James Rodriguez, Taking the League by Storm
Look at the picture above. I want you to take a deep breath before I explain the 400+ things all wrong with that. Just as you let that deep breath go, remember that the man who wrote that is paid to give his opinion on professional football.
James Rodriguez is top drawer even without his blistering start to Premier League life. If you sign for Real Madrid (Jonathan Woodgate doesn't count) you're probably in the 90th percentile of players in your age group on the planet.
The use of Stoke on a wet Tuesday evening (which I personally choose to believe is nothing but synecdoche) is insulting to a man who fancied the golden boot in the simmering sun of Rio de Janeiro
Most of the times Everton have been even a goal up, James has been the culprit in one way or another.
Troy Deeney😂
Proper bloke😂
GOT in all caps and Troy Deeney 😂😂😂
Now I'm not here to attack Richard Keys. I actually just want to show the mood that possibly existed outside Merseyside before James arrived. Even Chunkz (who by virtue of the fact he's played on Old Trafford's green while I have never even been to Manchester, is definitely a more respected football opinion) said on radio "Aside from the World Cup, I'm not sure what he's done".
I am here then to tell you what exactly he's done. Not before Everton, because his CV of Porto, Monaco, Madrid, Bayern is a story in its own. But I'll tell you what he's done in the past 3 weeks.
One look at the most basic stats for Everton's new shiny Colombian and a certain thing sticks out. He has literally just 2 assists in the league. And if you watched just the West Brom game alone, you'll think someone is doing some dodgy recording But James is doing a lot more than that. If we quickly get out of the way the fact that he seems to have elevated the entire squad to another level, then we can take a look at the more tangible stats.
Creativity
First of all let's take a look at the biggest part of James' game since he burst on the scene. (Yes you might know him for his World Cup goal scoring antics but the Puskas winning goal was creative)
xA
Expected Assists is an advanced metric that is basically the quality of passes a player has made that have directly led to shooting chances. James falls neatly on 1.4 expected assists which is not far from his true value of 2 assists. He's 6th so far in the league behind the like of Kane, Salah, Grealish and Son.
Does that reinforce that James isn't making a direct contribution to goal as many of us think? Maybe we're just in awe of his first touch (James control on the ball has led to a few long lasting relationship premature close) that we forgive his poor final ball?
Key Passes
Well if James passes leading to shots are not generating such clear cut xG opportunities then let's take a look at how many passes he's making that lead to shots. That is the definition of key passes. De Bruyne, Son and Salah all create more than his 3.33 key passes per 90. He already has 12 this season while the other 3 have 14 each. For a player who's feeling his way in a new league albeit with a manager who has worked with him twice already, that's mighty impressive.
Passes Into Final Third
Passing into the final third is another place where James Rodriguez shows up very well. But the company here is very different. He's in the top 10 of passes into the final third per 90 alongside the likes of Holjberg, Thiago Silva, Van Djik, Rodri and more. All of whom start a lot deeper on the pitch than James. Of that list 6 are centre or defensive midfielders. 2 are centre backs and 1 is a left back. He has 22 passes into the final third already in 4 games.
Passes into the Penalty Area
This is a more interesting stat. James is an elite passing talent. When you watch him you can get lost very easily by the shape of his body on the follow through of his passes. But James is more than just a seductively good passed of the ball. So far he's played 8 passes into the penalty area at 2.22 per 90 in Everton blue. And he's in good company too. Trent, De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Bruno Fernandes are all around him and have built their reputations on delivering balls into the box.
Progressive Passes
In terms of progressive passes, James has swept through the Premier League. His 37 progressive passes at 10.3 per game is only behind Trent Alexander-Arnold, Lucas Digne, Luke Ayling, Andrew Robertson and Kevin De Bruyne. That's high praise considering he's an attacking midfielder playing on the right wing. Mo Salah is the next winger on the list, even though he plays an entirely different role,with 7.75 progressive passes per game.
Shot Creating Actions and Goal Creating Actions
In many ways 3 assists doesn't tell the full story of James contributions to the 13 goals the Toffees have scored with him on the pitch that he hasn't scored himself. If this was hockey, they'll be a stat that sang his praises. Shot Creating Actions is a good idea of just how much contribution he has made to Everton's attack. By definition SCA are "The two offensive actions directly leading to a shot, such as passes, dribbles and drawing fouls." GCA are the same but goals rather than shots.
James has created 22 shooting chances so far behind Salah and De Bruyne only. And on a per 90 basis only Jack Grealish sneaks ahead of his 6.04 shooting chances created.
For goals? He has created 6 goals for Everton so far. This will of course take into account his pre assists since it includes two offensive actions. He's only behind Kane and once again Grealish (stat padding against Liverpool, disgusting) sneaks ahead of him on a per 90 basis. So far this season he has created 1.65 goals for Carlo's men per 90. That's extremely good value. If he keeps that up, he'll contribute another 56.1 goals to Everton this season in the league. Even a third of that is likely to be seen as a god tier (considering Troy Deeney last contributed 20 goals to Watford in his first PL season...in 2015/16)
Shooting and Scoring
But for all the talk of his passing (which is entirely deserved) there's a little side of James which people appreciate a lot more, he's scored more goals this season than Troy Deeney. He has 3 goals in the league. From a non penalty xG of 1.5 goals he's scored 3. 3 goals from 5 shots on target with only 10 shots taken is simply brilliant for a player who will struggle when he faces Stoke in the FA Cup sometime next year.
His first goal against West Brom showed exactly what threat James can provide with his delicious left leg from outside the box. In fact, the match before he struck one against Spurs that missed very narrowly to the opposite side. Against Brighton the goal from the Doucoure pass was on a plate for him and the initial Iwobi assists was similar. But that goal came from James's own interception (which by the way, he still managed to make his defensive work look classy). People have been reluctant to give him his praise. First it was Spurs were horrible. Then West Brom are terrible plus were a man down. Then it was Palace sat off him. Brighton were poor against him, followed really quickly. (This Brighton played Chelsea and Man United off the park).
James might not be Superman. He might not even be the World Cup version of himself. But he's flying in the moment. A moment when lots of people doubted him and he was described as 'another luxury signing'. He might not score against Liverpool. Might not curl a cross into the far post for Calvert-Lewin to score what feels like his 25th of the season against Liverpool. But he's class. And he's been top drawer for the Toffees. Before the EFL deadline on October 16th, Brands, Moshiri and Carlo should definitely consider bringing in Troy Deeney. If for no other reason, then just to dominate games.
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