Christian Eriksen

[africanspurs]

I really struggle to see how so many 'fans' make things so complicated. Eriksen last season was ok for the first part. Played in several different positions across midfield until finally settling in the role on the left which fits all of his attributes. Not the quickest so can come inside and play any sort of pass, slide in behind, or a dangerous in swinging cross of which he had so many. He missed about a 3rd of the season I would say but from all the midfielders in the league I think he finished 2nd or 3rd for goals/assists combined, (not including penalties).

Poch played him right midfield or centre in pre seaon and I questioned it on the forum then. Why would you hinder your best player from last season by playing him in an unfavoured position?

So far the only thing that's changed this season from last is that Poch is playing him out of position. I don't blame Eriksen for that. You think Poch would know better after Eriksen played well on the left in both wins vs Saints last season.

top post.

aside from the part where you patronise everyone and alienate them by putting quotes on the word 'fans'

but agree with everything else

 

[Benny_Lad]

top post.

aside from the part where you patronise everyone and alienate them by putting quotes on the word 'fans'

but agree with everything else

Yes I did question that but it was merely tongue in cheek at all the starting XI's I see put up on here with CE on the right of midfield, coupled with some of the opinions on his current play. You would think our own fans would know where his qualities lie from last season. No harm intended.

 

[thfcsteff]

Mainly due to him being on the left. Could be in the minority here but I don't feel Modric really bossed any games when he was with us, unless someone wants to give me an example.

He BOSSED our games, but he was supposed to, he was our central midfield talent who was the only one capable of finding every pass, but I never felt he bossed THE overall game.

He largely controlled the flow of many many games in the Redknapp era. I think it's practically undeniable?

 

[thfcsteff]

I mostly agree with this
Modric dictated our game - like a qtr back or an orchestra conductor.
But he didn't dominate games in a Viera, Yaya Toure type way.
He did,however, facilitate the team dominating games.

Now that is not what Eriksen is about - I think Benteleb is more likely to do that.

Modders in his first season was a bit weak. But he was also too slow to react to things, like getting the right body shape to make himself strong. He developed that to become almost impossible to get the ball from, but not in year 1.

Both Eriksen and Lamela need to learn this. They are too weak when receiving the ball or being challenged. And it comes down to timing and shape rather than strength.

I was not being clear I suppose. I meant Modric bossed the football matches, not that he was some physical G force. I would've thought it was fairly obvious that point was being made? You can dominate matches physically or by controlling the ball, and I just feel that Modric was the latter. He was consistently the fulcrum point of a top 4 side. Since he left we have not replaced him. Eriksen is not Luka, but he can command a football match with his skill like Luka could; I think to complement this, the boy need to bulk up and also be more demanding mentally...

 

[thfcsteff]

Yes I did question that but it was merely tongue in cheek at all the starting XI's I see put up on here with CE on the right of midfield, coupled with some of the opinions on his current play. You would think our own fans would know where his qualities lie from last season. No harm intended.

Do you ever see him as a '#10' sitting in the middle of three behind a striker? I think he has the talent and ability, but that if he wants to be that man, he has to carry himself with a little more (for want of a better word) arrogance and also be stronger on the ball. If he does neither, then he will never fulfill his potential IMO...

 

[Benny_Lad]

Do you ever see him as a '#10' sitting in the middle of three behind a striker? I think he has the talent and ability, but that if he wants to be that man, he has to carry himself with a little more (for want of a better word) arrogance and also be stronger on the ball. If he does neither, then he will never fulfill his potential IMO...

He could develop to be good as a 10....But....A. The way he ended the season I would never move a form player from such a potent position on the left. B. I would not look to develop him at 10 in games like Liverpool.

I defo prefer centre to right tho.

 

[DubaiSpur]

As far as I can tell, expecting players to stick to their positions in Poch's attacking midfield three isn't very wise. The whole point of playing Lamela, Chadli and Eriksen in there is that they're all two-footed to an extent and are all relatively comfortable (not entirely so, but that can change) with occupying any of the three roles in that trio, namely left-wing forward, central attacking midfielder and right-wing forward. That \allows Poch to do what's he's currently doing and ask them to constantly switch positions across the field, and gives us a level of flexibility that could very considerably confound our opponents as the season wears on and the CBs and full-backs find themselves marking different men each time we get on the ball.

I don't think Eriksen will be confined to just the centre under Poch. He'll constantly switch positions with Lamela and Chadli, popping up on the left and the right in addition to the middle. And if used right, I think that could be very useful tactically in the months to come. It's more worrying having just Townsend and Lennon as backups to those three....but then again, Levy.

 

[africanspurs]

As far as I can tell, expecting players to stick to their positions in Poch's attacking midfield three isn't very wise. The whole point of playing Lamela, Chadli and Eriksen in there is that they're all two-footed to an extent and are all relatively comfortable (not entirely so, but that can change) with occupying any of the three roles in that trio, namely left-wing forward, central attacking midfielder and right-wing forward. That \allows Poch to do what's he's currently doing and ask them to constantly switch positions across the field, and gives us a level of flexibility that could very considerably confound our opponents as the season wears on and the CBs and full-backs find themselves marking different men each time we get on the ball.

I don't think Eriksen will be confined to just the centre under Poch. He'll constantly switch positions with Lamela and Chadli, popping up on the left and the right in addition to the middle. And if used right, I think that could be very useful tactically in the months to come. It's more worrying having just Townsend and Lennon as backups to those three....but then again, Levy.

it they move into each others positions and swap positions thats essentially having the same formation, just with a different look.

i'm talking about the wonky. thats where he really shone

have to be honest and say i dont get the reason we have been mistreating holtby...he is the guy in the middle that does a workman like job but also has the technical passing level to get the ball to the front 4..eriksen would be great playing in the same 11 i would have thought..lamela too

 

[Bedfordspurs]

it they move into each others positions and swap positions thats essentially having the same formation, just with a different look.

i'm talking about the wonky. thats where he really shone

have to be honest and say i dont get the reason we have been mistreating holtby...he is the guy in the middle that does a workman like job but also has the technical passing level to get the ball to the front 4..eriksen would be great playing in the same 11 i would have thought..lamela too

I never understood why we never played Holtby in the middle two instead of Bentelab with Eriksen, Lamella and one other in the attacking 3 behind Ade. Hotlby looked made for that role to me as he had the engine, the tenacity and the passing range. I don't remember him ever playing with Eriksen which is disappointing as i think they could have complemented each other so well

The wonky now could work with Capoue holding but under ****wood it left us woefully exposed down the left as we had no cover on that side

 

[metalgear]

after the 3-0 loss to pool i think its back to the drawing board again and we may still see significant changes to the way the team is set up. we had problems right through the spine, and eriksen was totally out of the game. won't be surprised if eriksen gets subbed more frequently or even dropped from starting line up as the experiments continue.

 

[Jordinho]

I never understood why we never played Holtby in the middle two instead of Bentelab with Eriksen, Lamella and one other in the attacking 3 behind Ade. Hotlby looked made for that role to me as he had the engine, the tenacity and the passing range. I don't remember him ever playing with Eriksen which is disappointing as i think they could have complemented each other so well

The wonky now could work with Capoue holding but under ****wood it left us woefully exposed down the left as we had no cover on that side

We tried Holtby there in pre season at least and it was awful. He simply can't play that role as he keeps chasing the ball around all over the pitch. He's really a five a side player.

 

[Spursalot]

after the 3-0 loss to pool i think its back to the drawing board again and we may still see significant changes to the way the team is set up. we had problems right through the spine, and eriksen was totally out of the game. won't be surprised if eriksen gets subbed more frequently or even dropped from starting line up as the experiments continue.

I disagree. You can't go and change your whole philosophy after one loss. Especially when the team have only been playing to that philosophy for five competitive games and the opposition finished much higher than you in the previous season.

Just look at Wenger and Brenton. They've kept their philosophies no matter what the results that have gone against them. I mean arsenal lost 8-2 to united, and there were still no major changes in the way they played. The players just need time to get used to how they are expected to play, and to develop some chemistry between them on the field.


Experiments? You made it sound like Poch is trying radical new things that are crazy! They're really not. He methods helped saints to equal more than the sum of their parts, if he could do the same with us...

 

[Jurgen the German]

after the 3-0 loss to pool i think its back to the drawing board again and we may still see significant changes to the way the team is set up. we had problems right through the spine, and eriksen was totally out of the game. won't be surprised if eriksen gets subbed more frequently or even dropped from starting line up as the experiments continue.

Well Poch is a mug if he does that. I really don't understand why Eriksen gets such a large portion of the blame whenever we lose heavily. He'll be too good for us in a couple of years and we'll regret subbing him so often when he has a bad game.

 

[harr1984]

Well Poch is a mug if he does that. I really don't understand why Eriksen gets such a large portion of the blame whenever we lose heavily. He'll be too good for us in a couple of years and we'll regret subbing him so often when he has a bad game.

Whilst I agree, he probably gets more criticism because he is one of our most talented. When things aren't going well its players like him that you look to for a bit of magic to get us out of trouble. Berbs,Modric and Bale all did this for us on countless occassions and thus got their big money moves. Eriksen hasn't done this yet really, games like the Liverpool one are when we need him most...

 

[Jurgen the German]

Whilst I agree, he probably gets more criticism because he is one of our most talented. When things aren't going well its players like him that you look to for a bit of magic to get us out of trouble. Berbs,Modric and Bale all did this for us on countless occassions and thus got their big money moves. Eriksen hasn't done this yet really, games like the Liverpool one are when we need him most...

I'm not saying he should be exempt from criticism, but it seems like he's always the one getting the brunt of the stick when we lose a by a big score when really the defence should be. Even if the entire front 6 are having a bad game, Eriksen gets the most stick. He's our best player, it would be like subbing Bale whenever he plays badly, players like Eriksen are still capable of producing some magic from nowhere, more so than any other Spurs player.

 

[harr1984]

I'm not saying he should be exempt from criticism, but it seems like he's always the one getting the brunt of the stick when we lose a by a big score when really the defence should be. Even if the entire front 6 are having a bad game, Eriksen gets the most stick. He's our best player, it would be like subbing Bale whenever he plays badly, players like Eriksen are still capable of producing some magic from nowhere, more so than any other Spurs player.

Yeah I wouldnt sub him, he's our best forward player and he can make something happen out of nothing especially from set pieces. But he needs to go up a gear yet if he is to reach Bale/Modric/Berbs status, at the moment he turns up in games where we are playing well instead of those where we are up against it and need his assists/goals. What are his stats against the top teams? I dont know whether they are good or not, but those are the games I'd really like him to take by the scruff of the net and start contributing towards - then we can start talking about him being a Real Madrid calibre of player....

 

[metalgear]

I disagree. You can't go and change your whole philosophy after one loss. Especially when the team have only been playing to that philosophy for five competitive games and the opposition finished much higher than you in the previous season.

Just look at Wenger and Brenton. They've kept their philosophies no matter what the results that have gone against them. I mean arsenal lost 8-2 to united, and there were still no major changes in the way they played. The players just need time to get used to how they are expected to play, and to develop some chemistry between them on the field.


Experiments? You made it sound like Poch is trying radical new things that are crazy! They're really not. He methods helped saints to equal more than the sum of their parts, if he could do the same with us...

you don't have to change your whole philosophy but you can still make significant changes e.g. dropping eriksen, dier and fazio at CB, chadli as main striker, soldado as no.10, verts at LB , paulinho at RM etc.

experiments - yes - because we don't know our best elelven and what alterations are needed to bring out the best from our players.

an excellent manager will slice like a surgeon, not dice like a butcher.

 

[thfcsteff]

He could develop to be good as a 10....But....A. The way he ended the season I would never move a form player from such a potent position on the left. B. I would not look to develop him at 10 in games like Liverpool.

I defo prefer centre to right tho.

Absolutely true, and in no way was I suggesting he should be there now. He's not ready. But I do feel that if he is ever to become a dominator of matches, this is where he will need to be…I just wonder if he can do it?

 

[Jurgen the German]

Absolutely true, and in no way was I suggesting he should be there now. He's not ready. But I do feel that if he is ever to become a dominator of matches, this is where he will need to be…I just wonder if he can do it?

I think he can. To me it's crazy that people are suggesting we don't even start him against the big side, why on earth would you not want your best player or at least one of the best players in the side depending on how highly you rate him in the team?

 

[Bedfordspurs]

We tried Holtby there in pre season at least and it was awful. He simply can't play that role as he keeps chasing the ball around all over the pitch. He's really a five a side player.

Pre season means **** all IMO and we didn't play him there with the current team instead of Bentelab.

Hey it ain't gonna happen now but I'd rather have one of the two holders actually impose himself by getting involved rather than playing simple passes and letting the game go bye