Tony Cascarino claims ‘wonderfully gifted’ star shouldn’t be Everton captain

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Former top-flight striker Tony Cascarino has told The Times that Gylfi Sigurdsson shouldn’t be the Everton captain.

The Toffees were thrashed 4-0 by Chelsea thanks to goals from Mason Mount, Pedro, Willian and Olivier Giroud.

Sigurdsson wore the armband in the absence of regular captain Seamus Coleman who missed the game with a muscular problem.

Cascarino actually had compliments for the Icelandic star but is defiant with his thoughts on the captaincy.

He told The Times: “Gylfi Sigurdsson is a wonderfully gifted player but it was clear against Chelsea he is not a captain. There were many worse performances than his, but pressing was tepid at best and he kept getting bypassed – the armband is affecting his game.

“As a captain, you have to raise the standards of your team-mates and get them really up for the contest but he was totally lost. Everton have gone from having multiple natural leaders in Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka and Seamus Coleman to having none at all.

“It should not be Sigurdsson’s role to be captain – he should be left free to do what he does best. Everton need leaders.”

Cascarino does perhaps have a bit although it’s easy to see why the 30-year-old was handed the responsibility of being captain.

He has occasionally captained the national team and he is currently one of the longer serving members of the Everton squad.

Influence

Tom Davies has worn the armband but is relatively young; whilst giving it Andre Gomes wouldn’t be the worst decision in the world.

Carlo Ancelotti regularly discusses getting Everton into the Champions League but that now looks like a long-shot this season.

In order to conquer his task next season, he may choose to identify a few more leaders for his squad.

Everton’s performance yesterday was poor and several new signings will be needed in the summer if Ancelotti has any aspirations of cracking European qualification.