Is Eriksen causing problems at Spurs?
For some of you this may be the most controversial post you read. We all have our favourites and woe betide anyone who criticises them, but let me throw this talking point at you, is Christian Eriksen causing problems on the field, is he more trouble than he is worth?
I know it sounds daft doesn't it, I did say it was controversial and a bit of a talking point. Let me hypothesise for a bit.
The Tottenham system is dependent upon the front four interchanging and all being a goal threat, when one member isn't, as our right side with Townsend or Lamela wasn't last season, then we are less of a threat. Our best performances are when we have midfield runners going past Harry Kane.
Last season we had a lack of midfield runners and we have started this season with Alli, Mason and Lamela all getting into the box. The result they have all scored, all missed chances and all carry a goal threat.
Christian Eriksen doesn't get into the box, he doesn't go past Harry Kane, he stays behind the ball, he wants to provide. When he scores from open play it is when Kane has dropped very deep and pulled defenders with him so Eriksen can go forward, when its tighter he doesn't, which is where the midfield runners become important.
Against Manchester City we had runners, against Liverpool we didn't. The Dane is great at what he does, but does he also prevent the midfield runners when he is playing central? With one striker, as most teams use these days, the central attacking midfielder must be a goal threat, he has to act as a second striker at times, Eriksen doesn't.
When Erik Lamela was playing central he created goals for others and got into the box himself to be a goal threat, against Liverpool from back on the right I don't recall him being a goal threat at all, I don't recall him running into the box past Harry Kane, I don't recall him being in a position to score.
I wonder, I ask then, can Eriksen and Lamela play together? Fleeting success is of no use to us, players playing together have to work together consistently, not inconsistently. Should Pochettino be leaving one of them out or should Lamela be playing central with Eriksen moved wide? It seems as if we have more midfield runners with Lamela central than we do with Eriksen there.
We have little problem getting our left sided attacking midfielders into scoring positions past Kane, but time and time again we fail to from the right. You can argue it's a fault with the system, but it's more likely that it's a fault with the players. We have not yet found a consistent way to make Eriksen and Lamela compatible. To challenge that axis has to work consistently.
When you devise a system then you need the players who can play that system or adapt to it. You need adaption so that every component works and any player who has a burning desire to be successful within it will adapt to it. If they don't it's because they haven't wanted it enough, which means we haven't found their true motivation. When it doesn't work you have to figure out how to solve it. Do we need our central attacking midfielder to stay behind the ball or get past Kane?
If it is the latter, is Eriksen the right man for the role? Would the system be more effective if we had a different number 10? Just because a player is talented doesn't mean they are the most effective in the role, a Carlos Tevez type player would arguably be more effective, if he were there instead of Eriksen would we be a better side?
It's certainly food for thought. To take us to the next level we need a greater goal threat, simply adding a striker to rest Kane isn't going to make much difference quite frankly because the chance creation problem still remains behind them. Yes, they would give us a different option, but it's an all your eggs in one basket solution.
The front four have to fit together. If two of the three behind a striker don't really fit then it's irrelevant who the striker is, the underlying problem remains. I have spoken many times that you have to look beyond how the problem manifests itself to the root cause. Tottenham are misfiring, we are not taking chances, but we have to look even beyond that and ask how we can improve as a side, how do we go to the next level?
Better players you cry, fine, but exactly how does the better player improve us, what is it they are bringing in each situation. Answer that and you have the answer of how to improve the side with what you have through education.
We perhaps need a faster more direct winger, Lamela is slower with more skill, Townsend turns a right angle too much, by that I mean he gets the ball and cuts inside at 90 degrees too early and thus has to shoot from too far out. In the faster pace of the Premier League Lamela is perhaps more suited centrally, if Eriksen is as well then we need a wide man.
Would Lamela work better with someone else centrally, do we need to change Lamela? We haven't found a consistent answer to our right side, is it the player or the players around them? Eriksen has to have runners to be effective but does his presence stop them. Dembele was great as a destroyer against Liverpool, but he isn't going to go past Eriksen and if Dele Alli has to defend too much he can't, the wide men must.
It's a real tough one to answer and there would be more than one solution, I'm not sure Pochettino has found it yet. It's almost as if we have to decide do we want Eriksen flourishing or do we want Lamela flourishing, we haven't found the way for both of them too, so what's your solution?
Further Tottenham Reading
Surprise surprise motivated Dembele produces MOTM performance - but was it to the detriment of Spurs as a whole?
Fascinating insight into Baldini type role - Spurs have tried to sign Monchi, this article looks at how he approaches the Franco Baldini role
Elements of Sir Alex Ferguson in Mauricio Pochettino - further reinforces that we may well have the right man in charge
Levy is doing it right using a cautious growth approach - how are our nearest financial rivals Newcastle United doing?
Why Spurs should invite David Villa to train with us - would benefit our youngsters a David Villa type training with us for part of each season
Spurs - stadium-led regeneration - there would be no regeneration without the stadium being built
7 comments
Chadli, Son and Kane are all fairly intelligent goalscorers, however Ive always said we need creativity and from more than just Eriksen, who has all too often been frozen out of games by the opposition.
Its hard to remove space for Eriksen or Lamela when the other poses an equal threat, and it will be very interesting to watch how both evolve this season with experience and confidence growing.
Dembele is another Rolls Royce player capable of intelligent play but most importantly he adds a stealy finess to our play. If we can get those 3 toed to new contracts and growing together then we have an awesome future.
Saturday we got a draw but the class of football we played was Champions league grade. We are looking lik…
I have seen quite a few CL games over the years. The quality of the pre- group stage and a lot of the group games can be pretty dire, when the champions of countries the size of the Isle of Wight play, so I assume it was that level the first poster refers to that we played against a very energetic but threadbare Liverpool. A boring 0-0 wasn't it?
I believe we need to view Eriksen as our Modric replacement. Eriksen carries a fantastic goal threat at set pieces but throughout the game it is a bit more limited. He is a great runner, breaks up play consistently, and most importantly a great passer of the ball. He needs to play deeper in the midfield and set the pace of the game just as Modric did. Modric didn't have a goal threat and actually didn't have too many assists to his name but he started the moves, set the tempo and allowed quicker and more clinical players to shine.
Dembele has to be played in the defensive role he played against Liverpool as it fits his attributes more. He is strong in the tackle and incredibly strong on the ball with great feet, however he doesn't carry a goal threat and his creativity is much more limited.
Work would need…