Everton star James Rodriguez has been miscategorised as a creative player and shouldn’t be playing out wide.
That’s according to former Millonarios and Colombia star John Mario Ramírez, who believes the player is wasted if he is playing in a right-wing position.
That’s the role he’s currently occupying for Everton, with Carlo Ancelotti having preferred him in that position since his arrival on a free transfer from Real Madrid in the summer.
Of Rodriguez’s 17 appearances in all competitions so far for the Blues, ten have come as a right-winger, with five seeing him play in his preferred number 10 role and one, the win over Wolves, seeing him occupy the role of a striker.
It’s a change that’s worked out well for Rodriguez and Everton so far, with the Colombian racking up three goals and six assists as a winger as opposed to one assist playing the number ten role.
Ramírez is not convinced, though, believing the player should be playing down the middle for club and country.
“People have been confused about James’ position because James is not creative; he has creative things, but he has a lot of goals,” he told Semana.
“You have to put him 10 metres from the box, where he can score a pass or kick in a goal-scoring position.
“In a 4-2-3-1 he can play inside; if we put him to one side, he is isolated from the game.
“Put him behind the 9. Although he has creativity, he is not a total ten.”
