Christian Eriksen and his form !!

[longtimespur]

Not bringing the same effect to the team as last season. Hope he finds his mojo again for the second half.
Hate the way he pulls out of challenges, loses the ball most of the time in a tackle because of it.

 

[double0]

The thing with Eriksen he's not a work horse sort of player or bullish, he's game is all about style, beauty and glory.

Eriksen is a match winner and the percentage of good set up plays leading to goals is in favour, personally eg in games like we played against Everton imo we shouldnt even think about taking him off.

 

[MarkyP]

anyone that thinks we should be selling him is fecking mental.....

all players go through good and bad spells - you don't sell a player of his undeniable quality because he is having a bad spell. He is probably just knackered from the intensity and amount of football he has played. Give him a rest and play Son or Chadli from left.

 

[Krafty]

The Eriksen Conundrum. As the rest of the side has improved and gelled, our Dane is increasingly falling into the periphery...

I think Eriksen/Poch need to have a little re-evaluation of what they want from the ex-Ajax man. Alli is driving through the centre and getting beyond Kane. This means Eriksen can not (at the moment) have a central attacking midfield position, as it would curb Alli's game too much.

Lamela's resurgence this season has also infringed on Eriksen's game. Lamela is also occupying forward and central positions, not from a starting position but moving into them either with the ball or as the play develops. As the two central midfielders stay fairly static, there is little space for Eriksen to operate.

It's a difficult one, as you dont want to hinder Alli's form, nor Lamela, but you want to get Eriksen in there somewhere because he has great quality.

I'd be interested to see how we do with Alli in the central midfield two, Eriksen in the hole, and Lamela and Son pushed up with Kane. That would seem the most natural fit for getting all our best players in the team.

 

[Betha]

I wished Poch played him in his favoured position, looks so much better when he plays central.

I completely agree here. Eriksen is, in many ways, paying the price for Alli not yet being ready for one of the two deeper roles, but still having to play.

At the same time, Alli as a no 10 is more vertical than our other options for that role (i.e. Dembele) which makes it very different for Eriksen to play at the left compared to when he was rather good there before.

Oh, and looking at the table makes me think it's not been to bad of a decision. And he must be playing his part, otherwise we would not have been in the postion we are.

 

[eddiev14]

I still feel that Eriksen plays at his best in a team that offers width.

Last season when we had Rose and Walker bombing on in cavalier fashion (and the season before under Sherwood, when we played with 'propa wingas, innit') the play got stretched far more often and Eriksen is so dangerous when he had that extra space.

That's not to say that playing orthodox wingers or taking defensive risks with your fullbacks is necessarily a good thing, mind!

This season we are far more defensively compact but we do play extremly narrow. This means that Eriksen is getting far less space and time and his role becomes more about turnovers, pinching the ball and quick-release attacking which, to be fair, he's not actually too bad at. It just doesn't look as glamorous as a 30 yard curler in the 89th minute.

I'd still like us to play with more width and take a few more risks, but I love what Poch is doing so I guess sacrificing the beauty of Eriksen is a price I'm willing to pay for fewer defensive calamities and the subsequent minor heart attacks I was getting whilst watching Spurs in 13/14 and 14/15

 

[Borks]

Yep, it's all Alli's fault for Eriksen not being arsed this season.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

Ben McAleer ‏@BenMcAleer1 41m41 minutes ago
Christian Eriksen has won possession in the attacking third more times (21) than any other player in the Premier League this season.

 

[Shadydan]

http://www.whoscored.com/Articles/cxpWX1TObUahTLy8CRkhEQ/Show/?

 

[Chimbo1]

The Eriksen Conundrum. As the rest of the side has improved and gelled, our Dane is increasingly falling into the periphery...

I think Eriksen/Poch need to have a little re-evaluation of what they want from the ex-Ajax man. Alli is driving through the centre and getting beyond Kane. This means Eriksen can not (at the moment) have a central attacking midfield position, as it would curb Alli's game too much.

Lamela's resurgence this season has also infringed on Eriksen's game. Lamela is also occupying forward and central positions, not from a starting position but moving into them either with the ball or as the play develops. As the two central midfielders stay fairly static, there is little space for Eriksen to operate.

It's a difficult one, as you dont want to hinder Alli's form, nor Lamela, but you want to get Eriksen in there somewhere because he has great quality.

I'd be interested to see how we do with Alli in the central midfield two, Eriksen in the hole, and Lamela and Son pushed up with Kane. That would seem the most natural fit for getting all our best players in the team.

Dembele?

 

[Chris12]

Thank fuck you corrected the title. Was killing me inside.

 

[Kiedis]

Other than being a wimp when it comes to 50/50 challenges, I think he's doing just fine.

 

[Gassin's finest]

I'm not sure what half of you are watching, apart from laggy and heavily pixelated internet streams...

 

[spids]

I think Eriksen has just hit, as all footballers do, a patchy bit of form. He has had plenty of good displays from the left (when he wanders inside and finds the pockets of space) so I do not think Alli's emergence in the '10' role has hindered him at all (other than us being slightly more direct at times). I actually view it as a fairly positive thing as I am sure he will soon hit a purple patch of form, as all good footballers do, and take us to an even higher level.

 

[gregga]

http://www.whoscored.com/Articles/cxpWX1TObUahTLy8CRkhEQ/Show/?

Very interesting article. The fact that Eriksen has won possession in the final third more than any other player in the PL speaks volumes.

 

[glospur]

Very interesting article. The fact that Eriksen has won possession in the final third more than any other player in the PL speaks volumes.

It says that those people that say he's a 'pussy' who's afraid to get hurt, put a foot in or win the ball are 100%, categorically incorrect. I've always thought comments like those about our own players are absolutely pathetic and despicable anyway and says more about the person saying/posting them than the player himself.

 

[SlotBadger]

It says that those people that say he's a 'pussy' who's afraid to get hurt, put a foot in or win the ball are 100%, categorically incorrect. I've always thought comments like those about our own players are absolutely pathetic and despicable anyway and says more about the person saying/posting them than the player himself.

He often wins possession through his ability to read the game and intercepting passes. No idea what's provoked such a reaction.

 

[gregga]

He often wins possession through his ability to read the game and intercepting passes. No idea what's provoked such a reaction.

I think a lot of it comes down to his goals for column this season. When he's not regularly banging in the free kicks people think he's gone quiet. He's still an important player for us, but other players (Alli in particular) are stepping up on the goals front.

 

[thinktank]

Pritchard back and fit will be very good for Eriksen. If that doesn't kick his game up a notch or two then I think we can safely say he's just happy at the level he's at.

 

[Kiedis]

It says that those people that say he's a 'pussy' who's afraid to get hurt, put a foot in or win the ball are 100%, categorically incorrect. I've always thought comments like those about our own players are absolutely pathetic and despicable anyway and says more about the person saying/posting them than the player himself.

He's great at reading the game and intercepting (the way he intentionally duped James Tomkins was a thing of beauty), but he isn't the bravest when it comes down to a 50/50 challenge. That's something we see almost every game.