Player watch: Christian Eriksen

[Lufti]

He always starts the season slowly though. I'm pretty sure if you go back over comments from the last two seasons you'll find the exact same thing. Once he's got a few games under his belt he'll be back to his best. The problem is that a lot of what he does goes unnoticed so when he's not hitting a 35 yard freekick in then people think he hasn't done anything.

 

[agrdavidsfan]

He always starts the season slowly though. I'm pretty sure if you go back over comments from the last two seasons you'll find the exact same thing. Once he's got a few games under his belt he'll be back to his best. The problem is that a lot of what he does goes unnoticed so when he's not hitting a 35 yard freekick in then people think he hasn't done anything.

True he does always start slowly that's another thing recently well since the Swansea away game his set pieces which are his speciality have been very poor which is a surprise as that was the one thing he guaranteed

Even seems to be lacking confidence as he let lamela take a thing more recently

 

[THFCSPURS19]

He always starts the season slowly though. I'm pretty sure if you go back over comments from the last two seasons you'll find the exact same thing. Once he's got a few games under his belt he'll be back to his best. The problem is that a lot of what he does goes unnoticed so when he's not hitting a 35 yard freekick in then people think he hasn't done anything.

Exactly. But even if some simply measure his contribution in goals and assists (I'm not saying that those who are sceptical about him do this), he got the 2nd highest amount of assists last season, and people don't understand why we'd miss him.

 

[Deleted member 29446]

Thanks for the stats,


Once again I think I need to make it clear I'm not saying he's a bad player but that I believe he has everything to be a better player he needs to push himself more,

I'm frustrated with him as I believe he could be as good the silva's or the great number 10's of year's gone by. But he just seems to lack that drive a reminds me of Jermain Jenas is mentality had all the goods to be a great but just didn't have that fire or drive inside of him to make him push on.

(I'm not comparing them talent wise only mentality wise)

Although those stats show a lot of benefits about Christian what they don't show are his negatives for example the pulling out of tackles, headers and so on.

They do show though he is slowly improving or more realistically finding his feet in the prem and reproducing the same that he done at Ajax but at 24 he's two years away from his peak which I totally understand but realistically how much better as he got than the player that left Ajax?



He's a good player yes but I just know he can be even better and he needs to start grabbing games and make it his show or he's in danger of becoming one of those nearly great players that teams have had down the years that don't quite have that extra bit to hit the top levels of Barcelona and the madrids of the world

Trust me i know that frustration. That's Christian for you. I'm a Dane and been obviously following him for life - and you can't get Christian to show feelings, he's a very reserved and quiet man both on and off the pitch.

And we all have that - Christian show us something, you can do so much better.

But I can tell you that's never going to happen. And if it's going to happen it will be a very slowly progress.

Still he's an amazing player for us and country but you'll have to accept the way he is, how stupid that sounds.

 

[wiggo24]

I agree overall with your opinion on Coutinho, but he did get 8 goals and 5 assists in the PL last season.

Yep, you're right. Think I was referring to the season before in which he got nominated for POTY with only 4 goals and 4 assists or smtg like that.

 

[Cravenspurs]

He always starts the season slowly though. I'm pretty sure if you go back over comments from the last two seasons you'll find the exact same thing. Once he's got a few games under his belt he'll be back to his best. The problem is that a lot of what he does goes unnoticed so when he's not hitting a 35 yard freekick in then people think he hasn't done anything.

True, but he looked bright for Denmark. He was scoring goals and leading that team during the summer when they played.

 

[markiespurs]

I've always stood up for him, but in the 2nd half, jut before his substitution I completely lost faith in him. The ball was in the air and all he had to do was bring it under control, instead he saw a palace player and turned his back like a coward and ducked out of the way

Agree he isn't a physical player! But he needs to have the balls to stand up and be counted. Lamela is slight in frame but I've not seen someone with so much fight for years

If Eriksen had some of this fight he would be a great player, but I'm not sure if he will ever do that which is what's needed in the premiership. I hope Poch sees it and can drive this into him as he can be a game changer, but bottling it in a game against a better team could be really costly

Eriksen's lack of bottle is his biggest weakness as far as I'm concerned and it frustrates the hell out of me the way he ducks out of challenges and gives the opponent with the ball an easy ride.

 

[Buggsy61]

Eriksen's lack of bottle is his biggest weakness as far as I'm concerned and it frustrates the hell out of me the way he ducks out of challenges and gives the opponent with the ball an easy ride.

Agreed - there was a classic example of that in the second half on Saturday near the oppositions penalty area when he could have gone up for an aerial ball (and it was by no means a mismatch) but chose not too. I was not the only one to notice judging by the groans of derision around me.

 

[davidmatzdorf]

I think the multiple expressions of frustration about Eriksen's non-tackling are a bit of a cul-de-sac, in terms of our progression, our team shape and his personal career trajectory.

It's all very well to be annoyed and to use phrases like "bottle it", but the fact is that Eriksen does not fly into hard tackles and he is unlikely to start now, at the age of 24. My interpretation is that he knows his body and knows that he cannot get away with this style of football without injuring himself. Some players are made of rubber and some are more brittle.

I propose that my interpretation is reinforced by the self-evident fact that Pochettino has not forced him to adopt this practice by benching him. Eriksen doesn't go in for 50/50 balls; Pochettino still selects him when he is fit. And Pochettino does not tolerate players who do not compete. Therefore, Pochettino endorses Eriksen's approach, which is that someone else can do the enforcing - Eriksen has different responsibilities

If Eriksen were also failing to press and win the ball, I would be more concerned, but he does both of these things (and goals have resulted). He has numerous teammates who leave their feet to win the ball (Alli, Lamela, Dier, Dembélé when he has to, Wanyama with knobs on).

The "Eriksen doesn't tackle" discussion reminds me a bit of the "Carrick never gets his shirt dirty" rants in 2005. Neither of them is likely to change. The issue, as it was in 2005, is the team - surrounding Eriksen with people who do what he does not do and who cannot do what he does.

 

[ostrov]

Some people used to say that about Bale : he doesn't tackle.
And look where he is now. They know how to use their limbs more creative than just win countless 50x50 tackles and lose the game.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

Some people used to say that about Bale : he doesn't tackle.
And look where he is now. They know how to use their limbs more creative than just win countless 50x50 tackles and lose the game.

More to the point, it doesn't matter. If a player doesn't do what fans think he should be doing, and is still repeatedly a part of the best and most trusted 11 players, that means that he is doing his job according to how Pochettino wants it. If the player keeps getting picked, then the fans are wrong and the player is in the right.

 

[ultimateloner]

Chill out guys. It's been 2 games and results are largely favourable. Don't sweat the small stuff.

 

[waresy]

The "Eriksen doesn't tackle" discussion reminds me a bit of the "Carrick never gets his shirt dirty" rants in 2005. Neither of them is likely to change. The issue, as it was in 2005, is the team - surrounding Eriksen with people who do what he does not do and who cannot do what he does.

I was thinking that this thread has the same ring as the comments and feelings towards Carrick back in the day too. Different players to a degree but both not likely to scamper round like others maybe but use positioning and their passing to influence the game and bring others into it.

I don't think 2 game form is too much to worry about and we should be careful as we'd notice something missing if we lost Eriksen, especially for the CL games coming up.

 

[HildoSpur]

I keep forgetting that he is still only 24 - he is still a year or two away from what could be his peak.

 

[BobbyB]

Before you all cast judgement on one of our best players:

Please remember that all our first-team players have just finished (Pochettino´s gruelling) pre-season training. They are not supposed to be on top of their game now, they have built fitness that´s hopefully going to last the whole season. Christian looked a bit off against both Everton and Palace, but he will grow as the season progress.

Yes, he´s not brave in areal duels and he is a bit weak against stronger players. BUT he covers a lot of ground defensively (top 3-5 in the PL) and is one of the most creative players in the league (top 3). I think there are very few - if any - players we can get who will be an upgrade on Eriksen.

 

[jurgen]

Turning in mini-Ozil? Same high level of productivity and importance to the team. Same perception by some that he doesn't care or get stuck in enough. Both teams would be a lot weaker without said players.

 

[agrdavidsfan]

Once again....we have to drop him to wake him up

 

[TommyGee]

Once again....we have to drop him to wake him up

Doesn't look like it's worked for Dele yet though

 

[Stamford]

Has all the potential and continues to play like this. Really disappointing

 

[yankspurs]

I think today has shown why we need someone to push Eriksen.