I thought Sigurdsson actually played really well today. Broke a fair bit of play up, was quite aggressive off the ball, and passed the ball forward when asked. If he was a 21 year old, I would have said he was surprisingly mature for a player his age.
I don't think he has any medium term future with the club. Gbamin is now close to full fitness and you'd imagine Gomes may be back much sooner than predicted. Throw in Davies's improvement and potentially Holgate moving to midfield and I suspect he will be phased out.
Our big issue with him is we overpaid for him. Had we paid 25 million, it would be reasonable enough for him to stay as a squad player. The fee is a big problem though, as people expect miracles from him, which he won't really deliver.
He's not 21 though is he. He's 30 and has played nearly 250 top flight games in England.
I suppose its a matter of perspective, but I can only assume that by maturity, you mean him "calming things down" by playing a frustratingly simple pass back from where it came almost every time he gets the ball, or not attempting to carry or dribble the ball forward on any occasion, which, Davies did towards the end, losing it in a dangerous position.
I don't see any of this as maturity though, because he makes these same choices throughout most games and in almost every situation he finds himself in.
Possibly Davies biggest weakness would be his questionable decision making or game management, and that dribble near the end was a prime example. In that position, at that stage of the game, with the score as it was, with pressure mounting, he could have, probably should have, played a simple pass and took the sting out the game, retaining possession and frustrating the opposition. But the 1 thing you can never deny Davies of being is brave. He wanted to push forward and maybe get another goal, and in the process, lost the ball that started a potentially dangerous counter attack. This is the sort of decision making that will hopefully come with maturity.
But I don't get the feeling from Sigurdsson that this is a choice he is making for the good of the team, more that he simply does not want to take responsibility for making things happen. I'm not sure if It's cowardice, apathy, or a mix of the 2, but for a player of his status, it's alarming.
I know some people probably want to give him the benefit of the doubt today, and I've seen lots of people saying it was an improved performance from him. Well without meaning to sound facetious, he got a player rating of 2/10 last game against a reserve side. He really couldn't have done much worse.
On a similar note, in the current climate, it wouldve been interesting if we had got the penalty today to see what he would've done. Perhaps VAR did him a favour.
