2021/22 James Rodriguez

[miff]

No I'm certain he hasn't.

Unlike some he has more respect for our club.

Yes buckets and buckets of respect ??

 

[Papa Shango]

Ahh yes, both team elevens at the start of the calendar year right after the world cup.

I remember Nicky Butt getting the same Accolades the calendar year after the world cup 2002.

Copa America wow,a tournament where only Brazil and Argentina matter, if one goes out early the chances of someone from smaller country getting in tournament team increases, had a decent tournament because he was fresh as a daisy no doubt after picking up splinters from being benched 18-19 season.

Never ever World Class,

Uruguay have won it more than Brazil. Chile have won it more often than Brazil and Argentina in the past 10 or so years.

Sound if you want to have a pop at Rodriguez, but no need to get the Copa America wrong because of it!

 

[blulouie]

lol lol lol

He's invaluable. The goals and assists from Lukaku pale into insignificance; Rooney's genius placed in the shadows; the impact of Cahill in the bin; the dictation of games by Arteta forgotten about....all because James played 20 odd games and scored 6 goals.

It's unreal the utter BS being claimed for this feller.

And the only ones claiming it are those who are still smarting from the ass-whoopin' Benitez's start to the season has handed them and are looking for something...ANYTHING...to undermine him.

It is very very obvious tactics. Insulting really.

As I said Daft as a brush Evertonians.

You'd take wahing in Dave.

 

[Blue Roo]

No one denies he has the ability; the doubt is over his commitment. he is a mercenary and will want to move on even sooner than we want him out.

I can't see Rafael playing him too much if that's the case.
But I don't get how this is being made a fait complit.
We'll see.

 

[rossi toffee]

There's been some clueless rubbish from the anti-James brigade in this thread lately.

People making wild assumptions about his character based on hearsay and articles in the media. A media that's infested with RS sycophants only too happy to stick the boot into anything Everton related. Take the story about James forgetting who we were playing next, but then remembering once he'd thought about it, although that wasn't included in many articles, as it didn't suit the agenda. Even as a lifelong fan, I've done the same, and this is a player who was told he wasn't in the manager's plans and needed to move on. Why the intense media scrutiny about something so trivial? If Mo Salah had said the same thing, would he have got the same negative media coverage?

As for the fans, people love to be outraged by the most ridiculous things. Would you prefer players to pretend, like the many players who kiss the badge in a fake display of loyalty, or the 18 months of BS Ancelotti spouted about how he loved it here and was going to be here long term?

None of us know what James is thinking or what's really going on behind the scenes with him or Benitez, but there's been a bit of a character assassination on here of late, with little or no evidence to support it. James has been made the scapegoat for a massively underwhleming transfer window. Fans needing to vent have found their target.

I don't care what's said in the sports media or on social media. In an era of 24/7 news, the media are hungry for stories, so if there isn't much in the way of real news, they sensationalise the most insignificant of news or just make stuff up.

I prefer to base my judgement of players on what I see on the pitch. In that respect, James offers us something no one else in the squad can. Yes, he has no pace (although he has very quick feet when in possession), but he has a very quick brain and sees and executes passes no one else can. Problems occur if you surround him with other players who have no pace AND zero movement, as well as playing in a team that relies on defending very deep.

Players like Sheedy and Barry had no pace, but they were brilliant for us. You have to have players in the team who compliment each other, so when we see James, Gomes and Sigurdsson all in the starting 11, we know it won't work. If you have James in the team, he needs pace around him.

His form deteriorated as the season wore on, but the same can be said for the whole squad, apart from one or two exceptions. The whole squad seemed to lack fitness and that could have been a factor in our static midfield, too. Maybe there was some truth to the rumours about Ancelotti's lax training methods.

We all knew he was injury prone before he signed, so we can't have been surprised he only played 26 games last season (same number as Allan, by the way, but his injury record doesn't get the same scrutiny). Of those 26 games, he scored 6 goals and got 4 assists (I think), but quite a few other goals came from a brilliant crossfield pass from James to the assister and there were so many times where he put a gilt-edged chance on a plate for a team mate, who then made a mess of it, such as the injury time chance for Sigurdsson at Burnley and countless missed chances by Richy.

As an example of his class, look at this photo for his assist at Anfield. Who else in our squad could take out seven players by controlling the ball in mid-air, spotting the pass and then playing it within two seconds? That goal gave the team belief and something to hang on to. Otherwise, I think we'd have only got a draw, at best. He was also involved in both our goals in the Goodison derby.

View attachment 137799

Evertonians have always appreciated footballers who have flair. As a kid, I loved Duncan McKenzie. Older fans would say Alex Young.

Hopefully, Benitez now includes James in his plans this season. I'd love to see him light up a packed Goodison. Let's just enjoy what he does on the pitch while he's here.

Pure quality he is. If Benitez can't handle him it's more on him than James.

 

[BlueToff]

lol lol lol

He's invaluable. The goals and assists from Lukaku pale into insignificance; Rooney's genius placed in the shadows; the impact of Cahill in the bin; the dictation of games by Arteta forgotten about....all because James played 20 odd games and scored 6 goals.

It's unreal the utter BS being claimed for this feller.

And the only ones claiming it are those who are still smarting from the ass-whoopin' Benitez's start to the season has handed them and are looking for something...ANYTHING...to undermine him.

It is very very obvious tactics. Insulting really.

Nobody has actually said he's invaluable, Dave.

They've said he's a very, very good player. He's by far the best in this squad in terms of technical abilty.

That doesn't equate to him being our most important player or building a system around him. It does mean that he should be used in some capacity now the window has gone and we should in no way be looking to move him on right now when we can't sign a replacement.

I understood the Diaz attempted swap. Shame it didn't happen in the sense that it might have been best for all parties. But James' staying is by no means a bad thing either.

 

[davek]

"Best Everton player for a generation".

That takes some chutzpah claiming that.

Mind you, it's pushed close in the hyperbole stakes by "I can only hope I get to see him in the flesh at Goodison to say I've seen him play".

You'd think it's Eusebio or Pele playing at Goodison to hear the tripe being spouted.

 

[davek]

Nobody has actually said he's invaluable, Dave.

They've said he's a very, very good player. He's by far the best in this squad in terms of technical abilty.

That doesn't equate to him being our most important player or building a system around him. It does mean that he should be used in some capacity now the window has gone and we should in no way be looking to move him on right now when we can't sign a replacement.

I understood the Diaz attempted swap. Shame it didn't happen in the sense that it might have been best for all parties. But James' staying is by no means a bad thing either.

What, the "best Everton player in a generation" is not invaluable?

You'll have to break that news to a few people on this thread.

 

[BlueToff]

What, the "best Everton player in a generation" is not invaluable?

You'll have to break that news to a few people on this thread.

Not really, you and a few others are choosing to take that route.

On a technical level, he is easily up there for our best players in the PL era. But best does not always equate to most important.

Barry was our most important player in 13-14, wouldn't say he was the best in the squad. Gueye was our most important player for plenty of the time he was here, as we saw when he was sold.

 

[davek]

Not really, you and a few others are choosing to take that route.

On a technical level, he is easily up there for our best players in the PL era. But best does not always equate to most important.

Barry was our most important player in 13-14, wouldn't say he was the best in the squad. Gueye was our most important player for plenty of the time he was here, as we saw when he was sold.

Technical schmecknical.

He's a good player, but let's not claim we're blessed he's here. We've done ok without him this season, that's for sure.

 

[Toast]

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Technical schmecknical.

He's a good player, but let's not claim we're blessed he's here. We've done ok without him this season, that's for sure.

The James fan bhoys make me sick as a parrot tbh.

Totally get worshipping a Lukaku or even a Richarlison but a bloke who's played less than half a season here, not been totally committed / a team player and who the side has a better win percentage when said player isn't on the pitch is bewildering.

Stinks of the defence of Carlo last season because of who he was / the name rather than the actual substance in terms of the results and performances

 

[Kaiser Soysauce]

Pure quality he is. If Benitez can't handle him it's more on him than James.

He handles him like I'd handle any of my kids who were being a bit spoilt. Take away their nice things. Playing football is a nice thing for a football player. Show commitment in training and stop with "I'm not even sure who Everton are playing" kind of comments and maybe, just maybe, he gets the nice things introduced slowly.

Generally, football players do my head in.

 

[Spadge Vernacular]

Yes, but still managed to score 3 goals for Everton in 14 games. But what I am saying is that Eto`o on all parameters has been a more talented player than JR. Because JR is not the best player at Everton at the moment, nor was it last year. What is being talked about is usually the potential of JR, which is a theoretical discussion. In practice, it has been a long time since he has impressed anyone outside the inner core.

Are you OK mate?

 

[Shibbywiggles]

This thread is so boring. The same people saying the same thing in the same argument over and over again.

It will probably have 200 pages when I wake up tomorrow and he hasn’t played a game or even been in a squad this season, yet Gray who’s up for the Premier League player of the month has 34… madness!