View: Everton see key aspect of Rodriguez’s game that hadn’t been seen before Liverpool
James Rodriguez turned in an exemplary performance for Everton in last weekend’s historic win at Anfield as he got his first Premier League assist since October.
The Blues won on enemy territory for the first time since 1999 as goals from Richarlison and Gylfi Sigurdsson secured Everton a 2-0 win.
It was this first goal from Richarlison that got the ball rolling for the Blues and Rodriguez played a huge role in creating it.
It may be hard to believe but our star summer signing’s assists this season have all come from set-pieces.
Corners and wide free kicks were the source of the Colombian’s three league assists so far this year and we while we have seen him play a killer pass it had never resulted in a goal.
Until Saturday.
The set-up from Rodriguez only took a few seconds but in that short time frame, he showed exactly why he was brought to the club by Ancelotti.
The ball is headed to Rodriguez by Abdoulaye Doucoure and the poor Liverpool marking leaves the Colombian with plenty of time and space.
He then takes the ball down expertly as several Liverpool players try to close him down to prevent exactly what Rodriguez wants to do.
He almost immediately has the ball under control in the final third which is never good news for the opposing side.
In fairness to Liverpool, they do well to close Rodriguez down but they don’t do it quick enough as he expertly fires this through ball to Richarlison.
It’s the dream pass for a striker, perfect weight and direction and Richarlison is never going to miss from that position.
To put into context how good Rodriguez’s all-round game was, according to Wyscout, he only misplaced one pass all evening.
Only one backwards pass didn’t find it’s intended target as all of his forward balls found their mark.
It may come as a shock to know Rodriguez hadn’t picked up a league assist since October before this weekend but we all know how vital he is for the Blues.
We hope he can kick on in the back end of the season so he can improve on his already impressive return.
In other Everton news, James Rodriguez has insisted that he is happy at Everton despite recent speculation claiming the contrary.