2017/18 Gylfi Sigurdsson

[Zatara]

I agree, but then Gana next to a playmaker also lacks any height so our midfield could easily be dwarfed.

Unless we go with a big playmaker...

 

[BlueIceman]

No I'm using it against siggy at Swansea when he was at his best, even then he was extremely average in terms of creativity from open play

Sagey 'Broken record player' Efc

Also, how can set piece assists be so unimportant when he has the same amount of goals created in his last season for Swansea as KDB had for multiple record breaking Manchester City?

In a season where Gylfi was ineffectively utilized in open play, a season where he scored 0 goals in open play with his right foot he still scored more goals?

Not only does he match KDB in terms of output, but he is miles more efficient. Only 1 less assist with 1491 less passes.

It's not like he recently became good either, look at his statistics when he was 22 years old:

12 goals/assists in 18 PL matches on loan in 2012 from January.

 

[Lanolin]

This is exactly what I mean though. You are using the whole of Barkley Everton career against Gylfi’s 33 appearances for Everton.

Despite him coming into a side devoid of confidence and in severe turmoil, despite him missing pre season and despite him missing the last two months.

Yet he still had the same goal return that Barkley did in the previous season so he at least matched that and in less games.

That's not quite true though.

Firstly he didn't 'miss' pre-season as such. He was training normally (which is the key part), and played one game, but he refused to play in other games for Swansea. That was his choice, and it shouldn't have affected his performances to a huge extent.

Secondly, he didn't really come into a side which was in turmoil. He came into a side which had won 4 and drawn 1 of its first 5 games. Not playing particularly brilliantly, granted, but let's not make out we were all over the place. It was actually when he came into the side that things took a turn for the worse (not saying that it was because of him, just pointing out that we weren't in dire straits when he started playing).

He's a good player and always has been, but he certainly contributed to our issues last year, and needs to offer a lot more this year to be considered a good signing, even leaving aside the fee.

 

[nsno-chris]

It’s a pointless debate with you @nsno-chris i think. You have made your mind up and no matter how many positive facts are presented to you it just gets responded to with derision.

Whilst at the same time, your fanboy crush Ross’s career is folding faster than superman on laundry day.

Another daft barometer set there. He’s better than Seb Larsson who nobody would pay 45m for.

It’s not a case of making my mind up because we signed him, I’ve thought the same all along when he was at Swansea. The same can be levied against Bolasie; people made up that we signed these players based on MOTD clips and stats. When you actually watch them they are pretty anonymous.

And FYI on Barkley, the lad is grade A rat but he still had more of a positive influence on our performances than Gylfi. Don’t need stats to back that up mate, that was from watching.

 

[BlueToff]

Unless we go with a big playmaker...

Yep, which is why I wouldn't be against Carvalho, Zakaria or even N'Zonzi.

Then again, they aren't 'playmakers' in the sense that they'll thread eye-of-the-needle passes or even carry the ball forward as such.

What they can do is get sharp passes into Sigurdsson, or spread it wide and accurately out to the wing.

Doucoure would be ideal as he can do a bit of everything, although his passing range isn't as good as the ones above.

Depends what happens with Schneiderlin.

 

[BlueToff]

That's not quite true though.

Firstly he didn't 'miss' pre-season as such. He was training normally (which is the key part), and played one game, but he refused to play in other games for Swansea. That was his choice, and it shouldn't have affected his performances to a huge extent.

Secondly, he didn't really come into a side which was in turmoil. He came into a side which had won 4 and drawn 1 of its first 5 games. Not playing particularly brilliantly, granted, but let's not make we were all over the place. It was actually when he came into the side that things took a turn for the worse (not saying that it was because of him, just pointing out that we weren't in dire straits when he started playing).

He's a good player and always has been, but he certainly contributed to our issues last year, and needs to offer a lot more this year to be considered a good signing, even leaving aside the fee.

Match fitness is a huge part of any players' game. It's not an excuse, but it's understandable he was off the pace.

While the side wasn't in turmoil when he came in, what the issue was is that there was no set system. No way of playing.

Gylfi was crap for his first two months last year, maybe a bit longer. But once he'd settled he was very consistent and overall very decent, as you say he needs to offer more this year but I think he will.

 

[nsno-chris]

Sagey 'Broken record player' Efc

Also, how can set piece assists be so unimportant when he has the same amount of goals created in his last season for Swansea as KDB had for multiple record breaking Manchester City?

In a season where Gylfi was ineffectively utilized in open play, a season where he scored 0 goals in open play with his right foot he still scored more goals?

Not only does he match KDB in terms of output, but he is miles more efficient. Only 1 less assist with 1491 less passes.

It's not like he recently became good either, look at his statistics when he was 22 years old:

12 goals/assists in 18 PL matches on loan in 2012 from January.

You need a bird lad, sooooo bad

 

[Thomasc]

That's not quite true though.

Firstly he didn't 'miss' pre-season as such. He was training normally (which is the key part), and played one game, but he refused to play in other games for Swansea. That was his choice, and it shouldn't have affected his performances to a huge extent.

Secondly, he didn't really come into a side which was in turmoil. He came into a side which had won 4 and drawn 1 of its first 5 games. Not playing particularly brilliantly, granted, but let's not make out we were all over the place. It was actually when he came into the side that things took a turn for the worse (not saying that it was because of him, just pointing out that we weren't in dire straits when he started playing).

He's a good player and always has been, but he certainly contributed to our issues last year, and needs to offer a lot more this year to be considered a good signing, even leaving aside the fee.

Yep I think we are splitting heirs a bit here. We had one decent performance prior to him coming into the side, that was 45 minutes away at city.

The rest had been absolutely dire, regardless of the results. It was obvious as early as the qualifiers that the side had no pace, direction or guile. It soon went downhill after that when we stopped playing sides like Ruzomberuk!

He joined a poor side, I don’t think there is any denying that my friend.

Then you have to ask was he used properly?

Moving forward I believe he will prove his worth next season. He is a proven premier league player and for me is maturing. We will see the best of him in the next 2-3 years IMO

 

[Lanolin]

Match fitness is a huge part of any players' game. It's not an excuse, but it's understandable he was off the pace.

While the side wasn't in turmoil when he came in, what the issue was is that there was no set system. No way of playing.

Gylfi was crap for his first two months last year, maybe a bit longer. But once he'd settled he was very consistent and overall very decent, as you say he needs to offer more this year but I think he will.

Can't agree on the match fitness thing. He played twice for Iceland in the middle of June, once for Swansea in July, and played his first game for us in the second league game of the season. By the end of that week he'd played twice more, which meant he had as many minutes under his belt as you would expect anyone to get in pre-season. His slow start wasn't down to fitness, it's just a convenient excuse.

We all know we had no set system, I was just countering the point that he'd come into a side in turmoil because it's not true. Again, it's just looking for excuses as to why a player we absolutely smashed our transfer record for had no real positive impact on our season.

 

[kenada_blue]

Sagey 'Broken record player' Efc

Also, how can set piece assists be so unimportant when he has the same amount of goals created in his last season for Swansea as KDB had for multiple record breaking Manchester City?

In a season where Gylfi was ineffectively utilized in open play, a season where he scored 0 goals in open play with his right foot he still scored more goals?

Not only does he match KDB in terms of output, but he is miles more efficient. Only 1 less assist with 1491 less passes.

It's not like he recently became good either, look at his statistics when he was 22 years old:

12 goals/assists in 18 PL matches on loan in 2012 from January.

FML

 

[BlueIceman]

That's not quite true though.

Firstly he didn't 'miss' pre-season as such. He was training normally (which is the key part), and played one game, but he refused to play in other games for Swansea. That was his choice, and it shouldn't have affected his performances to a huge extent.

It isn't the fact that Sigurdsson himself missed pre-season, it's the fact that the other Everton players didn't spend their pre-season with him, adjusting to his playstyle, learning how to play off him, etc.

Secondly, he didn't really come into a side which was in turmoil. He came into a side which had won 4 and drawn 1 of its first 5 games.

Mate we only won 3 out of our first 13 PL matches and were getting spanked in all competitions.

Beating Hadjuk Split & Ruzomberok doesn't change the fact that we lost our first 5 matches in the group stage & lost 7 of our first 13 PL games.

Not playing particularly brilliantly, granted, but let's not make out we were all over the place.

Mate we had Klaassen, Rooney & Davies putting in horror shows each week. Don't pretend like the football we weren't all over the place when we played against Stoke, City, Ruzomberok & Hadjuk Split.

It was actually when he came into the side that things took a turn for the worse (not saying that it was because of him, just pointing out that we weren't in dire straits when he started playing).

Really? Because I'm pretty sure all of our wins at the start of the season were dire.

Our first good performances were against West Ham, Huddersfield & Swansea, which was when Sigurdsson finally found his form.

He's a good player and always has been, but he certainly contributed to our issues last year, and needs to offer a lot more this year to be considered a good signing, even leaving aside the fee.

Just like he contributed to Tottenham's issues when he was wrongfully deployed as a left winger.

It doesn't change the fact that he was mostly immense for them, scored in two draws against Chelsea, assisted Bale's winning goal in Tottenham's only NLD win in over 4 years at the time, was Tottenham's best player in Europa League.

Even after his 'disastrous' time at Tottenham, Pochettino still was desperate to keep him:

He definitely didn't have a good season compared to his usual standards, but even at LW whether at Everton or Tottenham he was always good enough.

You need a bird lad, sooooo bad

Unlike you of course, the individual who sits all day downplaying our best player. I'm sure chicks love that anti-Sigurdsson propaganda.

Once again conveniently ignoring all of those stats/facts twice in a row, yet you sit here all day posting opta comparison's between Gylfi's worst open play season & Barkley's best. Why are you such a coward around me? Are you too afraid to make any points around me knowing that you'll be put in your place?

 

[Lanolin]

Yep I think we are splitting heirs a bit here. We had one decent performance prior to him coming into the side, that was 45 minutes away at city.

The rest had been absolutely dire, regardless of the results. It was obvious as early as the qualifiers that the side had no pace, direction or guile. It soon went downhill after that when we stopped playing sides like Ruzomberuk!

He joined a poor side, I don’t think there is any denying that my friend.

Then you have to ask was he used properly?

Moving forward I believe he will prove his worth next season. He is a proven premier league player and for me is maturing. We will see the best of him in the next 2-3 years IMO

It's not splitting hairs to say that coming into a side playing poorly and coming into a side 'devoid of confidence and in turmoil' are not the same thing. We played poorly all year, and he was in the team for much of that, it's kind of his job to help us not play poorly in my opinion.

As I said, he's a good player, but he was disappointing last year no matter how many excuses we make for him.

 

[sageyefc]

Sagey 'Broken record player' Efc

Also, how can set piece assists be so unimportant when he has the same amount of goals created in his last season for Swansea as KDB had for multiple record breaking Manchester City?

In a season where Gylfi was ineffectively utilized in open play, a season where he scored 0 goals in open play with his right foot he still scored more goals?

Not only does he match KDB in terms of output, but he is miles more efficient. Only 1 less assist with 1491 less passes.

It's not like he recently became good either, look at his statistics when he was 22 years old:

12 goals/assists in 18 PL matches on loan in 2012 from January.

So what you're saying is he's crap and worse than the nonce Adam Johnson

 

[BlueIceman]

It's not splitting hairs to say that coming into a side playing poorly and coming into a side 'devoid of confidence and in turmoil' are not the same thing. We played poorly all year, and he was in the team for much of that, it's kind of his job to help us not play poorly in my opinion.

As I said, he's a good player, but he was disappointing last year no matter how many excuses we make for him.

There's only so much a slow Playmaker can do when you're deployed as a left wing/left back.

So what you're saying is he's crap and worse than the nonce Adam Johnson

If he's so bad, why did Liverpool activate his release clause at £35 million the same summer we signed him? (£10 million less due to CL qualification)

His agent, (who is also his father) confirmed the bid, and it's not the first time the redshite have sought after him.

Chose Spurs over them in 2012, and chose to sign a contract extension in 2015.

How can he be as bad as you claim when two of the top 4 were desperate to sign him?

 

[CRIMHEAD]

You need a bird lad, sooooo bad

It’s better than saying stuff like “he doesn’t impact the game” no matter what he does.