OPINION
While Everton’s season might have been a little hit and miss so far, when it comes to Icelandic international Gylfi Sigurdsson, he is most certainly a hit.
The 29-year-old has been the shining light for the Toffees during the current campaign, hitting a rich vein of form which has seen him net four goals in as many Premier League games, including a stunning match winner against Leicester City on Saturday.
On £120,000-a-week (Source: Spotrac), Sigurdsson is finally living up to his big-money price tag and earnings spent on securing his signing last summer, and his transformation has not gone unnoticed by the pundits either.
Writing in his Daily Mail column, Jamie Redknapp said: “The Iceland midfielder is a wonderful talent but he is a confidence player. I don’t think he settled in at Everton last season following his club-record £45million move.
“He struggled to cope with the price tag, his role in the team and the managerial instability. Now, he has a coach in Marco Silva who is unlocking his full potential.”
The Sky Sports man is absolutely right in heralding the manager’s influence when it comes to getting the best out of the attacking midfielder, but while the transformation has been brilliant for Everton, the Portuguese boss will be having nightmares over his star man losing his confidence.
When Sigurdsson is playing well, the rest of the side around him tick along like clockwork, but if he has an off day then the control in attack is lost, and that spreads all through the team resulting in poor performances and results.
Anything that knocks the Iceland star off his game, be it injury, suspension or even just a match where he fails to keep control, will dent his belief and that is when problems start to set in – and Everton cannot afford to lose the abilities that come with his confidence.
As Redknapp says, it is all about confidence, and Silva will be worried about the day when his midfield maestro is off form.