A number of Everton fans have been reacting on social media to a recent post on the Toffees’ official Twitter account, sharing a clip of Gylfi Sigurdsson working on his shooting in training.
Sigurdsson fell to the bench against West Ham United last weekend having started in each of the Blues’ opening eight Premier League games (TransferMarkt), but had failed to find the net in either of his top-flight starts.
Creativity had also been an issue for the Iceland midfielder, as the 30-year-old only registered one assist in his first eight appearances of the league term, when he created Alex Iwobi’s strike at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers last month.
The 72-cap international had consistently registered key passes, though, as Sigurdsson played two in defeat at Burnley, five in defeat at home to Manchester City, four in defeat to Sheffield United and one in defeat at Bournemouth (WhoScored).
Four successive top-flight losses saw Silva change his plans and favour Iwobi as his central playmaker against West Ham, and the Nigerian returned two key passes and two shots against the Irons before being replaced by Sigurdsson in the 87th-minute.
Sigurdsson swiftly set about doubling the hosts’ lead with a spectacular volley in stoppage time to open his Premier League account for the season, after hitting 13 in the top-flight last term.
Scoring against the Hammers has not seen Sigurdsson slip up in training, either, as Everton shared footage of the 6 ft 1 midfielder practicing his shooting at Finch Farm on Thursday.
The former Swansea City midfielder scored from the edge of the box with a delicate finessed effort to the top corner, and some Everton fans feel the release of the clip is the Merseyside outfit’s way of softening the blow of Sigurdsson returning to Silva’s starting line-up against Brighton & Hove Albion.
A lot of Toffees supporters would prefer that Silva retains Iwobi as his central playmaker this Saturday, as Sigurdsson’s return would slow the pace of the Blues’ attacks, while the Nigerian’s performance against West Ham warranted another start.
Here are some of the messages shared…
Guess he’ll be walking straight back into the side then? Slowing us down to a snails pace with next to no effort throughout the game. But yeah, he’s scored a good goal in training!
— Andy (@AndyCM81) October 24, 2019
Is this the club trying to soften the blow for when he inevitably starts on Saturday??
— Andy (@misterAefc) October 24, 2019
His skill is not in doubt. But think Iwobi did enough to keep his place on Saturday. COYB!
— C (@chughs67) October 24, 2019
Love gylfi but iwobi should be starting in 10 role.
— Stephen Dutton (@rsdutton) October 24, 2019
Everton sharing footage from training at Finch Farm has also seen one Blues fan suggest his club should see that Sigurdsson works on his positioning.
The Reykjavik native’s heat map from the Burnley loss showed Sigurdsson spent a majority of his game on the right-hand side of the Claret’s defensive half, despite being tasked with acting as the central attacking midfield option (WhoScored).
Sigurdsson’s heat map from the Man City clash also showed the 30-year-old making a larger imprint from the right-hand side, with a large void of touches between the halfway line and the Citizens’ box.
The picture was the same against Sheffield United, while against Bournemouth Sigurdsson operated in a more flowing central to wide-right role.
Can you get him training on positioning and build-up play please?
— Alex Peace (@the_alexpeace) October 24, 2019
Among the Everton fans reacting to the Toffees’ Tweet, one fan sought to pour cold on Sigurdsson and his teammate’s efforts at Finch Farm, as the goals being scored were only in a training drill and not a live game.
The effort of the goalkeeper was also put into question.
Why does it always look like keepers aren’t trying to save shots in training ?
— Andy (@howiseeit4) October 24, 2019
— P (@Paul_M__H) October 24, 2019