Does Tottenham Really Miss Gylfi Sigurdsson?

There is quite a groundswell among Tottenham fans that argue that selling Gylfi Sigurdsson to Swansea as part of the Ben Davies transaction in July of 2014 was a large transfer mistake. This is an easy argument to buy into as Gylfi plays well for the "in form" manager Garry Monk and Tottenham's midfield largely underperforms. However, further examination pokes quite a few holes in the theory that Gylfi would play a large role for Tottenham under Mauricio Pochettino.

If your argument is that hanging on to Gylfi is that he should have been sold for more money or that Ben Davies wasn't a worthy exchange player then I can't find fault with you. At the time it certainly seemed that Davies was a great target and the rumored 7M valuation seemed fair. As it turns out, neither of those things may have held true. My beef isn't with you.

If your belief is that we should have held on to the Icelandic midfielder because he would be a starter for our favorite Club....well my beef IS with you. Personally, I like Gylfi and his game. I'm a sucker for players with an eye for goal who contribute in other areas and he fits the bill. As a matter of fact, I find Sigurdsson to be a superior alternative to Nacer Chadli. Unfortunately, as my regular readers have surmised, I don't find Chadli to be a worthy starter. 

Gylfi Sugurdsson just doesn't move the needle for a Mauricio Pochettino side pushing for the top four. This isn't because he isn't a high quality player. Instead it comes down to a matter of fit. An industrious attacking midfielder who poaches goals but lacks the ability to press high up the field just isn't what Tottenham needs. Tottenham's most recent purchased of Son and N'Jie highlight what Poch is looking for out on the wings. His system needs players who can stretch the field with their pace out wide and cut inside with an eye for the net. In case you've forgotten, Gylfi out wide is not exactly a blur of speed. The only place that he could occupy in Pochettino's system is as a number 10.

Unfortunately for the Icelandic Swan (this nickname should totally catch on by the way) Christian Eriksen resides in this spot for Spurs. Eriksen is a superior player in almost every aspect. He is faster, has a higher work rate, and features more incisive passing than Sigurdsson and also is the better of the two on set pieces. Would a player of Sigurdsson's caliber really be happy with the occasional substitute appearance and Cup starts? No, and nor should he be. That's why he made the best move for his career and moved to Swansea City.

It is typical of Spurs fans to love a player once he is gone even in spite of the presence of superior options on the current squad. In just this way, the absence of the Icelandic Swan has made our hearts grow fonder, while our heads should tell us that both Club and player are made better by his departure.