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He leads a life moving amidst the rain of praise and merciless criticism. For James Rodríguez there are no gray: his level is memorable or regrettable, without intermediate considerations. And just this moment is closer to the first, with which Everton and the Colombian National Team suffer equally.
The Colombian is coming off a frenzied, mind-blowing start in the Premier League, with 3 goals and 3 assists in 5 games and phenomenal numbers in passing precision. The fans of the ‘toffee’ went from looking at him suspiciously to getting tattoos and songs in his honor.
But the national team pause appeared along the way, the start of the qualifying rounds for Qatar 2022 in South America, and some of that magical premiere remained in an airport.
James arrived in Barranquilla for the game between Colombia and Venezuela, on October 9, in an exultant moment and that night he confirmed it with assistance and a correct game. That the rival hardly demanded, that is also true. But on the 10th he did his thing.
However, that November 13 began the downward curve: in Santiago, against Chile (2-2), the creative wandered, more than anything else, and the agonizing tie was more the work of Falcao’s desire than of the influence of man. who else was expected.
It was understood that he and Mina, who did not play due to a physical discomfort, had a return to England in mind for a crucial match against Liverpool, the derby no one wanted to miss. But that day, beyond the result (2-2), the influential James, the one with the filtered passes, the one who had to move the strings of the attack, went unprecedented.
And it was a symptom of what would happen next, against Southampton, when frankly it went unnoticed, although by that time he already had an annoyance, never sufficiently explained by Everton or by Carlo Ancelotti, but which would be, according to the Spanish press, a blow he suffered. with Van Dijk in the derby and that caused a significant inflammation in a testicle. He came to be in doubt for that game for that reason, but he played and hardly felt.
Newcastle would arrive and then it was left out of its first call in Premier, due to that mysterious injury that no one officially spoke about. It was understood that he needed to be on top against another tough rival that demanded his magic, Manchester United, but again it happened without pain or glory. It would be known later that he did not train normally that week and that when Ancelotti ordered him to leave the court it was because he could not avoid the 1-3 defeat: he was fused.
Then the Colombian National Team appeared again on the road and the expected match against Uruguay, in Barranquilla, which should be the confirmation of the good balance at the start of the tie. But the level of James again left much to be desired: no association, permanent inaccuracy in the pass and even loss of the ball for the 0-2 partial, a failure that he himself recognized at the end of that game to forget him and everything his team.
Summary? Four games without a win with Everton, which went from leading the Premier to seventh in the table, parked at 13 points, 8 behind Leicester. Three more with the Colombian National Team, with 4 points out of 9 in dispute. He has not celebrated a victory since last October 9, precisely against Venezuela, which represents 36 days in a downturn that disconcerts a man with his talent and his influence on the game when he is at full capacity.
What happens? It is a reality that physically does not come in handy: the famous injury has been practiced for almost a month training outside the normal rhythm of his teammates and that cannot be hidden at such a high level of demand as that of the Premier and that of a tie that the experts qualify as the most difficult in the world. The bad news is that he will not have a break this Tuesday, as a very strong, powerful team is coming, demanding in physical deployment and sharp when attacking. Uruguay has already shown him that he knows how to ‘cage’ his talent by dint of a suffocating brand and another dose of that medicine is anticipated in Quito, which is also at 2,800 meters of altitude.
The setting is as chaotic as you can imagine. But in his case there is no valid excuse: “you have to raise your head, we are winners. The only defeat is to surrender,” he announced on his social networks. The rematch he is looking for in the current season is a permanent test and the one that is coming is called Ecuador. Raising his head is, first of all, a message for himself: only he knows how much pressure he carries, only he is able to give a new impulse to his undeniable quality.
