Ask anyone who the best player outside the top 6 is and it won't be long before the name Gylfi Sigurdsson is mentioned.He seems to score or assist, or at least go close, in most games.And if you only watch the highlights you'll see him either setting up or getting on the end of chances.Whenever Sky Sports do a graphic of top scoring midfielders over the last few years Gyfi will always be in there, near the top of the list. Most Everton fans enjoy watching him play, he has a classy touch and scores some absolutely brilliant goals. There is no doubt that he is far better this year than last.Ask neutrals where he plays, or indeed most fans of his club, and they'll say he is a classic number 10, or an attacking midfielder.At the risk of attracting the wrath of some particularly vociferous Gylfi fans this article is not about him being a bad player. Far from it he has a very good range of skills. This isn't even about whether Everton overpaid for him.It is just that he isn't a midfielder by any normal definition of the role.I suppose the first thing to look at would be the typical positioning of a midfielder. You would expect to find a midfielder between the defence and the attack. Yet every positional map I've seen this season has Gylfi as the furthest forward player. Not in itself a problem, particularly with the all action Richarlison dropping back and wide more often than a traditional striker.Another thing we might consider is the involvement in build up play.Most midfielders would typically be involved in the build up to chance creation. And if you look at the raw numbers of assists and key passes he shows up fairly well.2.3 key passes a game (7th highest in the league)2 assists3.23 xA (15th in the league)I think most people would also consider the role of a midfielder would be to pass the ball and get involved in build up play.So lets look at the total passing numbers per 90 for players in more or less the same role.David Silva 65.7Hazard 51Bernardo Silva 48Ozil 47Felipe Anderson 43Maddison 42Eriksen 39Firmino 34Delle Alli 32Glyfi Sigurdsson 24Obviously team style plays a part in it but if we look at two teams in Leicester and Everton with almost identical team totals for passing we can see the Leicester #10 is passing the ball almost twice as often.Barkley too was averaging 45 passes per 90 in his seasons as the Everton #10.If we look at other players who average a similar amount of passes per 90 we typically find wingers and centre forwards. No other attacking midfielder operating in a central area touches it less.In terms of accurate short passes (indicating those from open play) per 90 Gylfi is in the bottom 10% of players in his position.But given he does create chances and score goals what does he do with the ball? Well when he does touch the ball he either shoots or attempts to create a chance. Of his 24 passes he is averaging more accurate and more inaccurate crosses than any other player - a total of over 6 a game. This could indicate these are coming from set pieces, I can't tell from the data.Likewise his key passes seem to come from dead balls not open play with Understat showing almost 50% of his xA coming from set pieces.One thing people like to praise Gylfi for is his workrate. This seems fair.If I search for attacking midfielders and forwards, with at least 10 appearances, then Gylfi intercepts the ball the third most of any of them.He is also 5th on the list for attempted tackles.So if Glyfi doesn't profile like a midfielder in terms of passing how does he compare in shooting?Well of players thought of as midfielders only Hazard and Pogba shoot more times per 90 minutes.In terms of penalty area shots only Hazard and Pererya have more shots per 90.He plays where strikers play.He passes like a striker.He shoots like a striker.His game involvement is like a striker.He tackles and intercepts like a midfielder.To me he profiles like a second striker in a high pressing team. Which is what his role actually is.Does this matter then?Only in terms of judging players by output. A 10 goal a season midfielder who also passes and creates like a midfielder is worth a lot more to a team than a 10 goal a season striker.There are plenty of Josh King or Ayoze Perez type players who are rightly rated as decent but unspectacular players. They profile almost exactly the same as Gylfi as high pressing forwards with similar passing and pressing stats. Take out set pieces and Gylfi drops from highly creative to average.People rate Gylfi Sigurdsson highly because of his high scoring rate from midfield and the odd wonder goal.But it shows the importance of looking deeper into what a player actually does when ranking players on simple numbers like goals and assists.