Thor Rising - Why Gylfi Needs a Change of Position to Salvage his Tottenham Career

SugarRay said:

Hudd has been ruined by injuries. I think he is done at Tottenham

I meant Dempsey, Defoe ( never, EVER get this ) and the like.

Sig is 23 ain't he? Two good months at Swansea and a decent season in Germany is all he has to show so far. Has a lot of convincing to do. I hope he comes good.

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jair1970 said:

He reminds me of Lampard more than anyone.
That in itself creates a quandry because I find Lampard a total 'marmite' player. His stats look great but often when he plays you wonder if he's even on the pitch, a criticism that could be levelled at Sigurdsson early on.
He's looked more useful in his brief cameos recently and is arguably unlucky to be 14th name on our team sheet.

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Mullers said:

He's not a striker. I think it would be interesting to see him in center midfield alongside Dembele.

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Leachie said:

So because he had a good game as a deep-lying playmaker, he would make a good striker?

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ultimateloner said:

My belief is that both Dempsey/Defoe are getting unjustfied criticism; think with a 0.4 rate for goals+assits/games played Dempsey has a good shout for a starting berth. Defoe's got a decent strike rate this season too. Both have their well-recognized limitations but contribute enough statistically against what the doubters say about their style etc.

I agree with you that Sig has alot to prove given the only reason fans want to cut him slack is his short record and age. I think he has the rest of this season to prove himself before his market value falls too much, forcing us to sell early.

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schwinebikkje said:

Great post. Siggurdson has the qualities to be a great DM. People from Iceland are tough as hell and they`ve got great work ethics. He has some similarities with Bastian Schweinsteiger, who also started out as an attacking mid/winger. I`m hoping for our own Icelandic Schweinsteiger

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ILS said:

Siggy this season's gio dos santos. The lad is an average premiership player, who hit a purple patch last season just like Joe Allen in the same team. He will be sold in the summer and no one will care he left come start of next season.

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Spurs1960 said:

Who do you propose buying to replace him to sit on the bench?

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ILS said:

Maybe someone who can make a difference? All season i have heard is give him time yet does feck all when he is on the pitch. Then the excuse is from fans.. he doesn't suit the way we play with defoe upfront. So we blame someone else for the basic truth the lad is not good enough for a top team in the most creative position on the pitch.

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Spurs1960 said:

Buy high sell low, I don't think so, he's not another Bentley! levy won't go down that route. He'll stay unless he is adamant he wants to play in which case we'll demand what we paid for him at least.

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jair1970 said:

He reminds me of Lampard more than anyone.
That in itself creates a quandry because I find Lampard a total 'marmite' player. His stats look great but often when he plays you wonder if he's even on the pitch, a criticism that could be levelled at Sigurdsson early on.
He's looked more useful in his brief cameos recently and is arguably unlucky to be 14th name on our team sheet.

The fact that he's young is a bonus and in no way should we give up on him, because he will have his uses. Depending on transfers in the summer or an eventual shift to 4-3-3 his versatility could serve him well.
Squads are fluid and people come to the fore when least expected, the entire Bale/Ekotto situation being a good example for both players. If we find ourselves in the same situation in a year's time then a couple of things will be apparent; we must be doing well if he can't get in the team and maybe a move is for the best.
Until then, he needs to be kept around the suqad and given a few chances, who knows he might even take them.

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Spurs_Bear said:

The difference with players like Henry and Walcott though is that they were still good enough in their original positions before being moved either tactically or because the manager thought they could be even better in the new role.

This article is basically saying "well we've tried everything else, so lets do this" which I don't agree with. Some of Gylfi's cameos have been promising, but too many times he's just pissed away the opportunities, we can't use the Redknapp excuse of him not rotating or picking his favourites, it's obvious that AVB works on the training ground and takes into account who fits in to the team ethic. At the moment Gylfi clearly doesn't.

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Kalim said:

Not sure if he is quick enough to be a striker, but like the rest of your oiece.

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Bus-Conductor said:

I'm not a huge Sigurdsson fan, and I do generally agree with your general gist, but I find it hard to believe that he wouldn't have been worth a few more starts as the advanced central midfielder (possibly his only viable position) instead of playing the woeful footballer Dempsey there. I don't even believe it's a work rate thing because Dempsey really isn't the trojan work horse some would have us believe. Most of the time he ambles about like a fart in a trance.

I'm not convinced Sigurdsson has got what it takes, but I think there were several games in the first half of the season, especially at home against sit back types, when his skill set would have been more use than Dempsey's.

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Spurs_Bear said:

Dempsey may be a woeful footballer, but he's an effective woeful footballer. Sigurdsson might be slightly less woeful, but he's as effective as a piss flavoured single malt.

Considering we have played the majority of the season with '17 touches a game Defoe' up front, we have needed someone to get involved or at least show for the ball. Dempsey may not be classy, or good to watch, but he isn't afraid to get stuck in, and does at least try to get involved or get into good positions. Sigurdsson hides, and I'm really not surprised we didn't persist with him and Defoe. If we'd have played Adebayor (or been able to), then I wouldn't mind betting we may have seen more of Sigurdsson.

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Bus-Conductor said:

I disagree. I think Dempsey doesn't get stuck in or close down any where near enough to validate playing such a poor footballer. What's the point of trying to get involved if when you do you trip over the ball or just slow everything down. There is very little effective about Dempsey generally.

I did some checking via EPL opta index. Sigurdsson last season played 150 mins more than Dempsey has so far this season. He scored 2 more goals than Dempsey, had 5 more shots on target, 9 more off target and had a slightly higher clear cut chance conversion rate. 17 successful dribbles to 6. Accurate crosses 37 to 0 (that's big fat zero). Total chances created 50 to 24. Clear cut 6 to 3. They both had 3 assists but that almost certainly says more about Swansea/Fulham's strikers. Total passes 671 to 526 (given Dempsey's average he isn't going to match Sigurdsson for about 6-7 games).

I repeat, I am not a huge Sigurdsson fan, but what I am saying is, I reckon if played properly (ie in his only really strong position - the position we've played Dempsey in numerous times) I think my hobson might just have worked out more productive than your hobson.​

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Spurs_Bear said:

Oh dear god that could be the most meaningless use of stats I have ever seen.

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