has sprinted about 80 yards in two different directions.
In fact, if you look at the statistics, Eriksen is not only the hardest worker at Tottenham bar none, but one of the hardest workers in the entire Premier League. According to EA Sports, whose Player Performance Index tracks the distance covered by every Premier League player, only Nemanja Matic, Jack Colback and Steven Nzonzi have covered more ground this season. At Tottenham, Eriksen has run 30 per cent more than anyone else. And you thought he was just a free-kick taker.
The question is this, then: given Eriksen’s immense natural talent and his ingrained work ethic, why did it take so long for him to make his mark at Tottenham? To answer that question, we need to plough through the data.
Eriksen may be very good, but there are certain conditions that bring out the best in him. At Ajax, he was critical of Jol’s style of play. “Under Jol, we were accused of not playing Ajax-type football,” he said. “The midfield was often skipped, there were primarily long balls up to [Luis] Suarez and then it was hoped he would do something spectacular.”
At Tottenham, too, successive managers tried and often failed to get the best out of Eriksen. The trend, though, is positive. Over the last four seasons – two at Ajax, two at Tottenham, Eriksen’s scoring rate has increased year on year. He is also making more tackles than ever before, all of which suggests that Eriksen is influencing games to a far greater extent.
Season Goals/90min Passes/90 Tackles/90
2011/12 0.222 54.2 1.52
2012/13 0.311 54.5 1.49
2013/14 0.346 50.8 1.15
2014/15 0.381 46.4 1.61
Playing to Eriksen’s strengths, it seems, is largely a matter of tactics. Under Andre Villas-Boas, Eriksen was injured for much of the first half of the season. He played 90 minutes just once, and even when he did feature he often made little impact coming in off the right wing in a 4-2-3-1.
Sherwood had different ideas. He liked playing 4-4-2 with conventional wingers, and so Eriksen was often shunted out to the left wing, with a licence to come inside if necessary. He was often an auxiliary player, rather than a goal threat in his own right.
Under Pochettino, Eriksen has a far more pivotal role. Even when he plays on the left, he spends little time on that flank. Like all players in Pochettino’s system, he also has a heavy defensive responsibility, which may well contribute to his exceptional work-rate. For his part, Eriksen has visibly improved the defensive side of his game in the last 12 months, to the point where he is often the first midfielder back when his team are under attack.
We’ve picked out three sample matches from the Villas-Boas, Sherwood and Pochettino eras to illustrate the point. Under Pochettino, Eriksen is much more involved in the game, in both defence and attack.
Given the interest in Eriksen from the very start of his career, it may seem surprising that he ended up at Tottenham: a big club, but not in the same league as Chelsea, AC Milan or Real Madrid. He also turned down Manchester City in the summer of 2012: not through a lack of ambition, but a simple calculation that he was not ready to play regular football for the English champions.
“I said no a few times,” he remembered. “Maybe I wouldn’t have played there. I wouldn’t go to a club just to stay on the subs’ bench. Now it looks like I moved at the right time.”
The question is what happens next. Beyond Sunday’s game, speculation about Eriksen’s future at Tottenham is sure to increase. But if Eriksen has displayed one notable trait during his career so far, it is that gift of timing. He waits just a fraction longer than you expect before making his move. And history suggests he will not move to one of Europe’s giants until he feels he can claim a regular first-team place.
Arnesen, the man who advised him to join Ajax almost a decade ago, told a Danish newspaper last year: “If Eriksen continues as he is doing right now, there is a chance that he becomes extremely interesting for clubs at the highest level: Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea. [Daniel] Levy’s crazy-good at selling, but there will be a big club. It is up to the agent to ensure that he will go.”
The likelihood is that Eriksen will have a decision to make before long. History suggests he will make the right one.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...Hotspur-success-He-never-stops-improving.html
goals as Steven Gerrard did by the same age - but the Liverpool legend had played 86 more matches'
