Everton star reacts to scathing criticism from Sky Sports pundit: ‘What did he say?’
Gylfi Sigurdsson has ignored scathing criticism from Gary Neville towards the end of last season as he prepares for the next Premier League campaign with Everton.
The Sky Sports pundit accused the Icelandic international of backing out of too many challenges in the defeat against Tottenham after lockdown.
Sigurdsson has been transformed into a deeper midfield role by Carlo Ancelotti, much different to his time as an advanced playmaker.
The Toffees midfielder admitted that as long as Ancelotti is happy with him, it doesn’t matter what others such as Neville think.
“What did he say?” he told the Athletic.
“The gaffer has been happy with me. I’ve been in a completely different role. What matters is his opinion.
“If he’s happy, I must be doing something right. If he’s not, then I’ve got to train harder and do something differently… what he wants.”
Sigurdsson was speaking after the disappointing 3-3 draw against Blackpool on Saturday, and he even scored twice at Bloomfield Road.
That still isn’t good enough as a collective, but it does prove that the playmaker can still score from his deeper role – possibly helping him stay back rather than getting carried away and leaving holes in his side.
The 30-year-old did make more tackles per game than the likes of Yerry Mina, Andre Gomes and Tom Davies according to WhoScored last season.
So, Sigurdsson does get stuck in when needed too and he will be concentrating solely on the season ahead rather than Neville’s words.
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