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.
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.”
