Re: Gylfi Sigurdsson
Gylfi Sigurdsson says squad are in tune with new system
Gylfi Sigurdsson has settled in swiftly at Spurs with a little help from Ben E King and Ledley King.
Music first. It was on Tottenham's pre-season tour to the US that Sigurdsson found himself stepping up on to a chair in an LA hotel. It was initiation time for the new recruits. “I had to sing a song for all the boys, so I sang Stand By Me,” he recalled, with a smile, of the Ben E King classic. “I stood on a chair and got embarrassed. I’m not the best singer but the boys said it was all right. In Iceland, we have Bjork, who’s quite famous around the world, and [the band] Sigur Ros but I’m not a singer!”
He is a character, though. On Monday, Sigurdsson cancelled his day off to join Ledley King at the Spurs ambassador’s “Skills” set-up, a Tottenham Hotspur Foundation initiative providing sporting facilities in a former disused youth centre close to White Hart Lane. Sigurdsson immediately immersed himself in all the activities, playing table tennis and even doing some sparring in the ring, padding away some feisty punches – “my shoulders were hurting, I was counting down the seconds.”
“Ledley and the club are doing a fantastic job here,” Sigurdsson said. “It is very important, especially for the younger kids so they can get into sport, especially after school, play table tennis, boxing or whatever sport with their friends. As footballers, we are very privileged. A lot of young kids look up to us. Most of us know what that feels like because we were there once. When we were young, we looked up to footballers.”
Like compatriot Gudni Bergsson, formerly of Spurs? “Gudni was a centre half, so I didn’t look up to him that much!” Sigurdsson joked. “I respect him for what’s he’s done. He’s a lawyer, very clever. Gudni does a football highlights programme, like Match of the Day. I looked up to Eidur Gudjohnsen; he was doing very well at Bolton, Chelsea and here at Spurs. I’ve always looked up to Frank Lampard. He’s scored a couple of goals from midfield in the last 10 years! He’s unbelievable. His goalscoring record is phenomenal.”
Sigurdsson’s saga, which has taken in Reading, Hoffenheim, Swansea City and now Spurs, whom he joined for £8 million in the summer, began 23 years ago in Hafnarjordur, a harbour town close to Reykjavik. “My father was a fisherman. I did a couple of summer days out to sea with him and my brother when I was younger. He does a little bit still but most of the time he’s not really working. He’s playing golf, trying to beat me. “I would have gone to university if I hadn’t done football. I am very into languages. I started doing Spanish when I was at Reading through the internet. I learnt German at Hoffenheim. I have three languages I am very good at: German, English and Icelandic. I also speak a little bit of Danish.
“Hoffenheim was different. It was good to learn another language and the Bundesliga is a fantastic league. British players enjoy themselves a bit more than German. It’s more relaxed but they still work hard in training. The tempo is higher in England. In Germany you have two sessions a day and the intensity isn’t as much as in one session in England. I enjoy English football a lot more.”
He has been coached by some of the best young managers in the game, from Brian McDermott at Reading to Brendan Rodgers at Swansea and now Andre Villas-Boas at Spurs. “Brian’s a very good person,” Sigurdsson said. “Most of the boys really liked him at Reading, and still do. He does most of the sessions himself. Most of the new managers do. Brendan, Andre and Brian do all the sessions themselves, controlling everything.
“Brendan is very good, driven, highly motivated. I really enjoyed working with him at Swansea. He’s got a lot of self-belief. He’s very clever in everything he does. He learned a lot from Jose Mourinho at Chelsea. He will be one of the top managers in the future for a long time. He’s still very young, still learning. He will do well at Liverpool.
“Andre’s very involved in training. When we are playing games, it is almost like he’s playing as well, he’s right in the thick of it. Most of the boys are really happy with the training, getting used to different ways of training, different from what Harry [Redknapp] was doing. It’s a bit more continental. It’s different with the warm-ups, the stretching. We trained a lot during pre-season, double sessions every day. All the boys are very fit.
“We are getting into a rhythm with the new [4-2-3-1] system now, scoring more goals. Most of the players are comfortable playing this way. Jermain Defoe is not too bad is he? He’s scoring goals for fun. He’s unbelievable, almost 200 goals. Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon are as quick as anything. I remember playing against them for Swansea and these are the players you don’t want to see on the team sheet. They have so much quality.
“I scored against Spurs last season. I know Brad Friedel doesn’t like that goal! He’s getting older. He’s 45 or something. He’s a legend. He’s very professional, very calm, got the experience. He’s playing really well. Hugo Lloris is very, very good as well. We have four great keepers. We’ve got Carlo Cudicini and Gomes as well. I have never been at a club with so much quality in goal.
“We had one day off on the trip to America and I played golf with Brad. I beat him. Michael Dawson plays a lot. Carlo plays quite a bit. Kyle Walker tries. He’s good the first couple of holes and then loses concentration. I don’t know how Gareth hits it. It’s so far. It’s unbelievable. His short game is not the best. It’s a great group of guys, good mixture. Tom Huddlestone is very funny. Humour, his personality, his hair. He’s growing it for charity. There are a few characters in the dressing room.”
Spurs will need that character at Old Trafford on Saturday. “Manchester United are a fantastic team. They have so much quality. It is not easy to pick out one player. If you leave Giggsy out, there’s Scholesey, then Van Persie, Kagawa, Rio, Carrick, Rooney. It will be a very hard game. We are going to do our best.”
Sigurdsson will stand by his team-mates.
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He really needs to score in the league to settle down. Until he does that people are going to question his quality.
