Two goals but still more needed from Eriksen

People do like to make problems where none exists and with Christian Eriksen not being in top form some have speculated that it is his position on the left that is responsible while stating that he is unhappy. 

Nothing of that ilk from here. I looked into his statistics to see what difference each position made and basically, there isn't any, his output is the same from both positions. The suggestion to back up the unhappy theory is he contributes more centrally, yet the facts don't back up such guesswork. The bottom line is goals and assists, everything else is window dressing. He scored 5 goals from each position last season and more assists from the left than centrally from open play.

Tottenham reporter Ben Pearce has spoken to the Dane who insists he is happy with his role on the left and accepts he hasn't been in top form. The reports of his frustration are misplaced though, the invention of someone who then has their views regurgitated by the mundane sites out there as if it is fact. That's fine if there is something to go on but Eriksen has always had good and not so good spells in a Spurs shirt wherever he plays and the statistics say the output is the same.

“I read it as well, I heard it and it’s not true at all so I don’t know where it’s come from. I’m really happy wherever the ball is. For me it doesn’t matter."

If you watch him, when we are building up play he sometimes stops to not get ahead of the ball. He stays beyond it, which is not really a trait you want in someone playing the number 10 role. That simply places the pressure on ofter people to score the goals and restricts yourself to long range shots. He scored two on Saturday, but won't find such haphazard defending in every game. That centre-half substitute Sunderland brought on recently signed from Bayern Munich on loan I believe, half-heartedly stuck out a foot to deflect Eriksen's second in and his reaction seemed to suggest he couldn't care less.

However they go in two goals can not harm his confidence, everyone needs a little boost every now and then and he had gone 13 games without a goal. He, and perhaps more so Lamela, are playing some lovely through balls now, they do need to still chip in with more goals though.

To be at his best he has to have the right movement around him and players have to be able to anticipate. This is where knowing the system inside out comes in. If Eriksen sees a hole to play the ball into, the recipient has to have seen it and know Eriksen has seen it, fellow players have to anticipate what is going to happen after the ball is played. Without movement Eriksen has no ball to play, apart from sideways. 

Constant movement helps create the holes for him to exploit and our young side have had to and are learning where to run. That all comes from the training field, it isn't a case of put eleven men on a field and simply tell them to get on with it as you do on a Sunday morning. Professional football is a different game.

We sit fourth in the league five points off the top. Not a bad position for a young improving team. Eriksen will be 24 in February so we could be seeing him in a Spurs shirt for a while yet, the beauty of signing a young player with talent and helping them develop further.


COYS

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