View: Ancelotti needs more from his big Everton summer signing
Everton could only manage a 1-1 draw with Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday and sit ninth in the Premier League table.
Across the 90 minutes, they deserved to win the match, generating 1.7 expected goals to Burnley’s 0.8 and taking 13 shots to their eight (via FBRef).
However, the Toffees did not quite do enough to score that second goal and Carlo Ancelotti needs more from his summer signing James Rodriguez.
Much that has been written and said about the Colombian in recent weeks has been overblown and his performance levels have not dropped off too far from the early highs.
Against Burnley, he made two key passes and took three shots (via WhoScored), but he still needs to do more to influence these games and force the issue.
The 29-year-old has not managed a goal or assist in his last five Premier League appearances (via WhoScored), a run of form that has coincided with a downturn in Everton’s fortunes.
According to WhoScored, a lot of play went down the right flank where Rodriguez was situated, with the former Real Madrid man taking 75 touches, compared to 50 for Richarlison on the other flank. Right-sided wing-back Alex Iwobi had more touches than any player on the pitch, but nonetheless, the Toffees did not create a huge amount down that wing.
Looking forward, Ancelotti has a number of questions about his team and how to best unlock the attacking players at his disposal. The defensive issues have come at the worst time possible and while the move to the 3-4-3 was effective against Fulham, Rodriguez would likely have more of an impact in the middle.
Everton’s struggles cannot be seen without considering the impact of Lucas Digne and Seamus Coleman being missing, but the onus is now on the club’s biggest star to drag them out of this rut.
In other Everton news, here are three things we learned from the Toffees’ 1-0 defeat to Leeds United