Biggest problem with him and the rest of the squad is their lack of character and personality. I thought back to the best Everton team in my lifetime (not saying much I know) but I could never imagine the likes of Cahill, Arteta and Pienaar going missing. Yes they had bad games and when the small squad was decimated by injuries we struggled but we always had a shift out of them and you could never write us off.
With Sigurdsson and the rest of the new players I don´t think there´s that team spirit. It doesn´t feel like they´re as bothered. Might be completely wrong but it felt completely different 10 years ago.
I think that if we look at the 2 big signings of Koeman and Silva we can see some similarities in Sigurdsson and Richarlison.
Both put in alot of effort, both want to win and have a lot of desire and both seem to lead from example.
If we look at the first 11 then the players who are showing leadership qualities are Pickford, Mina, Digne, Coleman, Gomes, Sigurdsson and Richarlison all for different reasons.
None of them really stand out as captains though and I agree that the team seems to lack the togetherness we had under Moyes.
Perhaps because the old guard of Jags/Baines etc are still around or the new flavour of players and the youngsters are not gelling personally with the rest or vice versa.
Richarlison is at the beginning of his career which means he has sell on value. Look I like Sig he's been a good PL player for years, he kept Swansea up virtually single handed some years. I also don't think the fee looks so bad given forty million is becoming the new norm. And yes he's been pretty good especially improved this year. My only point was that for fifty million at the time we needed a playmaker who could dominate a game he isn't that kind of player, he is all about assists, set pieces and shots the play doesn't run through him he can't imprint himself on games in the way say a Silva can. He also hasn't stepped up in one big game that I can remember and won it for us, he even did that at the Swans.
Sigurdsson has looked great over the years amd would have been a good stopgap signing for 2 seasons like Walcott where we could sell him on at the same fee.
Richarlison has 8 league goals and is 21 and Sigurdsson has 7 league goals and is 29.
Its clear to me that both players have certain aspects to their game which need to be worked on such as Richarlisons movement + link play and Sigurdssons consistency and drive.
However where we can be relatively confident that Richarlison will work on his game due to his age, we can only take Gylfi as he is now and then from september he will be 30 and i can see him beginning to decline over the next 3 seasons.
If Sigurdsson had been 21 then we would be excited at his potential but at the moment i look at Vlasic and compare;
Sigurdsson (29) 19 games 8 goals 2 assists
Vlasic (21) 20 games 7 goals 4 assists
Hes playing in a weaker league but is the best in that league and has scored 3 in 6 champions league games...
Hulk €56mil
Witsel €40mil
Willian €36mil
Golovin €30mil
Garay €34mil
They are the top 5 transfers in Russian history.
If Vlasic wasnt our player and had a Brazilian name then I think a lot of our fans would be wanting to sign him.
If he keeps his performance levels up and we are able to bring him back happy in the summer then I think he 'may' be able to dislodge Sigurdsson. That for me is very exciting...
