View: Changing Rodriguez role could solve a number of Everton selection dilemmas
James Rodriguez has proven to the Premier League that he was an inspired Everton signing, but could the Colombian be set for a positional change?
Rodriguez set the league alight during the early stages of the season with his incisive balls over the top of defences and languid style of play contributing to three goals and three assists, as Everton soared to the top of the Premier League.
The Blues suffered a dip thereafter before coming back into form with a fantastic showing in December that saw them go unbeaten in the league and pick up impressive victories against Chelsea, Arsenal and Leicester City.
Rodriguez actually missed all three of these games through injury plus further December fixtures against Manchester United and West Ham, but he has made 10 of his 11 Premier League starts from the right side of the Everton attack and has been their preferred option there [WhoScored].
In his absence Alex Iwobi has shown flashes of brilliance and has offered Everton a different option down the right hand side.
Iwobi is a willing runner who drives at defences with his determined dribbling skills a stark contrast to Rodriguez who prefers to receive the ball to feet and occupy more central positions.
Rigid right hand side
Mason Holgate has been Everton’s starting right-back in the Premier League since the 1-1 draw at Burnley on December 5, aside from the West Ham defeat on January 1, and has impressed with his defensive actions but it is going forward where he has showed his limitations and natural centre back tendencies.
Captain Seamus Coleman has generally been consigned to the bench since his return from injury in December and offers more going forward but even he is not able to recreate the lung-busting runs of his youth at the more experienced age of 32 now.
As such Everton tend to lack as much verve and width on the right hand side as they do down the left with Lucas Digne and Richarlison.
Therefore the emergence of Iwobi as an option down the right has been a blessing for the Blues and should give them something to think about moving forward.
Change in shape?
According to WhoScored Carlo Ancelotti’s favoured formation in the Premier League this season has been 4-3-3 which he has employed nine times.
One of the main selection issues here has been who to play alongside Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure in the Everton engine room, with Andre Gomes and Tom Davies failing to sufficiently impress.
Goalscoring has also been a bit of an issue for the Toffees over recent months with the side failing to score more than two goals in a game since a 3-2 win at Fulham on November 22.
Striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin made a sensational start to the season and is currently sat on 11 Premier League goals but he has failed to score since December 5.
Calvert-Lewin creator
Tucking Rodriguez centrally in behind Calvert-Lewin could help this problem and the other aforementioned issues concerning Everton.
With Allan and Doucoure sat behind him in a 4-2-3-1 Rodriguez would be afforded a sense of freedom to find space and pick the ball up, looking for the runs of Digne, Richarlison and Iwobi in behind the defence.
It would also allow him to play closer to Calvert-Lewin who is much more than just a target man as he is capable of interchanging passes and playing on the shoulder of defences.
The 4-3-3 has served Ancelotti well but it is certainly something to consider if he wants to get his best and most in-form players into the side.
Rodriguez is vital to the creation of Everton attacks as shown by his club-high 2.3 key passes per game [WhoScored] and should be a permanent fixture in the starting XI, but perhaps a change of starting position could be on the cards to give the Blues more attacking thrust on the pitch and allow Iwobi to keep his place.
In other Everton news, Milik set for Ligue 1 move to put end to Blues speculation.