game time out of Gbamin who gave us a glimpse of what he may be capable of during pre-season. The only negative on last season is that we have offloaded our left back cover, but then again we didn't play him last season anyway.

So, on the whole, I'd say that our squad is actually stronger than the one we began last season with. I expected us to challenge last season and I expect us to do the same this season too. Maybe not top 4 but certainly for European places. Despite me not liking him as a person, I do believe that Benitez has also very quickly come up with a playing system that suits the majority of our group of players and lads like Doucoure, Iwobi and Gomes may all benefit from that. We play with more purpose and the players look fitter too. It's good to see. Gray and Townsend look like good purchases and hopefully that will continue.

Unlike you I believe the manager needs to integrate James back into the squad, get him fitter and use him when we need a plan B. I'm hoping he's pragmatic enough to see this because discarding him from things serves no purpose whatsoever apart from being a complete waste of resources when we have so little anyway.

I think we're more than capable of winning a trophy this season and competing for top 6/7, and based on what I've seen so far, only a bad run of injures will stop us doing that. We're due some good fortune in that regard. I said in a different post that, with 2 pens in the first 3 games, maybe Benitez turns out to be a lucky manager for us.

 

[jazzy]

Anyone who is for some reason angry that we've got this player at the club, please just watch this video (probably on mute) and appreciate what quality we have.

We know he has to get himself fit and we know he has to be motivated. But it's also on the club and Benitez to integrate him into the squad because this guy's talent cannot be wasted.

We now have an attack with some genuine width and pace which isn't as dependent on full-backs. We have the option to rotate James in and out and manage his gametime so as to reduce the risk of injuries. As an option for the squad there aren't many better.

The club cannot be stupid here. Hold talks with him, let him know he's here and part of the plans and we can reassess when the time comes. Until then, let's make the most of him.

If , and it's a bit if, he's fit and motivated to play I could see him play at home against teams that sit deep ( Burnley , Watford etc) and have a packed defence by playing just off DCL with pace either side of him in Gray and Richarlison and Doucoure and Allan behind him.
It is inconceivable that you could play him , with our personnel, in a team that either needs to press or requires him to have any form of defensive responsibility.
In any other type of game he should be an impact sub.

 

[Egil Olsen]

Anyone who is for some reason angry that we've got this player at the club, please just watch this video (probably on mute) and appreciate what quality we have.

We know he has to get himself fit and we know he has to be motivated. But it's also on the club and Benitez to integrate him into the squad because this guy's talent cannot be wasted.

We now have an attack with some genuine width and pace which isn't as dependent on full-backs. We have the option to rotate James in and out and manage his gametime so as to reduce the risk of injuries. As an option for the squad there aren't many better.

The club cannot be stupid here. Hold talks with him, let him know he's here and part of the plans and we can reassess when the time comes. Until then, let's make the most of him.

And conversely, JR says that he is willing to do the job that the manager requires both in training and match, and he accepts that he is considered on an equal footing with everyone else in the squad and does not receive any special treatment?

 

[Tin-Tin]

Has to feature now he's staying.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

So it is a win win for Benitez no matter what happens.

We all know Carlo was never getting sacked had he stayed and I think its the same under Benitez.

The board have no hunger to keep hiring and paying off managers every 18 months and I dont blame them.

The club desperately needs a period of stability.

 

[Tramps_mate]

I think we will see him leave on a 'free' in the next week or so. There's no way he will want to stay...

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Somebody would argue that you are getting your excuses in early. lol

The fact is we are going into the season with a very similar squad to the one we had last year. We have brought in a replacement for Kean, (which we didn't last year), have replaced Bernie and Siggy with Gray and Townsend, and have improved our back up keeper. Plus there is a chance that we will hopefully get some decent game time out of Gbamin who gave us a glimpse of what he may be capable of during pre-season. The only negative on last season is that we have offloaded our left back cover, but then again we didn't play him last season anyway.

So, on the whole, I'd say that our squad is actually stronger than the one we began last season with. I expected us to challenge last season and I expect us to do the same this season too. Maybe not top 4 but certainly for European places. Despite me not liking him as a person, I do believe that Benitez has also very quickly come up with a playing system that suits the majority of our group of players and lads like Doucoure, Iwobi and Gomes may all benefit from that. We play with more purpose and the players look fitter too. It's good to see. Gray and Townsend look like good purchases and hopefully that will continue.

Unlike you I believe the manager needs to integrate James back into the squad, get him fitter and use him when we need a plan B. I'm hoping he's pragmatic enough to see this because discarding him from things serves no purpose whatsoever apart from being a complete waste of resources when we have so little anyway.

I think we're more than capable of winning a trophy this season and competing for top 6/7, and based on what I've seen so far, only a bad run of injures will stop us doing that. We're due some good fortune in that regard. I said in a different post that, with 2 pens in the first 3 games, maybe Benitez turns out to be a lucky manager for us.

I would say with 0 injuries we could achieve 7th but soon as they pile up and the likes of Gomes, Kenny and Delph/Davies are back in the side its 8th-12th.

Next season is the acid test should the manager actually be backed next summer.

 

[Death]

That does ignore the signings that he has inherited from Ancelotti. Abdoulaye Doucoure - £19.89m, Allan - £22.5m, Ben Godfrey - £20 million, James Rodriguez - free but on a million a week. He also has Silva's signings in Digne Richarlison and Mina as well the more rounded talent that appeared under Ancelotti in Calvert Lewin. I do believe Benitez spotted an opportunity to improve upon Ancelotti last season, who was challenging for fourth with a few weeks to go before we collapsed. There was an issue of a part-time culture under Carlo from what I hear, with players and staff not being around training after 13:00/14:00. Even under those conditions, the expectation on Ancelotti last season from the board was Europe and in my opinion, Benitez has improved our options in Gray and Townsend. If he finds a way to work with these players, including James without the injury issues we suffered last year I would expect us to be challenging again.

19 clubs have improved and spent more than us. Including the 10 that already finished ahead of us under the one and only Carlo Ancelotti last year. By many many millions.

But he got powerhouses gray and townsend in for free.

Over to you Ben, start challenging.

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

Anyone who is for some reason angry that we've got this player at the club, please just watch this video (probably on mute) and appreciate what quality we have.

We know he has to get himself fit and we know he has to be motivated. But it's also on the club and Benitez to integrate him into the squad because this guy's talent cannot be wasted.

We now have an attack with some genuine width and pace which isn't as dependent on full-backs. We have the option to rotate James in and out and manage his gametime so as to reduce the risk of injuries. As an option for the squad there aren't many better.

The club cannot be stupid here. Hold talks with him, let him know he's here and part of the plans and we can reassess when the time comes. Until then, let's make the most of him.

It's mad that we managed to get him. He is truly world-class.

 

[Lee Smith]

Doesn't run though lad!

Things I love about this goal :

- Gomes’ cross-field pass. Sublime
- Digne’s first time lay back. Tidy
- James’ Top Corner curler on his “weak” foot. Perfection
- Godfrey leaning back to see if he can watch it bend in, and then his reaction when it does. Lovely to see
- Gomes shouting “Bravo!” In the celebration. Continental flavour.

Imagine being an Everton fan and not wanting James to be a part of the match-day squad, considering we usually have to fill it up with multiple goalkeepers.

 

[Barnfred 55]

also so much support for a manager that has proven to be mediocre for a long period of time now. Weird

I assume you're talking about Carlo.

I have a theory, which could be complete tosh, but may explain why somebody with such a fantastic record, both in trophies and the type of football he played, was behind so may turgid performances for us. I don't think he expected to have the opportunity to manage a top club again, and him taking on Everton was more an exercise to get his son a foot in the door in football management. It was actually his son that was driving the tactics and footballing decision making. As I said, could be complete tosh but a lot of the football this great manager delivered was worse than what we endured under Allardyce.

 

[NathDogg]

Anyone who is for some reason angry that we've got this player at the club, please just watch this video (probably on mute) and appreciate what quality we have.

We know he has to get himself fit and we know he has to be motivated. But it's also on the club and Benitez to integrate him into the squad because this guy's talent cannot be wasted.

We now have an attack with some genuine width and pace which isn't as dependent on full-backs. We have the option to rotate James in and out and manage his gametime so as to reduce the risk of injuries. As an option for the squad there aren't many better.

The club cannot be stupid here. Hold talks with him, let him know he's here and part of the plans and we can reassess when the time comes. Until then, let's make the most of him.

We should have scored at least 10-15 more goals from the chances he created, most from him taking up the spaces between the lines, on the half turn or switching play quickly.

Nobody else in the squad brings what he can.

He's different gravy and we can absolutley use that skill in most games.