Mauricio Pochettino recently claimed that midfielder Christian Eriksen should improve on his ability to score. The Danish midfielder came to Tottenham with a huge reputation for his talent. However, a number of Premier League clubs, who were previously interested in the player, dropped out of the running due to concerns about the player’s ability to make an impact in such a physical league. It was a major factor in Spurs being able to bring the midfielder for a relatively low £11 million back in 2013.
Spurs’ judgement of the player was proved right when he played a major factor in the club’s push for the title last season. He provided an incredible 16 assists and scored eight goals in 47 appearances last season. Purely on his personal level, his best season would be the 2014-15 campaign in which he scored 12 goals from almost a similar number of appearances. The Eriksen of today seems like a shadow of the players in the last two seasons. Just two goals and three assists in 15 appearances have been a major factor in Pochettino singling out the 24-year-old.
As the influence of Dele Alli grows in the team, it is quite natural that a player like Eriksen experiences pressure from all fronts. Eriksen is also viewed as a playmaker just like Alli.
Fans, though, came up with positive and negative responses for the 24-year-old’s recent performance against Arsenal in the 1-1 draw. Eriksen failed to score a goal in the game, but he contributed immensely with his work rate that was second to none. Deployed in an attacking midfield position for the first time this season, Eriksen did not have much of an impact going forward much to the annoyance of Spurs supporters.
Eriksen could have won it but had a poor game overall. AGAIN #COYS
— ⓀⒺⓋⒾⓃ (@KevinMMathews11) November 6, 2016
#Eriksen does nothing defensively! He may aswell not even be in those positions!#COYS
— Tommy Caredda (@TCaredda) November 6, 2016
Vertonghen and Dembele were class today. However a shoutout for Eriksen, thought he played well today, starting point for improvement! (RW)
— COYS News (@CoysNews) November 6, 2016
In the end I would of taken a point on current form. Eriksen frustrates the hell out of me. Better performance than recent #COYS
— Sam Sharples (@sam_sharples) November 6, 2016
Eriksen had only two shots on target and failed to score with both of them. His pass accuracy of 76% was also lower than that of Arsenal’s attacking midfielder, Mesut Ozil. On a positive note, Eriksen was dispossessed only once compared to Ozil, who was dispossessed four times. The Danish international also was marginally better than Heung-Min, who was also deployed in a similar role to support Harry Kane. Recognizing the contribution made by the player in terms of work rate, several fans came out in support of the 24-year-old.
Eriksen covered every blade today and deserves a mention too because that was a big improvement on his recent performances.
— Chris Miller (@WindyCOYS) November 6, 2016
Fantastic performance. Decent result. Vertonghen, Rose, Dembele and Eriksen all outstanding today! #COYS
— Howler96 (@Howler96) November 6, 2016
Pochettino’s open statement with regard to Eriksen came about a week ago. Speaking to London Evening Standard, he said:
“[Eriksen] needs to improve and he needs to be more determined to score.”
Eriksson’s biggest contribution in the last 10 games was the solitary assist against West Brom. Of course, he has two goals during the period but they were against lower league Gillingham. It is clear that Eriksen has to step up his game in order to stay in the team.
