Everton: Carlo Ancelotti’s big summer gamble paying off

Carlo Ancelotti and James Rodriguez share a very cordial relationship.

No one doubted whether Rodriguez still possessed quality and imagination, he surely did. The question was whether someone can help him reignite the flame. In times of adversity, we often tend to go to people we trust, people with whom we feel at home.

To Ancelotti, Rodriguez is like an adopted son and he couldn’t see him suffer. Rodriguez couldn’t ever say no to Ancelotti, a fatherly figure in his life. The Colombian arrived at Goodison Park in the summer of 2020, with a glimmer of hope of reviving himself on the world stage.

Was this a big risk for Everton? From a financial point of view, it was not as it has been revealed that he practically arrived on a free transfer. But the gamble was on whether James will be able to even show a little bit of glimpse of his own self when he was at his peak. Coming from a horrendous previous season, brought down by injuries and thrown into the animal Premier League, it was a risky bet.

Is he too fragile for the ever physical English Top Flight? Can he be the focal point of Everton’s creative room, whose fans were already dreaming of European football? Can he put aside his niggling issues and get a consistent and extended run of games or he’ll just be another unproductive side cast?