More Mirage than Goodison Maestro, James Lives on in Our Everton Imagination

When you’ve been as starved of success, of heroes and, frankly, of any consistent joy watching your team as Evertonians have in recent years, it’s understandable when we latch onto a genuinely exciting player and hold him up as the next Blue Talisman, sometimes before the printed letters have properly set on the back of his shirt.

Iliman Ndiaye has only made four appearances and started just one match but he already feels like the answer to our collective prayers for a genuinely exciting talent to grace Everton colours. We can only hope he fulfils that promise.

The Club’s history is adorned with a galaxy of genuine stars and there have been plenty of fan favourites despite what is approaching four barren decades since our last league title, but as the Toffees have struggled through three relegation battles and a period of austerity that has them standing alone as the only top-flight club with a positive net-spend over the last five seasons, our best players have been sold on. Richarlison was the last of them; Amadou Onana had the potential to be one but Goodison Park was always going to be a stepping stone for him in our current situation.

James Rodriguez never got the chance to become a modern-day Everton great — a combination of the arrival of Rafael Benitez, someone with whom he did not see eye-to-eye at Real Madrid, and his eye-watering salary saw to that — but despite only making 26 appearances for the Toffees over a single, injury-ravaged season, he is simultaneously a treasured memory from an all-too brief moment when Spirit of the Blues was re-born as a Blues anthem and another emblem of the frustration of the past few years. Because almost no one got to see him play for the Club in the flesh.

Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown, James played all of his Premier League games for Everton inside empty, with only those Evertonians with media accreditation lucky enough to see him play “live”. On those rare occasions when fans were allowed back into Goodison — 2,000 at a time against Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United in December 2020 and then 6,000-plus against Wolves in the final home fixture — the Colombian magician was absent through injury. And when supporters in the USA got to see him play a combined 90 minutes in Florida during pre-season the following summer, it was fairly pedestrian “exhibition” fare played against the backdrop of reports that Benitez wanted him out. That was, indeed, the case and within weeks he was sold to Al Rayyan, his all-too brief association with Everton over before we had truly been able to enjoy him.

Despite the fact that Evertonians only got to watch him kick a ball in anger on television, that his season with the Blues was disrupted by injuries and the fact that Carlo Ancelotti allowed him to go home to Colombia before the 2020-21 season was even over, James’s time with the Club is remembered fondly. The feeling was mutual, it appears, based on an interview he gave with evertontv this week.

“I’ve always thought I have only very good memories of that season I played at Everton,” he said. “I would have absolutely loved to have played in front of the fans, but from what I've seen on social media, I can tell that they have a lot of affection for me which means that I must have performed pretty well there.

“I wasn't able to play in front of those fans because of the pandemic and that's one of the things that I always think about and reflect on. Then, in the end – and football can be like that – I had to leave and that's what happened

“I was always happy because in spite of not having them close by, I could always feel the love and affection from all those fans it was a short spell. But the time I was there made a great impression on both me and my family too.”

In terms of global profile, he arguably stands alongside Samuel Eto’o and Wayne Rooney as the most famous player to have ever turned out for Everton. There was genuine excitement when he was signed from Madrid, particularly when it emerged that the Club had either paid considerably less than the initially-reported £22m and might have actually acquired him for nothing.

His early appearances were glittering, with three goals and three assists as he helped the Toffees to four straight wins to start their Premier League campaign and into the quarter-finals of the League Cup with a 4-1 win over West Ham. Everton were top of the table heading into the Goodison derby but, having been targeted by Virgil van Dijk and clattered early on by the Liverpool defender, Rodriguez struggled to have what had become his customary impact on the game and, truth be told, he wasn’t the same player for the remainder of the campaign.

He played and was fairly anonymous at Southampton the following week in an ugly defeat, underwent treatment for a groin injury and missed another abysmal loss in Newcastle, returned with little impact for four more winless games before his troublesome calf sidelined him for most of December.

By the time he came back in the New Year for his last consistent spell in the side before the calf issue flared up again in March and again in May, Everton were second in the League and on course to qualify for Europe, until an inexplicable collapse in form, especially at home, saw them sink like a stone to 10th.

“I believe that if we had a slightly bigger squad, we would have been able to get into the Champions League, for sure, because throughout that entire season, we had suffered from a few injuries.

“And so I think that if we've had a few more bodies to come in and play a bit more when required, I think we could have progressed that little bit further. It was a good side that always set out to win, and that was plain to see.”

Despite his frustrating absences, there were nevertheless nuggets of gold from James — a memorable goal at Old Trafford in a 3-3 draw against Manchester United, a fine strike against Leicester at Goodison and a delicious assist for Richarlison as the Blues ended a 21-year wait for victory at Anfield but, by the end, it simply felt as though his body wasn’t up to the rigours of English football and that, when it came to the crunch, he wouldn’t be up for the fight.

Jetting off on a private plane to his homeland after complaining of “fatigue” and not taking the chance to show appreciation to a few thousand fans in that final home match at Goodison in May 2021 certainly didn’t scream commitment to the cause.

Ultimately, though, Evertonians would have preferred to have him in the squad than not, particularly as a bulwark of optimism and affection against the unwanted Benitez who ensured that James would depart the Club before the transfer deadline in the Middle East in September 2021.

In retrospect, in view of the Club’s financial struggles, the heavy treatment at the hands of the Premier League and its lawyers in the form of points deductions, and Kevin Thelwell’s campaign to gradually pare back the wage bill, it seems inconceivable that we could have kept Rodriguez even if Benitez had wanted him. (Reports have pegged his salary at around £200,000 a week, a mind-blowing number even if we did acquire him on the cheap, and unsustainable when it comes to contract negotiations with our other biggest players.)

“I’ve spoken about this in interviews before and I didn't want to leave the club either, but the new manager had arrived — and we all know who that is — and he said that I wasn't going to feature in his plans,” James explains.

“I never wanted to leave, that much is obvious. I felt that I could have gone on to play two or three seasons more at the Club. But it's plain to see that the manager said that he wouldn't be wanting me to be involved at all.

“The supporters wanted me to stay and so did I. But in the end, that's just football for you. What happened then is now all in the past, but it was a real shame because I believe that I could've gone onto achieve more in my time at Everton Football Club. I feel like I could have brought more happiness to all of the fans.”

His time at Goodison may have been ephemeral and tantalising in so many ways but for the fact that we had a truly world-class talent, a Galactico, a World Cup Golden Boot winner in our team makes it hard not to look back on James’s association with Everton with nostalgia and a sense of longing.

The fans and the Club do seem to have left a mark on James, though, even if we hardly knew him.

“I keep watching Everton's games. As I told you before, I was here for just a short period but that time here meant an awful lot to me.

Without a doubt, my favourite moment would be the first goal that I scored against West Bromwich. That first goal will always be here inside me and it's a lovely memory of mine … and also that great when we won at Anfield, that's also something that sticks with us all.

“More than anything else, it was a difficult time for everyone, what with Covid and everything, and so I think [that win in the derby] was a moment of happiness for the fans.”

For that alone, quite apart from the other moments of magic, signing him was well worth it.

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