2017/18 Gylfi Sigurdsson

[gonetomorrow]

We'd have only 3 players in defence if that was the case..

Yup. I have factored that into the equation and shortly will be releasing a statement to answer ..er...it.

And then I'm going to the Lesser Antilles.

 

[Kever10]

unrelated, but had to do a double take when i saw your profile picture mate

anyways I absolutely agree re: Sigurdsson and think that we've been left looking quite daft for paying 45 million for him. does not fit into the side whatsoever and looks like an incredibly negligent signing as he does little besides clog up our attack.

Hahaha

I had to double take myself then too.

Doppelganger

But yeah, I agree at the moment. Not saying he won't come good at some point, but I think in order for him to work, we need to build the team around him, and that's not a realistic option for us at the moment. I always assume you spend that kind of money on the so called "final piece of the puzzle", the player that takes a good team to the next level by adding a new dimension. All he seems to offer at this point in time is decent stats for his previous team.

 

[Nymzee]

I'm envisaging Sigurdsson and Barkley dovetailing in midfield with Gueye and Schneiderlin behind and DCL and Bolasie and a striker in front.

Tell me I'm mental.

You are mental that’s 7 outfield players leaving only 3 defenders and only one wide player.

 

[Tel001]

Rooney actually hasn't been one of our better players. Apart from 2 or 3 games right at the start of the season he's been every bit as muck as the rest of them, not that some people would ever admit that because of who he is.

2-3 games? We have only played 8 so nearly half of our games he's played well... even against burnley he was the only one that can actually play a penetrating pass... seen him at LB playing baines in ... he can see everything that's wrong and he can fix nearly all our problems ... he just can't fix them all at the same time.. he's a better finisher than DCL, he has better control than our CM's, he has a better final ball then anyone else, and he can actually take set peices, he has fight and actually wants to play for us... he just can't control the ball, play a defence splitting pass to himself then finish it off...

 

[Tel001]

Rooney had a good game against Utd when he stayed up top

With a bit more luck he would be on 6-7 goals ... I don't understand why people think he's finished as a striker... that's where I would be playing him...he's just not a lone striker and neither are any of our attacking options... 4-4-2 ... might be old, easy to play against Etc ... but that is the best system for our players... two wingers and siggy in the middle with gana ... done

 

[Abraders]

2-3 games? We have only played 8 so nearly half of our games he's played well... even against burnley he was the only one that can actually play a penetrating pass... seen him at LB playing baines in ... he can see everything that's wrong and he can fix nearly all our problems ... he just can't fix them all at the same time.. he's a better finisher than DCL, he has better control than our CM's, he has a better final ball then anyone else, and he can actually take set peices, he has fight and actually wants to play for us... he just can't control the ball, play a defence splitting pass to himself then finish it off...

I wouldn't actually say he's a better finisher than DCL in this moment.

Rooney skews loads of chances and is barely in the right place to receive said chance. I also think he slows us down tremendously and his hollywood passes are completely pointless most of the time.

His touch can be erratic too. Often ends up chasing his own bad touch.

 

[Furey1878]

With a bit more luck he would be on 6-7 goals ... I don't understand why people think he's finished as a striker... that's where I would be playing him...he's just not a lone striker and neither are any of our attacking options... 4-4-2 ... might be old, easy to play against Etc ... but that is the best system for our players... two wingers and siggy in the middle with gana ... done

Dunno about playing Sigurdsson in a CM pair like

 

[windymiller]

Hahaha

I had to double take myself then too.

Doppelganger

But yeah, I agree at the moment. Not saying he won't come good at some point, but I think in order for him to work, we need to build the team around him, and that's not a realistic option for us at the moment. I always assume you spend that kind of money on the so called "final piece of the puzzle", the player that takes a good team to the next level by adding a new dimension. All he seems to offer at this point in time is decent stats for his previous team.

At the moment I think we could do a lot worse than build the team around him. Iceland are still getting the best out of him and have just qualified for the world cup, so it's not like he has become a bad player. We are shoehorning him in to the left side of a forward three when we should be playing him behind the striker with Vlasic and Lookman buzzing around either side of him imo. I suspect RonKo will continue with his glacierball approach though

 

[Tel001]

I wouldn't actually say he's a better finisher than DCL in this moment.

Rooney skews loads of chances and is barely in the right place to receive said chance. I also think he slows us down tremendously and his hollywood passes are completely pointless most of the time.

His touch can be erratic too. Often ends up chasing his own bad touch.

If I have the choice of Rooney or DCL running through on the GK to win a match... Rooney everytime ... his finishing is light years ahead of DCL

 

[Tel001]

Dunno about playing Sigurdsson in a CM pair like

I just don't want to see gana and snides in there that's all

 

[Furey1878]

I just don't want to see gana and snides in there that's all

Agree on that, Davies is the perfect link man to pair alongside a defensive minded player like Schneiderlin or Gueye.

 

[hullefc]

At the moment I think we could do a lot worse than build the team around him. Iceland are still getting the best out of him and have just qualified for the world cup, so it's not like he has become a bad player. We are shoehorning him in to the left side of a forward three when we should be playing him behind the striker with Vlasic and Lookman buzzing around either side of him imo. I suspect RonKo will continue with his glacierball approach though

Hopefully it will not take Koeman too long before he wakes up and plays him in his correct position i.e the free movement to seek the ball and get the team playing. I've never taken Sigurdsson to be a player that is 'scared to play football'.

 

[Kever10]

At the moment I think we could do a lot worse than build the team around him. Iceland are still getting the best out of him and have just qualified for the world cup, so it's not like he has become a bad player. We are shoehorning him in to the left side of a forward three when we should be playing him behind the striker with Vlasic and Lookman buzzing around either side of him imo. I suspect RonKo will continue with his glacierball approach though

That may be right, and he could very well be a player to build around. But the reason I said it's unrealistic is because we already have a fairly expensively assembled squad with lots of new players and some established, and that makes things difficult.

If we are going to build a side around him, that would involve building a side with a target man for him to play off, a dynamic midfield with pace to run off him and create space, full backs to overlap, defenders who pose an aerial threat from his set pieces. Judging by his performances so far, it seems like it would be a complete rethink, and an acceptance from Koeman that he was wrong. That rather than being the magical final piece of a puzzle, he's actually the 1st in a new one.

Because personally, I don't see a team with him, Schneiderlin, Gueye, Klaassen, Sandro, Vlasic and Rooney ever working, certainly not on the evidence of his performances so far. He is not giving us an extra dimension, he is giving us a taller, slower version of the dimensions that are already there.

 

[windymiller]

That may be right, and he could very well be a player to build around. But the reason I said it's unrealistic is because we already have a fairly expensively assembled squad with lots of new players and some established, and that makes things difficult.

If we are going to build a side around him, that would involve building a side with a target man for him to play off, a dynamic midfield with pace to run off him and create space, full backs to overlap, defenders who pose an aerial threat from his set pieces. Judging by his performances so far, it seems like it would be a complete rethink, and an acceptance from Koeman that he was wrong. That rather than being the magical final piece of a puzzle, he's actually the 1st in a new one.

Because personally, I don't see a team with him, Schneiderlin, Gueye, Klaassen, Sandro, Vlasic and Rooney ever working, certainly not on the evidence of his performances so far. He is not giving us an extra dimension, he is giving us a taller, slower version of the dimensions that are already there.

I don't disagree and, at the moment, I wouldn't be playing Sandro, Rooney and Schneiderlin.

A line up of:

---------------------Pickford--------------------
Kenny------Keane---------Jagielka------Baines
----------------Gueye---------------------------
------------------------Davies-------------------
Lookman----------Sigurdsson------------Vlasic
-----------------------DCL-----------------------

is what I would be looking for at the moment (or something a bit like that). I agree though that dropping Rooney, Klaasen, Schneiderlin, Sandro etc... is unlikely because it will make RonKo, Walsh and Moshiri look like mugs and it will involve a change of style that I can't see Moonhead ever admitting his bizarre approach is nonsense.

 

[Toffe3m4n]

For me we need to be trying to pin him down in the number 10 role. There's no point trying to get him to do anything else, his showings for Iceland have proved that he needs to be that talisman behind the striker.