Has Sigurdsson injury actually helped Everton?
With eight games of the season to go Everton now face Manchester City and Liverpool in their next two matches, the two highest scoring teams in the Premier League.
How should Everton approach these matches and has the injury to Gylfi Sigurdsson actually helped the team?
The Blues have endured a dreadful season producing some truly embarrassing performances highlighted by shambolic defending, especially away from home.
Although rightly the focus has been on those defensive problems, Everton have also been toothless up front for much of the season.
The Blues have though recently started scoring goals with the return of Yannick Bolaise and January signings Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott beginning to flourish and find the back of the net.
It may seem controversial to say it but perhaps the injury suffered by Sigurdsson might actually have helped Everton settle on a side and formation that properly suits the players left available.
When the Icelandic international was hurt in the home win over Brighton, I like most Evertonians felt this was yet another piece of dreadful luck in a truly luckless season.
However the absence of the club-record signing has meant that the Blues were forced to essentially pick the same side for two weeks in a row when visiting Stoke City.
Not perhaps coincidentally that match was won, the side’s first win on the road since beating Newcastle at St James Park in December.
Although the return to fitness of three key defenders, Seamus Coleman, Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka was crucial, the way the attack has functioned has also been much more encouraging.
One of the most frequently discussed criticisms of Everton early in the season was an absence of consistency in team selection or tactics. This only heightened the indecision and individual errors that plagued the team’s play.
Last weekend was one of the few times this season that an Everton manager (whether Ronald Koeman or Sam Allardyce) has been able to pick the same team essentially two weeks running.
It also meant that the manager stuck with a 4-3-3 formation. I’m not obsessed about tactical formation as I think you should be flexible and adaptable taking account of players’ strengths and weaknesses.
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But sometimes especially if you are dealing with a side that has very fragile self-confidence, then settling on a system that is balanced and one where everyone knows and understands can be beneficial.
This season both Everton managers have struggled to find a way to fit Wayne Rooney and Sigurdsson into the same team and now that problem has been resolved, at least temporarily.
Instead of trying to shoehorn these two players into the team even when it unbalances the side, Allardyce can now have more certainty about his best starting eleven.
Returning to the upcoming matches against league leaders City and Liverpool, Everton need to continue to play in a positive and determined manner. If you’re sitting back when playing these sides will only invite constant pressure and eventually defeat.
City have repeatedly broken down sides who have attempted to do this and although Allardyce did defend for a point at Anfield in his first league derby match, at Goodison this won’t be an effective or acceptable approach.
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Despite the long odds I think these games are winnable and Everton should approach them in that way. After all what a tonic it would be after this season to beat the reds at last in a derby!?