James Rodriguez’s continued Everton absence and niggling injuries are causing annoyance at the club.
That’s according to Colombia’s edition of Marca, who cover the midfielder’s continued absence over the Christmas period.
Rodriguez has currently been missing for Everton’s last three games in the Premier League with an unknown injury.
That absence is set to extend to four games, with Carlo Ancelotti confirming in his press conference today that the player will miss the midweek Carabao Cup clash with Manchester United.
His continued absence is causing some concern on Merseyside, particularly after it was revealed he also missed the Christmas period at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich over the last two years.
Marca say Everton are ‘beginning to worry’ about their star man, who they say is ‘beginning to lose ground’ in a team where there are doubts about whether he is really ‘important’ and over his defensive contributions.
The ‘secrecy’ surrounding the issue has ‘put James back in the eye of the hurricane’ and ‘one the lips’ of those who have criticised him.
The tone from the newspaper is that the lack of any detail from Everton is suspicious, with them very much pushing the idea that something is going on behind the scenes that the club are looking to cover up.
That’s all based on the lack of medical information being provided, or in this case not, by the club. but it seems to be a major misunderstanding of how things work in England.
Marca are presumably accustomed to Spanish clubs giving every detail on a player’s absence, particularly if they are injured.
While it’s common practice in Spain for them to share everything and keep fans in the loop, it’s very much not the case in England.
Here, clubs are often reluctant to share anything but the bare minimum, with medical reports etc. only really shared for the most serious of issues.
Perhaps that’s not something Marca Colombia are aware of, which wouldn’t be all that surprising given they weren’t all that interested in the Premier League until Rodriguez rocked up this summer.
As we’ve covered, the reality of the situation is that Everton, and particularly Ancelotti, are more than aware of Rodriguez’s injury history and wary of pushing him and causing further issues down the line.
In their eyes, it’s probably worth waiting and having him firing down the line than risking him now, particularly when the team is in fine form without him anyway.
Thus, any attempts such as this to suggest something is going on behind the scenes is more than likely wide of the mark, especially if it’s built around the fact Everton aren’t sharing his medical details.
