2021/22 James Rodriguez

[Barnfred 55]

Seriously tho bit harsh imo, bet you were dancing about when he played that ball to richarlison in the Derby ffs, lets see if he can put a shift in for this fella before we make judgement imo

On the contrary, I suspect this may quite possibly not have been his first reaction lol

 

[Terrarian]

Yes mate, he should have been there for the Wolves game and I agree it's on the club to insist he attends, specifically Ancelotti.

Footballers who play at the highest level live in a bubble. In James' case, he's a national icon in Colombia, so has become a massive celebrity with a huge social media following. He's treated like a rock star there. No English player has ever had that level of adulation, so it's something we can't fully comprehend.

Football means everything to the people of Colombia. This is a country where a player was murdered five days after scoring an own goal at the World Cup. Has all the adulation turned James into a bit of a primadonna? Maybe, maybe not, but you could understand if it had.

Ancelotti didn't do him any favours with his "He's a bit tired" comments before the Wolves game. In fact, I was scratching my head all season at some of his pre-match injury updates. The information he gave was often puzzling, misleading or simply incorrect.

Watching James for the Sheffield Utd game, he looked completely unfit and I was surprised he was kept on the pitch for most of the game. The Wolves game was three days later, so Ancelotti should have just said James wasn't fit enough to play two games in three days and his dodgy calf wasn't up to it. In fact, he should have just selected him, but put him on the bench.

Even if he wasn't selected for the Wolves game, the club should have made sure the whole squad was there. One could argue James should have wanted to be there, and that's fair enough because, traditionally, the last home game gives the players the opportunity to thank the fans for their support during the season, and for the fans to appreciate the players efforts.

However, last season was a strange season like no other. There were no fans. Even for the couple of games that did have a few fans, James didn't play, so he never had the opportunity to connect with fans in any way. Maybe if he'd experienced that he'd have wanted to be there. Maybe not. We'll never know.

I understand why people are annoyed by some of his behaviour, but bearing in mind the slightly bizarre bubble he lives in and putting into context all of the above, I'm prepared to be magnanimous about him.

What's important now is getting behind the team and, if selected by Benitez, getting behind James, too. It's what he does on the pitch that really matters.

You don't think David Beckham had that type of adulation?

 

[Barnfred 55]

He means all the antics he was doing during the summer promoting the Florida Cup when the Club was trying to make the most of his image

So this is after Carlo had left the club and Benitez had joined.

But the player doesn't want to be here.

 

[Barnfred 55]

Why did you want us to have Bolasie but not James, Miff. Why?

Why did you want us to have Fat Sam and Benitez, Miff, but not Ancelotti?

Why do you want bad things for Everton, Miff? Why don't you like us?

Why are you asking questions that you already know the answer to. lol

 

[Sassy Colombian]

So this is after Carlo had left the club and Benitez had joined.

But the player doesn't want to be here.

Yep, he looked miserable this summer didn’t he lol

Why would he want to leave when he is making like a billion dollars

 

[Barnfred 55]

why can’t you?

Do you speak Spanish? Did you watch the videos and understood exactly what he said? I didn’t think so.

You can never go wrong with a Salma GIF

 

[BlueToff]

lol

No, you just casually mentioned since his arrival here some journalists are getting info pushed their way.

As for my "default position" defending Benitez: my position is that he's here to do a job and will get support for that, and if he cant do the job I'd want him out.

I think we both know it's you who holds the extreme position on Benitez.

Yes they are, I think we'll see if that's a good or bad thing when (or hopefully just if) results turn sour, see if there's any rift. I hope not! I hope we carry on playing like we did v Leeds and Brighton because a few defensive mistakes aside in the first one of those, we were excellent!

 

[Barnfred 55]

I think the home fans will go crazy when he plays in front of a crowd. He isn't a complete premiership athlete but he is an incredible footballing talent who given the right system can control football matches. Given our low possession statistics though I'm concerned he is antithetical to Benitez philosophy which would be a real shame as the man can play football at a world class level.

He looked way off the pace in the pre-season games and has missed a lot of training since the Man U game. If he can get himself as fit as he was at the start of last season, then he's done his bit. It's up to the manager then to select him in the squad and to introduce him to games and integrate him into the team. I've absolutely no doubt that he will produce moments of magic if this happens that will only help the team performance. being used sparingly should also keep him available more often than he was last season when he was probably overused by Carlo.

He's still here. He can be a special talent, so let's use him. Let's see if we have a manager who is pragmatic or one who holds grudges.

 

[Barnfred 55]

Good Lord. All roads lead back to Benitez?

Then who was behind the negative stories about James last season when he effectively went AWOL? There was a spike of them then. That wasn't Benitez.

There's something bizarre about fans of a club trying to create a persecution narrative to excuse a player who simply doesn't fit in ANYWHERE he goes in world football.

He's a creative but flawed player who cannot or will not adapt to suit changes in style or management.

FFS how many times. He didn't go AWOL he was 'kin injured. If he'd done anything wrong he would have been disciplined and fined by the club.

All you haters Dave are just clutching at straws trying to find reasons to demonise him. The truth is, other than his fitness reliability and a few ill advised tweets, he hasn't done anything to warrant the hate that's being chucked at him by a section of our supporters. It's crazy.

 

[Toffeelover]

According to what I have read on Royal Blue Mersey it has been made clear to him hi does not fit in and is not wanted. There was a suggestion from another player just rip up your contract and say good bye!

 

[Zezti]

According to what I have read on Royal Blue Mersey it has been made clear to him hi does not fit in and is not wanted. There was a suggestion from another player just rip up your contract and say good bye!

At any point did you stop to think someone could be telling lies?

 

[Bluetintedspecs]

You don't think David Beckham had that type of adulation?

No mate. If you compare Beckham's fame in the UK to James' in Colombia, it's nowhere near.

Beckham is, or was, a football icon, but in Colombia, James is a national icon. It's a country that lives and breathes football.

I'd hazard a guess if you googled the most famous people in Colombia, he'd be in the top 10 of just about every list, for something that's so subject to individual opinion. He's that huge there.

You could say he lives in a bubble, detached from many aspects of everyday life, but you could also say he lives in a goldfish bowl.

Maybe @Sassy Colombian or @UptheTofees could offer more insight.

 

[Diogenes the Cynic]

According to what I have read on Royal Blue Mersey it has been made clear to him hi does not fit in and is not wanted. There was a suggestion from another player just rip up your contract and say good bye!

Just rip up your contract and lose millions of pounds?

Certainly sounds stupid enough to be one of our players.

 

[davek]

FFS how many times. He didn't go AWOL he was 'kin injured. If he'd done anything wrong he would have been disciplined and fined by the club.

All you haters Dave are just clutching at straws trying to find reasons to demonise him. The truth is, other than his fitness reliability and a few ill advised tweets, he hasn't done anything to warrant the hate that's being chucked at him by a section of our supporters. It's crazy.

There's three issues here with James for me:

1/ I see him as a creative player - but one who wont be able to fit regularly into the new system.
2/ I think he's been less than professional in the last 4 months with his comings and goings and social media output.
3/ I can see that he is being weaponised by the anti-Benitez crowd in order to undermine the manager. Not his fault, but that's unwanted.

He needs to move on. Best of luck to him when he does, as he's not a player I dislike. But he's not doing us or himself any favours by staying any longer.

 

[Barnfred 55]

According to what I have read on Royal Blue Mersey it has been made clear to him hi does not fit in and is not wanted. There was a suggestion from another player just rip up your contract and say good bye!

Just been on there to see it for myself but couldn't find the piece you are referring to. Not sure if it were an article or a members post, but there's not much of either tbh.

Whatever the piece was, does it mention a source for the information or the players name who supposedly said rip up your contract. ? I guess not.