Christian Eriksen

[Rout-Ledge]

Townsend... Holtby... Eriksen
................Kane



Not bad ...

Holtby and Townsend starting? No thanks.

Chadli has proven himself far more useful than Townsend.

 

[CornerPinDreamer]

Holtby and Townsend starting? No thanks.

Chadli has proven himself far more useful than Townsend.

ok, how about Falcao through the middle



oo err

 

[SpursManChris]

I'd like to see us play 3 in midfield, with one guy sitting (Capoue, Stambouli), and Eriksen and Mason just ahead, who can take it in turns to break forward.. (This also gives us the option of Lamela and Townsend on the wings adding pace).

So what formation do you have in mind there?

 

[lukespurs7]

when was his last assist? at his seasonal rate he should end up with about 10, at his current rate he'll probably end up staying on four. even if he were to manage 10, an assist counts for a single moment in a game, he could still be atrocious for the rest of it like he has been for the past couple of months. good stats doesn't mean good performances.

Spot fucking on!

 

[Chris12]

except i used stats to back up an opinion, not to form one. i said i hadn't been impressed by any of his performances when playing centrally. lamela could finish the season with 10 assists which sounds good but if they come at the expense of performances then it means nothing.

I'd take 10 assists with bad performances over 4 assists and increasing amazing performances. At the end of the day it's about results and at the start of season he was showing that. I agree has gone off recently, but atrocious is over exaggerating.

 

[Blake Griffin]

I'd take 10 assists with bad performances over 4 assists and increasing amazing performances. At the end of the day it's about results and at the start of season he was showing that. I agree has gone off recently, but atrocious is over exaggerating.

i don't think you can say 10 assists and playing like crap equates to more points than fewer assists and playing brilliantly, i believe a team benefits more from overall performances than one player's stat line. even then assists are hardly a rock solid stat, not like an actual goal, you don't need an assist to score a goal but you do need a goal to "score" an assist, most assists aren't even real assists anyway, more like who happened to have the final pass before a goal. i think chances created gives a better overall picture but then they're not as easily accessible as assists but just for the record, single assist eriksen has created more chances than anyone else in our team total and lennon the most per minute(albeit a small sample size).

 

[RuskyM]

Lamela was probably one of our best players in the first 10/15 games. He's been poor the last 8/10 but hardly atrocious. Eriksen was poor himself for the first 10/15 so what does that tell you? And if anything we are relying on Kane, not Eriksen.

I remember Lamela playing well against the worst Premier League team I've ever seen in QPR and a few European games, but 90% of the time he's been running down blind alleys and showing how bad a decision maker he is. I think he can be a great player, but elevating average or bad performances to that isn't going to help make him better.

I don't think it's particularly hyperbolic either - I know him being our record signing isn't his fault, but £30m should get you a level of performance. The level he's been showing lately has been about six feet under that.

 

[DaSpurs]

Eriksen himself said he likes to play as left winger or left sided midfielder .... his best performance always comes when he plays in that position .... Most of the time frank de boer always used him on that side of the field

Completely disagree his best performances are from there, as I think that has more to do with the fact he often gets so little support from deep while playing the No 10 that he is able to be more productive in spurts playing wide. But give him space as he had against Newcastle midweek, and he was able to shine. Where did you read he actually preferred playing wide?

 

[Blake Griffin]

i think he's easily shackled as a #10, defenders know where he is and by the time he receives the ball the space is gone. i think the #10 role is dying out a little bit, how many top sides play that system now?

 

[Chris12]

i don't think you can say 10 assists and playing like crap equates to more points than fewer assists and playing brilliantly, i believe a team benefits more from overall performances than one player's stat line. even then assists are hardly a rock solid stat, not like an actual goal, you don't need an assist to score a goal but you do need a goal to "score" an assist, most assists aren't even real assists anyway, more like who happened to have the final pass before a goal. i think chances created gives a better overall picture but then they're not as easily accessible as assists but just for the record, single assist eriksen has created more chances than anyone else in our team total and lennon the most per minute(albeit a small sample size).

Yeah thought of that after I posted But meant to say if he was playing well but no end product, as in nothing comes from him playing well. But I agree with chances created should be main stat to look at because assists could well just be an easy pass to a tap in.

I just don't agree with the atrocious labelling. He has been bad no doubt but I genuinely think atrocious is harsh. Got to remember he was injured for second half of last season and in first half didn't play many EPL matches let alone start them. Just frsutrated with lack of patience for all our players from fans. It's like Savages report of Pools signings from the summer already saying should sell Balotelli.

 

[DaSpurs]

i think he's easily shackled as a #10, defenders know where he is and by the time he receives the ball the space is gone. i think the #10 role is dying out a little bit, how many top sides play that system now?

That's due in part to how poor we are in transition. By the time he's an option, there's just too little space for him to turn into. But conversely, we saw what he did against Newcastle the other night when they afforded us so much space.

No 10 dying out? In lieu of what? Where? Barcelona's really the only one who don't play with a true creative presence centrally under the striker.

 

[Blake Griffin]

That's due in part to how poor we are in transition. By the time he's an option, there's just too little space for him to turn into. But conversely, we saw what he did against Newcastle the other night when they afforded us so much space.

No 10 dying out? In lieu of what? Where? Barcelona's really the only one who don't play with a true creative presence centrally under the striker.

plenty of teams use #10s but how many actually sit in the #10 role? teams have adapted and made it harder for them to be as effective by using dm's or staggering their midfield. madrid don't play with a #10, they play a mix of 442 and 433, isco and james have primarily played as one of the midfield three or wide of a four. bayern basically give all of their players free roles. atletico play 442 with koke(their most creative player) wide. silva and nasri's starting positions are wide for city, even when they only have one striker available more often than not it's yaya moved forward rather than one of those two deployed centrally. oscar's not a true #10 in my eyes, he's a runner. arsenal play a lot of 4141, much to their fan's annoyance and ozil usually ends up getting moved wide, coutinho gets used wide left or part of a midfield diamond with sterling(not a proper #10) preferred at the tip. mata gets used all over the place, he's one i think should only play as a #10 because he's not dynamic enough to play any other roles. poch's southampton from last season used lallana wide more often than not with davis(a worker) taking the more central role. #10s are being used much differently now than just sitting off a striker and i believe that's because teams have learnt to stifle them, now more athletic/direct players are preferred if they're going to use someone in that role.

it's better for eriksen to arrive into the space rather than be there already where defenders can see him.

 

[DaSpurs]

plenty of teams use #10s but how many actually sit in the #10 role? teams have adapted and made it harder for them to be as effective by using dm's or staggering their midfield. madrid don't play with a #10, they play a mix of 442 and 433, isco and james have primarily played as one of the midfield three or wide of a four. bayern basically give all of their players free roles. silva and nasri's starting positions are wide, even when they only have one striker available more often than not it's yaya moved forward rather than one of those two deployed centrally. oscar's not a true #10 in my eyes, he's a runner. arsenal play a lot of 4141, much to their fan's annoyance and ozil usually ends up getting moved wide, coutinho gets used wide left or part of a midfield diamond with sterling(not a proper #10) preferred at the tip. mata gets used all over the place, he's one i think should only play as a #10 because he's not dynamic enough to play any other roles. poch's southampton from last season used lallana wide more often than not with davis(a worker) taking the more central role. #10s are being used much differently now than just sitting off a striker and i believe that's because teams have learnt to stifle them, now more athletic/direct players are preferred if they're going to use someone in that role.

it's better for eriksen to arrive into the space rather than be there already where defenders can see him.

What those teams are doing is staying dynamic and fluid by making their own interpretation of having a central creative presence. It is the fault of anyone else if they keep that player rigidly stuck in the middle. For instance, if you look at any of Eriksen's heat maps while playing the No 10 for Ajax, you'll note how much time he spends receiving the ball from the left of center. We however, don't give him or anyone else nearly enough space consistently from deep for him to receive optimal supply. This is exactly why two managers at Spurs have subsequently pushed him out wide, as it's the only way to get our best string puller any space.

Ideally though, we need that presence centrally. We should build around him, especially since it just so happens that the thing he needs most to optimize his effect also happens to be the thing the whole squad needs most, and that's better support and movement from deep midfield to open up space.

 

[Blake Griffin]

What those teams are doing is staying dynamic and fluid by making their own interpretation of having a central creative presence. It is the fault of anyone else if they keep that player rigidly stuck in the middle. For instance, if you look at any of Eriksen's heat maps while playing the No 10 for Ajax, you'll note how much time he spends receiving the ball from the left of center. We however, don't give him or anyone else nearly enough space consistently from deep for him to receive optimal supply. This is exactly why two managers at Spurs have subsequently pushed him out wide, as it's the only way to get our best string puller any space.

Ideally though, we need that presence centrally. We should build around him, especially since it just so happens that the thing he needs most to optimize his effect also happens to be the thing the whole squad needs most, and that's better support and movement from deep midfield to open up space.

i never saw him play as a 10 for ajax, not in his final season anyway. he was always used left of a central three which probably explains the heat maps. i won't complain if poch uses him there but personally i think he's far more productive arriving off the flank.

 

[DaSpurs]

i never saw him play as a 10 for ajax, not in his final season anyway. he was always used left of a central three which probably explains the heat maps. i won't complain if poch uses him there but personally i think he's far more productive arriving off the flank.

Haha Brett, my point would have entirely no basis if I just chose random heat maps. Would be a remarkably stupid oversight. But no, I'm specifically referring to ones in which he was listed as playing centrally, such as this one shortly before he left Ajax in a game against Herenveen:

To each their own, but I don't think it's worth the sacrifice defensively to play him wide, and I don't think we yet have an accurate sample from which to assess yet because despite all of our midfield additions we're still so poor at opening up space high, especially centrally, for the attackers.

 

[Syn_13]

i think he's easily shackled as a #10, defenders know where he is and by the time he receives the ball the space is gone. i think the #10 role is dying out a little bit, how many top sides play that system now?

I think so too. The flat 442 allowed the number 10 to play between the lines. Most team now fill that gap with an anchorman or a DM of sorts which affords a number 10 less space. High line defences kills a number 10's space too.

You find modern playmakers playing deeper now. Pirlo, Xavi and the like.

 

[Blake Griffin]

Haha Brett, my point would have entirely no basis if I just chose random heat maps. Would be a remarkably stupid oversight. But no, I'm specifically referring to ones in which he was listed as playing centrally, such as this one shortly before he left Ajax in a game against Herenveen:

To each their own, but I don't think it's worth the sacrifice defensively to play him wide, and I don't think we yet have an accurate sample from which to assess yet because despite all of our midfield additions we're still so poor at opening up space high, especially centrally, for the attackers.

transfermarkt lists him as playing in a cm three for that game, i think i may have even watched it considering i was on eriksen scouting duty around that time and i can't recall him ever starting at 10 in any of those games. his pl record of left vs central is

left:
apps - 19
goals - 9
assists - 7
win % - 63.2
ppg - 2.05

#10:
apps - 17
goals - 3
assists - 3
win % - 35.3
ppg - 1.29

maybe it's not a big enough sample size and maybe variance/luck plays a part but i always feel he and we do better when he plays from the left. him there and lennon right seems to be a winning combo for us.

 

[tiger666]

transfermarkt lists him as playing in a cm three for that game, i think i may have even watched it considering i was on eriksen scouting duty around that time and i can't recall him ever starting at 10 in any of those games. his pl record of left vs central is

left:
apps - 19
goals - 9
assists - 7
win % - 63.2
ppg - 2.05

#10:
apps - 17
goals - 3
assists - 3
win % - 35.3
ppg - 1.29

maybe it's not a big enough sample size and maybe variance/luck plays a part but i always feel he and we do better when he plays from the left. him there and lennon right seems to be a winning combo for us.

Transfermarkt only lists the position they start the game in.

 

[Blake Griffin]

Transfermarkt only lists the position they start the game in.

as does any other stat site.

 

[rocklink]

Completely disagree his best performances are from there, as I think that has more to do with the fact he often gets so little support from deep while playing the No 10 that he is able to be more productive in spurts playing wide. But give him space as he had against Newcastle midweek, and he was able to shine. Where did you read he actually preferred playing wide?

Eriksen is not a number 10 ...he is perfect 433 type of attacking midfielder used as a left winger or left sided midfielder ......... Eriksen is not a number 10 and he should not play there ... And the most important part is he is our most creative player and the best crosser of the ball.. playing as number 10 , he just doesn't get enough chance to show his creative side and more variation of the passes he can make playing as left sided midfielder

http://theinsidechannel.com/2014/11/28/analysis/tactics/christian-eriksen-isnt-number-10/