Former Everton hero Michael Ball has slammed Gylfi Sigurdsson after yet another insipid display from the £45 million play-maker during Sunday’s 3-0 thumping at Wolves, while speaking to the Liverpool Echo.
In truth, the Icelandic international is playing like a £4.5 million midfielder these days rather than a £45 million one.
At times, Sigurdsson can be one of the most influential creative talents in the Premier League, delivering devilish dead balls and launching 25-yard rockets into the opposition net.
But, as Everton produced a performance of peak Koemanism at Molineux this weekend, Sigurdsson looked devoid of any sort of intensity or effort in his new look deep-lying role.
To make matters worse, this was not the first time since the re-start that the former Swansea star looked a fading imitation of his former self.
So, after a display which had the usually reserved Carlo Ancelotti raging, surely Sigurdsson’s place in the starting XI must come under threat?
“The players have to stand up and be counted but are they that bothered? Because they’re not showing it,” Ball fumes.
“Gylfi Sigurdsson got dropped and Anthony Gordon got his opportunity in front of him. That in itself should have been embarrassing enough for a senior pro, but then he gets his opportunity to start again and puts in an even worse performance.
“What does he expect? He’s getting rewarded for playing terribly.
“Have Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tom Davies forgotten they can run with the ball and drive at teams? Gordon did it the game before, breaking the lines – we’re just passing the buck.”
In 28 Premier League games this season, Sigurdsson has contributed just two goals and two assists.
So if Everton fans thought that their Achilles heel lied at the base of midfield, with Idrissa Gana Gueye’s exit and Jean-Philippe Gbamin’s injuries leaving an already-vulnerable defence looking even less secure, it seems that signing a new ‘number ten’ is quickly becoming a necessity too.
With Lorenzo Pellegrini, Cengiz Under, Dominik Szoboszlai and more linked recently, Sigurdsson is surely fighting for his future – not that you’d know it.
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