Everton International break Player ratings: James Rodriguez fails, Iwobi excels

Colombia's James Rodriguez leaves the field after losing 3-0 to Uruguay during their closed-door 2022 FIFA World Cup South American qualifier football match at the Metropolitan Stadium in Barranquilla, Colombia, on November 13, 2020. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP) (Photo by RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty Images)
Colombia's James Rodriguez leaves the field after losing 3-0 to Uruguay during their closed-door 2022 FIFA World Cup South American qualifier football match at the Metropolitan Stadium in Barranquilla, Colombia, on November 13, 2020. (Photo by Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP) (Photo by RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP via Getty Images)
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Here’s how some of the Everton players fared on their international duty.

Everton currently have 17 players from the senior and youth sides who are out representing their countries on international duty, let’s review the performances for some of the players during this international break.

1. Gylfi Sigurdsson

Gylfi Sigurdsson was average at best for Iceland in their 2-1 defeat to Denmark. 

Appearances – 2

Goals – 1

Assists – 0

Minutes Played – 180

Rating – 7

Sigurdsson was able to grab a goal against Hungary in a 2-1 defeat. The Icelandic attacking midfielder was unlucky not to grab more than one goal as he had 3 shots with 2 of them being on target, but he was denied by talented Hungarian shot-stopper Peter Gulacsi.

Gylfi’s struggles to grab a second goal or create one for his teammates lead to a surging comeback for the Hungarians who scored in the 88th and 92nd minute to steal a win from Iceland.

Sigurdsson is usually able to perform for the Icelandic national team, as the focal point of the team he’s usually able to create a few chances or even jump on the score sheet, but in this one Nations League game against Denmark, he was anything but the focal point.

Sigurdsson wasn’t awful, but at the same time he wasn’t able to lead that team against the red and white. The 31 year old wasn’t able to get on the score sheet or grab himself an assist during this game, but let’s dive into his stats to get a grasp on how he performed.

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Sigurdsson was able to actually do some defensive duty in this game, grabbing 2 interceptions for Iceland, but he wasn’t able to register a tackle or clearance during the game, but this should be expected since he is an attacking midfielder.

He wasn’t too bad when it came to the attacking side of the ball, Gylfi was able to get off 1 shot which unfortunately didn’t lead to a goal, he was able to create 1 key pass which wasn’t dangerous enough to trouble the Danish and he was also able to complete 2 dribbles along with being fouled 3 times.

It’s clear Sigurdsson is still expected to create most chances for Iceland since Sigurdsson is a player you usually only get 0.5-1 dribbles a game from, he usually prefers to play a quick cross or shoot from distance but to give credit to Gylfi, he doesn’t have much talent to work with, but his game against Hungary and an alright performance against Denmark gives him a 7.0 rating in my opinion.