Sky Sports pundit Phil Thompson has heralded the improvement shown by Everton’s Gylfi Sigurdsson as he compares the attacking midfielder to Tottenham maestro Christian Eriksen.
The Toffees ace has been in impressive form this season, scoring 14 goals and chipping in with six assists this season, a better goal scoring record than his Tottenham counterpart, who has got nine strikes but 17 assists to his name.
With the London Evening Standard reporting that Spurs have valued their Danish superstar at £60million ahead of this summer’s transfer window, Thompson insists Sigurdsson is not too different.
He told Sky Sports News’ Soccer Saturday (27/04, 14:44): “I think he’s always been a very good player, always been a player that I like. You talk about players who can play in that offensive role, behind the striker, number 10, he’s got the assists.
“We talk about (Christian) Eriksen, this boy is quite similar. You can say all you want about defending, he scores goals like that (v Man Utd) throughout his career. It’s nothing new.
“I think he’s really stepped up. It’s somebody that you can build upon.”
Opinion
It is a bit of a lazy comparison from Thompson, who has obviously put two and two together, in the fact they are both Scandinavian and are both attacking midfielders, to get four. There is no doubting that Sigurdsson has improved his goal scoring record but it has come at the cost of how many he manages to set up for his teammates. Eriksen meanwhile is laying his side up with assist after assist and still manages to find the odd goal or two. They are different players in terms of their style and quality, with Eriksen possessing immense vision and passing range while his Everton counterpart is much more suited to driving through with the ball at his feet. There is no getting away from the fact that they have both had impressive seasons but they should be celebrated individually than being roped in as the same sort of player.