Criticism And Innuendo That Accompanied James Rodriguez's Departure To The Qatar League
JAKARTA - James Rodriguez's career at Everton is finally over. The Colombian player moved to the Qatar League to join Al Rayyan. There has been much praise for the former Real Madrid player during his time on Merseyside, but much has also been critical of him.
Retired Premier League striker Darren Bent said he was skeptical when James arrived at Everton.
"When I think of James, I think of (Mesut) Ozil, two top players who make a lot of things happen up front," Bent said.
"But if we look back, they weren't very effective, and you need to do that here (at Everton)."
Whenever the Toffees failed to get a positive result, James would be heavily criticized, and another former player, David Connolly, had this to say.
"He spends a lot of time standing still next to (Dominic) Calvert-Lewin instead of making moves, and that's the problem," Connolly said.
"He's not at Real Madrid now, where you have 60 per cent of the ball. Here you have to run for 90 minutes."
Danny Murphy is another person who has spoken out about James. He talks about weaknesses in his game.
"The best teams will see how lazily he moves, and they can take advantage of that on the pitch," said the former Liverpool man.
Meanwhile, Trevor Sinclair had warned James about the demands that would be placed on him in England.
"Now James knows how things work in England," he said.
"You went from heaven to hell in no time."
Former Everton striker Andy Gray was also very unimpressed with the Colombian's performances at his old club.
"If he was a good player, a very good player, he wouldn't be at Everton," said Gray.
Meanwhile, Gabby Agbonlahor thinks James' attitude while in England was not good enough.
"His body language is a bit... he puts his hands in the air if someone doesn't cross him and his level of performance is non-existent," said the former Aston Villa player.