Christian Eriksen

[Tomo]

My friend are you serious?

1) Fernandinho may not be a better dribbler, but he has the willingness to get forward and he can place the ball in the net. Paulinho has managed to score a few tap-ins, but he's scored less than he's capitalized on easy goal-scoring opportunities. The key difference though, is that Fernandinho uses the space ahead of him instead of always looking wide, which is exactly what our current midfielders you propose incessantly do.

2) Most importantly, you're saying a central midfield including Silva and Nasri is the same as having one of Paulinho, Sandro, Capoue, Dembele, and/or Bentaleb? That is the same as saying 2=3. Those two players play centrally, but you're talking about pushing Eriksen, Holtby, and/or Lamela up and out on a forward line. Quite frankly mate, that makes the antithesis of sense.

Not sure you have read what I have said, Man City play two central midfielder and two false wide players in Nasri and Silva then two strikers up top sometimes, I am not talking about playing Eriksen as a forward, I am talking about using Eriksen and Lamela like Silva and Nasri not as Dezko or Aguero . I am talking about playing a system similar to Man City, this is not to say we will be as good but it is a good alternative to having wingers which have not worked for us recently and as Man City proved its not the antithesis of sense. Man City don't really have wingers when not using Navas and don't see why we could not.

Man City

Silva Fernadinho Toure Nasri
Dezko Ageuro

Spurs

Lamela Paulinho Sandro Eriksen
Kane Ade

 

[cahspur]

I actually like his comparison to City's midfield and I think we do have the players for it. Lets say we play something like this in midfield and up top:

Sandro - Paulinho
Lamela - Eriksen
Soldado - Ade

Give Holtby and Eriksen the freedom to roam wherever the want like Nasri and Silva do. Eriksen has already shown that he has the ability to make things happen when he's given a free role starting in a wide position. I've seen Lamela do it for Roma as well. I wouldn't be worried about up top either. Ade and Soldado have shown the ability to hold the ball up and drift wide as well. The amazing thing about City though, is their ability to play 1 2s that get them out of trouble. In fact, if you watch Pool, City, or Woolwich, any of the teams that rely on quick passing to open up defenses, you'll see all of them play 1 2s all the time to break through the defense and escape trouble. That's what we do not do.

The thing I'd be worried about about those 6 is Sandro and Paulinho's ability to play the 1 2s needed to get out of trouble as they both like to dwell on the ball until they can pick out a forward pass. If they don't have a clear forward pass, they'll go sideways, which happens most of the time. A little bit of coaching and practicing with their teammates can go a long way to that though and that might help them pass the ball more quickly.

I'd also be a worried about the counter attack as well. Yaya is a tank and can do everything and he and Fernandinho can stop counterattacks themselves. I don't know if i'd feel very confident about Pauli and Sandro though. We've seen our players get shredded time and time again this year on counter attacks even with Sandro playing.

You actually feed entirely into my point, especially about the distribution and defense from Sandro and Paulinho (the midfielders they want to build around) and for that I give you an agree. That comparison still isn't the same. He's talking about pushing those creative players up into the front line, while City keeps those players in their central midfield.

An ideal modern, fluid, dynamic midfield would consist of a true No 6, a distribute and committed CDM; an aggressive and quick DLP or BTB player to connect everything; and a creative No 10 to distribute the ball in to attacking players. Fortunately, this is precisely the philosophy written up and utilized by van Gaal, so I'm very much hoping he'll be our next appointment.

 

[cahspur]

Not sure you have read what I have said, Man City play two central midfielder and two false wide players in Nasri and Silva then two strikers up top sometimes, I am not talking about playing Eriksen as a forward, I am talking about using Eriksen and Lamela like Silva and Nasri not as Dezko or Aguero . I am talking about playing a system similar to Man City, this is not to say we will be as good but it is a good alternative to having wingers which have not worked for us recently and as Man City proved its not the antithesis of sense. Man City don't really have winger when not using Navas and don't see why we could not.

Man City

Silva Fernadinho Toure Nasri
Dezko Ageuro

Spurs

Lamela Paulinho Sandro Eriksen
Kane Ade

My apologies, it seems our fundamental misunderstanding is my misinterpretation of where you wanted those players. I thought by agreeing with gibbs you wanted Lamela and Eriksen as the wide players in a front line. But what you're saying is entirely true. Once again, I apologize. The ladyfriend is on the rag and particularly chatty this morning, so I'ma blame it on that.

 

[cahspur]

Do you want to take a look at what people were criticizing me for? It's for:

1: Not rating Rose, Naughton, Lennon and Townsend
2: Not rating AVB
3: Standing up for Vert
4: Standing up for Paulinho
5: Wanting to play 4-2-3-1
6: Wanting to stamp out wing/wingback play for more central spine.

You just contradicted yourself on the Holtby thing by the way. You just pointed out using him in a more central attacking role (behind the striker as an AM) is better for his game. That is exactly what I would have him doing as part of the 3 in a 4-2-3-1. he would not be in the boiler room or stuck out on the wing like he was for us.

No I didn't contradict myself. You said you wanted a 4-3-3-, with big fellas in the middle and the creative players in the wing forward slots. Holtby playing in the middle is precisely what I'd like to see, and I was comparing the difference in Fulham's setup with ours. By not playing a high back line, they don't force congestion in the opposing half, which forces our inadequate central midfielders to play the ball wide to double-marked wingers because defenses are expecting it. With space, and unpredictable and aggressive central midfielders, the whole thing opens up. Fulham are rubbish, but at least they have a few players willing to attack vertically. It is for this reason Holtby has done well for them there.

 

[Team Tanguy]

Lamela Paulinho Sandro Eriksen

I don't think we know anywhere enough about these players to say if they could make up a midfield similar to City's.

City have 3 midfielders who can pass the ball excellently AND have great off the ball movement (Toure, Nasri, Silva), 1 touch play etc- essential to retaining the ball and stringing passes together with a 4 man midfield against top teams. Maybe Eriksen can do it, but Paulinho and Sandro definitely can't and we haven't seen yet whether Lamela can do it in this league (I have high hopes for him though).

Similarly defensively, Sandro imo can be as good as (or better) than Fernandinho however Toure offers 100x more protection than Paulinho.

 

[JDK]

Agree, but in this order:

LW - CAM - RW
Lallana - Eriksen - Lamela
(Right Footed - 2 Footed - Left Footed)

I think someone here ( JDK ?) noted how apt and comfortable Lallana is on the left wing, and that most of his starts were in that position this season. (Let alone the fact that Eriksen has to be in the center)

Man that lineup would be incredible. I've given up the Lallana dream because of how well he's played and how bad we've been but he would be my first choice of somewhat reasonable targets.

He plays everywhere. On the season he's started 12 times on the right, 11 on the left, and 9 in the center.

 

[cahspur]

Lamela Paulinho Sandro Eriksen

I don't think we know anywhere enough about these players to say if they could make up a midfield similar to City's.

City have 3 midfielders who can pass the ball excellently AND have great off the ball movement (Toure, Nasri, Silva), 1 touch play etc- essential to retaining the ball and stringing passes together with a 4 man midfield against top teams. Maybe Eriksen can do it, but Paulinho and Sandro definitely can't and we haven't seen yet whether Lamela can do it in this league (I have high hopes for him though).

Similarly defensively, Sandro imo can be as good as (or better) than Fernandinho however Toure offers 100x more protection than Paulinho.

Could not agree more. There are also a few more levels of understanding between the players that we'd have to reach to be able to maintain the possession that would allow such a diminished midfield numerically.

 

[cahspur]

Man that lineup would be incredible. I've given up the Lallana dream because of how well he's played and how bad we've been but he would be my first choice of somewhat reasonable targets.

He plays everywhere. On the season he's started 12 times on the right, 11 on the left, and 9 in the center.

I think it's this versatility across the creative three and that he's English that has Chelsea drooling, but they just have too many at the moment. I could see Man U moving for him if they clear out some of their other attacking players.

 

[JDK]

I think it's this versatility across the creative three and that he's English that has Chelsea drooling, but they just have too many at the moment. I could see Man U moving for him if they clear out some of their other attacking players.

Yeah, like Chelsea need another AM. They are ridiculous. I definitely could see him ending up at United. But if United doesn't want Kagawa I'd take him too.

 

[gibbs131]

No I didn't contradict myself. You said you wanted a 4-3-3-, with big fellas in the middle and the creative players in the wing forward slots. Holtby playing in the middle is precisely what I'd like to see, and I was comparing the difference in Fulham's setup with ours. By not playing a high back line, they don't force congestion in the opposing half, which forces our inadequate central midfielders to play the ball wide to double-marked wingers because defenses are expecting it. With space, and unpredictable and aggressive central midfielders, the whole thing opens up. Fulham are rubbish, but at least they have a few players willing to attack vertically. It is for this reason Holtby has done well for them there.

You are getting me mixed up with someone else.

I want protection for eriksen, ade and lamella to run the show. I want an attacking midfielder who is well rounded to do donkey work, and cover in 2 dm's behind them. Most importAnt I want left backs and not wingbacks.

I want defined roles.

 

[cahspur]

Yeah, like Chelsea need another AM. They are ridiculous. I definitely could see him ending up at United. But if United doesn't want Kagawa I'd take him too.

Kagawa is a fantastic player and Moyes is a fool. Kagawa is just far too modern of a player for Moyes to work with. But I'd love to have him at Spurs.

 

[cahspur]

You are getting me mixed up with someone else.

I want protection for eriksen, ade and lamella to run the show. I want an attacking midfielder who is well rounded to do donkey work, and cover in 2 dm's behind them. Most importAnt I want left backs and not wingbacks.

I want defined roles.

Looking back through it appears I took your response to OZ' post citing "monsters" in the middle that you also preferred the 4-3-3. That idea has been almost hand-in-hand for awhile now, so it appears I may have assumed too far. Once again it appears I'll have to cite the chatty, estrogen and progesterone deprived female. My apologies. It appears cahspur needs to call it a day.

However, I maintain that our central midfield needs improvement before other areas of our team dynamic will see improvement. With our current crop of central midfielders, it's not gonna happen even with a wonder coach of LvG's resume. We have no one to move the ball vertically among our bigger players, and as of yet the jury is still out on whether or not Holtby or Carroll could perform the role for us. Also, the high back line's gotta go. It arguably hinders our attack more than it does our opponents'. It may work against the lower sides such as Sunderland, but the top teams with any sense of fluidity easily butcher us in a counter.

 

[gibbs131]

which forces our inadequate central midfielders...

That is your opinion. IMO is it obvious they generally offer more than our wingers and winbacks.

 

[gibbs131]

Looking back through it appears I took your response to OZ' post citing "monsters" in the middle that you also preferred the 4-3-3. That idea has been almost hand-in-hand for awhile now, so it appears I may have assumed too far. Once again it appears I'll have to cite the chatty, estrogen and progesterone deprived female. My apologies. It appears cahspur needs to call it a day.

However, I maintain that our central midfield needs improvement before other areas of our team dynamic will see improvement. With our current crop of central midfielders, it's not gonna happen even with a wonder coach of LvG's resume. We have no one to move the ball vertically among our bigger players, and as of yet the jury is still out on whether or not Holtby or Carroll could perform the role for us. Also, the high back line's gotta go. It arguably hinders our attack more than it does our opponents'. It may work against the lower sides such as Sunderland, but the top teams with any sense of fluidity easily butcher us in a counter.

I actually rate our midfielders way more than you do. I may be wrong. Eriksen, Lamela and Ade may not click. But I know Sandro and Capoue can be comfortable being DM's. I know Paulinho, Bentaleb and Dembele can create chaos and can handle the muscle of defenses to hold up the ball for the eriksens, I know a solid back 4 is better than whatever Rose and co have done to it.

If I were to be critical of my own team shape, it would be a general lack of pace. Hence the packed/rigid team shape. My whole argument is based on one thing: Can an individual win his battle in his own patch ground. I think most can. Lennon, Townsend, Rose, Naughton...Not so much. It leads to chaos. Soft Spurs.

 

[cahspur]

I actually rate our midfielders way more than you do. I may be wrong. Eriksen, Lamela and Ade may not click. But I know Sandro and Capoue can be comfortable being DM's. I know Paulinho, Bentaleb and Dembele can create chaos and can handle the muscle of defenses to hold up the ball for the eriksens, I know a solid back 4 is better than whatever Rose and co have done to it.

If I were to be critical of my own team shape, it would be a general lack of pace. Hence the packed/rigid team shape. My whole argument is based on one thing: Can an individual win his battle in his own patch ground. I think most can. Lennon, Townsend, Rose, Naughton...Not so much. It leads to chaos. Soft Spurs.

Eriksen and Lamela are not the players I'm specifically referring to. My problem is with how remarkably similar our options are in Sandro, Capoue, Dembele, Paulinho, and Bentaleb. While each of them have their own unique qualities, none of them are good at pushing the ball forward quickly and vertically. I'd like Sandro and Capoue to perform the CDM role for us next year, but I think they need to be coupled with more dynamic option(s) than Dem, Paul, and Bent. I agree that pace certainly is a problem, but once again that's another problem that's compounded by the high back line.

On a bit of a side note, do you remember the Europa game in which we had Holtby and Carroll in the middle along with I believe Sandro? Granted it was against our Europa group competition, but that was by far the most fluid and dynamic our midfield has appeared this season. Truly a beauty to watch. I swear a piece of my soul dies every time our central midfielders pass the ball less than 30 degrees from the horizontal and directly backwards, especially while our back line continue to gift opponents goals (each and every player to play there is guilty, so I'm not referring to specific players).

 

[ArtyB]

Christian Eriksen has declared his future at Spurs is not dependent on the club reaching the Champions League.

Despite the club's crushing 5-1 win over Sunderland on Monday night they remain outsiders for the top four behind Everton and Woolwich.

It has thrown up doubts that the north Londonders will hold on to keeper Hugo Lloris and defender Jan Vertonghen.

But 22-year-old Eriksen insists he is staying.

The Dane, who made two goals and scored another on Monday night, said: "'For me the feeling I have at the club isn't dependant on being in the Champions League, I'm happy here and am looking forward to the future.

"Our aim now is to win all our matches so that we end the season with some confidence ahead of next year and if we do that we can see where it takes us in the table."

 

[SinghYid]

#BringBackTheBeard

 

[WellingtonSpur]

Nice little write-up on the back of his performance against Sunderland
http://www.football365.com/f365-says/9255481/Christian-Faith-Offers-Solace-To-Spurs...
"No matter who takes the helm in the summer, Christian Eriksen is surely the man to build this Spurs team around."

 

[Josh Pauls]

Agree, but in this order:

LW - CAM - RW
Lallana - Eriksen - Lamela
(Right Footed - 2 Footed - Left Footed)

This would be amazing but a great injustice has been done here

Lallana is one of the most capable players with both feet in the league, and to say anything otherwise would be harsh
Very talented player

 

[SinghYid]

This would be amazing but a great injustice has been done here

Lallana is one of the most capable players with both feet in the league, and to say anything otherwise would be harsh
Very talented player

Oh, I didn't know ... Thanks for correcting me.
Now I want Lallana even more.