Why Gylfi Sigurdsson is back and as good as ever
Gylfi Sigurdsson is off to a fantastic start this season, which will surely come as a delight to Everton after his disappointing campaign last year.
Not only has the Icelandic talisman seemingly recovered from his poor four goal, four assist debut season, but he's started 2018-19 with a bang, posting career-high per 90 numbers in five of ESPN's scoring categories. This surge in form has now propelled him back to fantasy relevance as well with him currently ranked as a top 15 outfielder, and the third best in his tier (Tier 2 midfield).cheap nike nfl jerseys china
Sigurdsson is not just besting his past self at the start of the 2018-19 season, he's also outperforming everyone in the league in both accurate crosses (18) and chances created (23). The latter is a rather big deal in the ESPN game as, not only do you get a point for each chance created, but each one also represents an opportunity for an assist.
Unfortunately for both he and those who select him, that last part has been a bit hard to come by this season with the midfielder having recorded just one assist to date. That's largely due to the fact that Sigurdsson is incapable of finishing his own created chances as, not only does he lead Everton in almost every creative category, but he also leads them in both goals (four) and shot accuracy (35.3 percent). While all of these statistics make Sigurdsson look an elite fantasy option, they certainly do not line up with his performances from last season.
In 2017-18 Sigurdsson struggled through what was arguably the worst season of his Premier League career, posting his lowest amount of goals, shots, shots on target, assists, chances created, accurate crosses, passes, and more, during the past five seasons. A lot of Sigurdsson's struggles last year could be laid at the feet of the now departed manager Sam Allardyce but, even still, how can we trust a breakout from Sigurdsson when he has been so poor so recently?nike nfl jerseys cheap paypal
Well, admittedly it's rare for a player to have a breakout season at age 29 but, considering his past successes, this looks to be more of a renaissance if anything. It bears reminding that the Icelandic international was a bona fide fantasy star after rejoining Swansea, racking up an impressive 27 goals and 27 assists from 2014-2017. So, what made him so good over that period of time, and could those conditions be replicated at Everton this season?
The obvious link, the secret ingredient to Sigurdsson's success after moving back to Wales was that he ... played more. Seriously. When playing more than 2,500 minutes in a season, Sigurdsson averages around nine goals and nine assists with those averages dropping precipitously to four goals and two assists when he fails to meet that mark.
