‘Idea’: Everton troll Liverpool’s Thiago Alcantara with Rodriguez tweet after Man Utd draw

Everton might have briefly given Liverpool some hope of closing the gap on second-place Man Utd after their exhilarating 3-3 draw on Saturday but they couldn’t help aiming a well-directed dig at their Merseyside neighbours.

Their last-minute denial of United’s bid to go joint-top of the Premier League table was the main topic for discussion on social media over the weekend, with the Toffees’ official Twitter page soaking in all the plaudits for the team and its player.

The club’s social media admin gave shouts to a few of the key performers on the night including Tom Davies and hero, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but it was the tweet about James Rodriguez that got the most attention, notably for the subtle dig at new Liverpool signing Thiago Alcantara.

In a “stat update” on the Colombian who scored to make the match 2-2-, Everton noted that he’d played 18 games, scored five goals and assisted seven more.

Things got more interesting further down the post as the club also noted his “pre-assists” as 11 and “idea balls” as infinity.

While a few people missed the joke, most people immediately picked up on the troll.

Prior to signing for Liverpool, a number of people pointed to Thiago’s relatively low assist stats but were quickly rebuffed by Reds fans who insisted that he played a major part in Bayern’s goals, often getting “pre-assists” or “the pass before the assist.”

Since the start of his Premier League career and Liverpool’s dip in form recently, opposition fans have taken to trolling the Spaniard by calling him the “idea” player, suggesting his neat touches, passes and flicks are ultimately irrelevant to his team’s play and are cosmetic with no actual substance.

This dig by Everton must have hurt even Liverpool fans even more as the midfielder was hooked early in the second half of their 4-1 loss to Man City at Anfield.