Christian Eriksen

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So Harry can be replaced with a lesser player; but Eriksen can't? ....Makes no sense.

You think there's more top quality STs in the world than their are AMs? ....Think you're mistaken on that front also.
No neither can be replaced as far as we’re concerned......but yes at a price could be ! But I mean there’s more choice in Kane’s position than there is in Eriksen’s.
 
No neither can be replaced as far as we’re concerned......but yes at a price could be ! But I mean there’s more choice in Kane’s position than there is in Eriksen’s.

At the higher quality end of the scale, absolutely not.
 
Also some critics definitely have an agenda and Eriksen has not been as bad as they say he has. If he really was affected by the transfer speculation he would have played way worse. Eriksens season, while not as good as last year, is still better than 99% of the players in the league.

It’s a forum pal, we are all keyboard warriors that have little to no real connections to players so based on quotes and historical facts we come up with theories, this forum is 90% theories and 10% cunt offs.

Oh, and your ‘if he was effected by the transfer speculation he would have played way worse’ statement, what algorithm did you use to come to that conclusion? Like you have some special insight or way to rank a players performance based on their mental state. Complete poppycock and as bad as our so called conspiracies.

Have an opinion, stop calling others out for theirs. It doesn’t make them a bad fan, or nutter, it’s just an opinion
 
You say that like there's some unique weakness in Pogba's game, but in reality that's no more true of him than any other creatively biased player though is it Totti, probably less than many. I wouldn't dream of playing Eriksen in midfield without wanting a fucking solid players in there holding his hand most weeks, even players like DeBruyne and David Silva need balancing off with players like Fernandinho, Iniesta and Xavi had Busquets etc.

Any good team is all about balancing off skill sets and about harmony all over the pitch and a good cohesive work ethic and playing style.

You will rarely find a player as creative and productive as Pogba who's also defensively outstanding too.

Pogba works every bit as hard without the ball as Sissoko does, tackles as much, recovers more (last time I looked) from pressure events. But he's not a defensive midfielder, never has been and never will be, that's just not his strength.

You say he doesn't take the game by the scruff of the neck often enough, but how other CM's in the world do that more often than he does and create and produce what he does? Two or three at most.


So are you saying Eriksen needs Sissoko?

Will give you an agree if you are and a night out with MDG!!
 
Yeah, he needs Sissoko, but only after Sissoko's gone back to football school and learned how to do it properly.


How does it feel to be in a minority of one?

Just like your extra movie thread I would imagine

That went well didn’t it

Lmfao
 
Can you even imagine what thread would be like if Sterling’s goal wasn’t ruled offside? Terrible errors like that couldve costed us a chance at semis. But I still value Eriksen higher than anyone else in the squad, purely based on his availability/playtime and chances created by him. It’s a blessing to have this guy in the team and will be greatly missed if he chooses to leave. It’s hard to evaluate a player until a mediocre players replace his vacancy.
 
Can't believe I'm saying this but what a good piece on 365

Premier League winners and losers - Football365

Christian Eriksen
The focus is so often on what Eriksen isn’t and what he doesn’t do, rather than what he is and does. That’s a compliment, really. The ceiling of his potential is so high that supporters cannot fathom why he cannot sustain the highs in every game. I partly blame the rise of FIFA, with its reset energy levels at the start of every one-off match.

But here’s the thing: Eriksen turned 27 in February and has already played 520 senior career matches. By way of randomly selected example, Nemanja Vidic made 547 senior appearances in his entire career. Mesut Ozil, another fine Premier League creator, is on 624 but is three-and-a-half years older than Eriksen. Ozil also doesn’t register the distance covered and sprint statistics that is expected of Eriksen at Tottenham.

That takes its toll. It is possible to be both a creator and worker, but it’s a damn hard balance. The two tenets, chasing players down to win the ball with intense pressing and then being immediately calm to pick out the perfect pass or shoot at goal, is tough. When Mauricio Pochettino urged Eriksen to be the complete midfielder, contributing as much without the ball as with it, he knew that he risked dimming the bright light of his creativity. But for the good of the team, he had to urge.

And yet still Eriksen gets Tottenham over the line. Not every week, and perhaps not even as much as some Tottenham supporters would like, but often enough to remind us of his brilliance. If Tottenham can add strength in depth this summer, giving Eriksen some support to stop him being laboured by fatigue, they will reap the rewards.


and in response to the above posts ... yes having a workhorse to take some of the load of Eriksen is essential ... Sissoko does this by confusing the hell out of defenders and creating spaces for Eriksen, Winks does it by taking a huge amount of possession, Dier does it with excellent defensive positioning, Kane, Son and Dele do it by requiring multiple defenders to cover them ... take a lot of that away, as has happened since Christmas, and Eriksen has had to work his bollocks off, which of course he's done, so it's hardly surprising that his final third contribution has only been top five in the world, instead of his usual out of this world .... the guy's a feckin' legend
 
I think Eriksen is brilliant at his best and influential at his worst , the guy is class

Eriksen is brilliant at his best but sloppy passing, no commitment defensively, shocking set pieces and wild shots at goal at his worst.

I'm not sure how you can consider him influential at worst when we've seen in matches such as Burnley away where he offers nothing going forward and pretty much gifts them a goal by being unwilling to get anywhere near a challenge on the edge of our box?

I guess you could call that influential... for the opposing team.
 
Eriksen is brilliant at his best but sloppy passing, no commitment defensively, shocking set pieces and wild shots at goal at his worst.

I'm not sure how you can consider him influential at worst when we've seen in matches such as Burnley away where he offers nothing going forward and pretty much gifts them a goal by being unwilling to get anywhere near a challenge on the edge of our box?

I guess you could call that influential... for the opposing team.

He influences games even when he doesn't play well generally speaking
 
he's not very good at tackles or challenging headers, but he will always be in a defensive position when we are being attacked, we have others that can tackle or challenge for headers we don't have anyone else who will (most of the time) see that pass before its there, how many looks does Toby, Jan, Dier, Winks, Son etc take before they pass the ball forward Eriksen doesn't need lots of looks to make that important pass
 
He influences games even when he doesn't play well generally speaking

A little bit like a broken watch being correct twice a day. In his position with most build-up play going through him it's hard to not 'influence' a game if you want to look at things in isolation. The guy is simply exceptional on his day, I appreciate without players running off him creativity will suffer however there is no excuse for sloppy passes and weak defensive effort, especially when he has been so good at it previously.

FWIW, I'm ok with passes not coming off, when it's intricate or someone is trying to thread it through the eye of a needle, we only need one of them to come off for a chance to be created. It's the simple short middle of the park passes that frustrate the hell out of my as it's a lack of concentration.
 
Poor season (by his high standards) due to not having a proper midfield partner to cover him in defense all season and being moved about due to Injuries to others. Hope he signs a new deal and gets a proper midfield partner so Ali can move back further forward and we see the best outa both of em
 
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Watching this you remember what an exceptional player he is and how we must do all we can to hold onto him. Also you can see from this his eagerness to nick the ball, dribble past players and cross the ball into the box that are currently missing. He was happy mixing it up but not at the moment, maybe it's fatigue that has him mentally and physically tired, if it is, it's a shame he can't be rested.
 
But here’s the thing: Eriksen turned 27 in February and has already played 520 senior career matches. By way of randomly selected example, Nemanja Vidic made 547 senior appearances in his entire career. Mesut Ozil, another fine Premier League creator, is on 624 but is three-and-a-half years older than Eriksen. Ozil also doesn’t register the distance covered and sprint statistics that is expected of Eriksen at Tottenham.

hmmm, Vidic that had nearly 450 days off to knackered back and cruciate and had to retire due to chronic injuries or Ozil who has been wank for Woolwich and can barely get in their team.

On the flip side Ryan Giggs had not far off 1000 appearances for United, his game was mostly about pace and dribbling so difficult to keep going at such a big team for so long. He could have dropped down a level and eked out another 50 appearances...

I don't want to take anything away from CE, he has played loads for us but it's nothing more than others who aren't on the sidelines due to being crap or injured. If you are good you will play...
 
A little bit like a broken watch being correct twice a day. In his position with most build-up play going through him it's hard to not 'influence' a game if you want to look at things in isolation. The guy is simply exceptional on his day, I appreciate without players running off him creativity will suffer however there is no excuse for sloppy passes and weak defensive effort, especially when he has been so good at it previously.

FWIW, I'm ok with passes not coming off, when it's intricate or someone is trying to thread it through the eye of a needle, we only need one of them to come off for a chance to be created. It's the simple short middle of the park passes that frustrate the hell out of my as it's a lack of concentration.

You might have a point but the numbers just don't support your position .... Eriksen is maintaining the same levels he has done throughout his entire senior career ...

"sloppy passes and weak defensive effort"

Eriksen passing %, in fact his whole game, it's a remarkable picture of consistency

2014 - 81.9%
2015 - 82.0%
2016 - 81.2%
2017 - 80.2%
2018 - 82.4%
2019 - 81.2%

How about in defence? ... pick any skill you want and again it shows remarkable consistency ... tackles per game for example

2014 - 1.0%
2015 - 1.3%
2016 - 1.3%
2017 - 1.3%
2018 - 1.4%
2019 - 1.2%

If he 'lacks concentration' now then he has done for five years, Eriksen clearly hasn't changed his 19 goals and assists so far this season are approaching his best of 23 in 2017 ... so maybe it's just our expectations that have gone up?
 
You might have a point but the numbers just don't support your position .... Eriksen is maintaining the same levels he has done throughout his entire senior career ...

"sloppy passes and weak defensive effort"

Eriksen passing %, in fact his whole game, it's a remarkable picture of consistency

2014 - 81.9%
2015 - 82.0%
2016 - 81.2%
2017 - 80.2%
2018 - 82.4%
2019 - 81.2%

How about in defence? ... pick any skill you want and again it shows remarkable consistency ... tackles per game for example

2014 - 1.0%
2015 - 1.3%
2016 - 1.3%
2017 - 1.3%
2018 - 1.4%
2019 - 1.2%

If he 'lacks concentration' now then he has done for five years, Eriksen clearly hasn't changed his 19 goals and assists so far this season are approaching his best of 23 in 2017 ... so maybe it's just our expectations that have gone up?

I was merely referring to Eriksen at his worst but I think your post highlights exceptionally well why stats and the use of shouldn't be taken too seriously (not a dig at you btw).

What the above doesn't take into consideration is Eriksen playing a deeper role this season in which a lot of his passing is 5 yards to the left or right, keeping the ball moving. In previous seasons his passes would've been further up the pitch in more dangerous areas. I would hazard a guess that his final third pass completion % is actually lower this season. In my opinion anyone can sit in the middle of the park and hit 5-10 yard passes forwards, backwards or sideways. A Nabil Bentaleb if you like.

If we're going to discuss Eriksen's tackling, my argument would be that I have seen, with my own eyes, many, many occasions where he has dangled a floppy leg out near our box and made almost no attempt to prevent the player from going past him. Until recently, I'd never seen him booked for a foul that I could remember; he would always let players glide past him, even on the half way line, when on the counter. There has been a couple of cynical fouls in him recently, which is good to see, but another thing the stats wouldn't take into consideration is where on the pitch is he making tackles?

Kane's injury vs Man City, didn't need to challenge Delph there. The stat would say successful tackle if he wins the ball but ultimately the benefit to the team is minimal. What I do see though is Eriksen not getting stuck in where it matters for Burnley's goal. I remember him heading the ball 25 yards from our goal towards our own corner flag recently, was that Burnley or someone else? Can't remember but I think a goal or a big chance came from it. Very nearly cost us our CL campaign at the death with one of the sloppiest balls I've ever seen.

Stats are pointless without context and my argument is based on events we've all seen happen over the course of the season.
 
Can't believe I'm saying this but what a good piece on 365

Premier League winners and losers - Football365

Christian Eriksen
The focus is so often on what Eriksen isn’t and what he doesn’t do, rather than what he is and does. That’s a compliment, really. The ceiling of his potential is so high that supporters cannot fathom why he cannot sustain the highs in every game. I partly blame the rise of FIFA, with its reset energy levels at the start of every one-off match.

But here’s the thing: Eriksen turned 27 in February and has already played 520 senior career matches. By way of randomly selected example, Nemanja Vidic made 547 senior appearances in his entire career. Mesut Ozil, another fine Premier League creator, is on 624 but is three-and-a-half years older than Eriksen. Ozil also doesn’t register the distance covered and sprint statistics that is expected of Eriksen at Tottenham.

That takes its toll. It is possible to be both a creator and worker, but it’s a damn hard balance. The two tenets, chasing players down to win the ball with intense pressing and then being immediately calm to pick out the perfect pass or shoot at goal, is tough. When Mauricio Pochettino urged Eriksen to be the complete midfielder, contributing as much without the ball as with it, he knew that he risked dimming the bright light of his creativity. But for the good of the team, he had to urge.

And yet still Eriksen gets Tottenham over the line. Not every week, and perhaps not even as much as some Tottenham supporters would like, but often enough to remind us of his brilliance. If Tottenham can add strength in depth this summer, giving Eriksen some support to stop him being laboured by fatigue, they will reap the rewards.


and in response to the above posts ... yes having a workhorse to take some of the load of Eriksen is essential ... Sissoko does this by confusing the hell out of defenders and creating spaces for Eriksen, Winks does it by taking a huge amount of possession, Dier does it with excellent defensive positioning, Kane, Son and Dele do it by requiring multiple defenders to cover them ... take a lot of that away, as has happened since Christmas, and Eriksen has had to work his bollocks off, which of course he's done, so it's hardly surprising that his final third contribution has only been top five in the world, instead of his usual out of this world .... the guy's a feckin' legend
Good article. I think a lot of Eriksen's,s problem when he does not perform is the opposition target him and deny him procession. This is not so easy whenKane, Son and Dele are playing as they need to be watched as well. However a lot of this season they have been missing and other teams can divert resources to stop Eroksen. Against Brighton he got a lot of procession and whilst other players really only played a simple sideways pass, he was always looking for the killer pass or a shot. Whilst some of his shots are wayward, at least we know he can do it whilst other players could have loads of shots from outside the box and none would score. He simply always has to play as there is no alternative.
 
I was merely referring to Eriksen at his worst but I think your post highlights exceptionally well why stats and the use of shouldn't be taken too seriously (not a dig at you btw).

What the above doesn't take into consideration is Eriksen playing a deeper role this season in which a lot of his passing is 5 yards to the left or right, keeping the ball moving. In previous seasons his passes would've been further up the pitch in more dangerous areas. I would hazard a guess that his final third pass completion % is actually lower this season. In my opinion anyone can sit in the middle of the park and hit 5-10 yard passes forwards, backwards or sideways. A Nabil Bentaleb if you like.

If we're going to discuss Eriksen's tackling, my argument would be that I have seen, with my own eyes, many, many occasions where he has dangled a floppy leg out near our box and made almost no attempt to prevent the player from going past him. Until recently, I'd never seen him booked for a foul that I could remember; he would always let players glide past him, even on the half way line, when on the counter. There has been a couple of cynical fouls in him recently, which is good to see, but another thing the stats wouldn't take into consideration is where on the pitch is he making tackles?

Kane's injury vs Man City, didn't need to challenge Delph there. The stat would say successful tackle if he wins the ball but ultimately the benefit to the team is minimal. What I do see though is Eriksen not getting stuck in where it matters for Burnley's goal. I remember him heading the ball 25 yards from our goal towards our own corner flag recently, was that Burnley or someone else? Can't remember but I think a goal or a big chance came from it. Very nearly cost us our CL campaign at the death with one of the sloppiest balls I've ever seen.

Stats are pointless without context and my argument is based on events we've all seen happen over the course of the season.

You make a good point, the fact that Eriksen has been asked to play deeper to give Kane, Dele, Son, Lucas etc. more space is very obvious.

The fact that despite playing this deeper and less attacking role he is approaching 20 goals and assists this year, which would be his second best return in the EPL, is pretty amazing. You do make a good point on his KP's his career average is 2.6 per game this season that's dropped to 2.2 however whilst he is making less KP's the ones he makes are proving more effective ... this season 60 key passes have produced 12 goals so one for every five passes, his previous EPL seasons had seen 417 key passes producing 48 goals, so one every 8.5 passes.

Not sure if that's Eriksen being more selective or our striker's finishing being that much better .... as you say all statistics need to be taken in conjunction with what you see.

For me Eriksen has curtailed some of the attacking flair to add a bit more possession play to his game, short safe passes, probably because that's what the team needed. But when the opportunity presents he's still one of the world's finest creator's and scorers on the planet.
 
You might have a point but the numbers just don't support your position .... Eriksen is maintaining the same levels he has done throughout his entire senior career ...

"sloppy passes and weak defensive effort"

Eriksen passing %, in fact his whole game, it's a remarkable picture of consistency

2014 - 81.9%
2015 - 82.0%
2016 - 81.2%
2017 - 80.2%
2018 - 82.4%
2019 - 81.2%

How about in defence? ... pick any skill you want and again it shows remarkable consistency ... tackles per game for example

2014 - 1.0%
2015 - 1.3%
2016 - 1.3%
2017 - 1.3%
2018 - 1.4%
2019 - 1.2%

If he 'lacks concentration' now then he has done for five years, Eriksen clearly hasn't changed his 19 goals and assists so far this season are approaching his best of 23 in 2017 ... so maybe it's just our expectations that have gone up?

But you're looking at stats and not the player in the game. Last season the passes that weren't coming off were ones where he was trying to set a player free and unlock defences, for most of this season it has been simple, short ones that have failed. The stats don't tell you that.

I'm not sure what the % tackles are but it shows last season was his peak which I tend to agree with, he has now dropped back to nearer where he was in 2014/2015 when it was the only bit missing from his game (in my opinion). If you look at the clip I posted you can also see the drive in him going forward, dribbling and taking players on, again he hasn't done that this season.

So in summary, he has all the tools which when used together is AMAZING however it hasn't clicked for him this season – don't know why just hope it returns. I don't think anyone is shouting for him to be shot, or sold we're just perplexed as to why he hasn't had a great season.

I wont go on as it's boring for others to repeat the same arguments and I don't want to come across as someone constantly bashing one of our players down, if you don't see it then we'll just have to agree to disagree.

Stay safe and enjoy the game tomorrow, here's hoping for three crucial points
 
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