Will Ajax Prodigy Lucas Andersen Escape Christian Eriksen's Shadow?
Lucas Andersen will continue to be compared and contrasted to former Ajax teammate and Danish compatriot Christian Eriksen.
"I know mostly about Danish players at Ajax," Eriksen said, per Peter Fraser at Sky Sports. "Hopefully Lucas Andersen will also get his chance this season."
| Denmark | RF/DLF/LW | 20 | 6'1" | 159 lbs |
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Fortuitously that chance presented itself to Andersen when the ball deflected into his path after Apoel Nicosia goalkeeper Urko Pardo saved the shot of Ajax right-forward Lasse Schone.
Unruffled by Apoel central midfielder Nuno Morais' desperate lunge, Andersen scored his first-ever goal in the UEFA Champions League.
Schone, a Danish international, ecstatically bear-hugged Andersen.
Then Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, Davy Klaassen, Thulani Serero, Nicolai Boilesen—another Dane—Nick Viergever, et al. joined in on the celebration knowing how much Andersen has struggled.
Andersen went from being a wunderkind at AaB, was dishing out a lesson in football to seasoned veterans in the Danish Superliga, to playing reserve football for Jong Ajax.
It must have been a crestfallen feeling since he arrived at Ajax in 2012 a more developed prospect than Eriksen did in 2008, who was not a first-team contributor at OB.
"We would have liked him [Eriksen] to stay at our club and to see him in our Superliga team eventually," then-OB director of sports Kim Brink said, per UEFA's official website. "But there has been such great interest in him lately that we realised it was unrealistic to keep him here."
Whereas, Andersen had begun his third top-flight season at AaB.
He was AaB's biggest talent since Jesper Gronkjaer, who went on to star for Ajax and received 80 caps for Denmark.
"The fact that Lucas has played so many matches in the Danish League at such a young age indicates that he is a great talent," Ajax technical director Marc Overmars said, per Ajax's official website (h/t Peter McVitie at Goal.com). "I expect him to further develop in the senior side."
Andersen started his Ajax career placidly, which was the opposite of what people expected of him given the teenage marvel status bestowed on his young shoulders.
Aside from a cameo role on his Eredivisie debut in a 2-0 win over Groningen and making up the numbers on the bench in a 0-0 draw against Utrecht, Andersen toiled away from the first team at Jong Ajax.
Having likened Andersen to a "young Michael Laudrup," then-Jong Ajax manager Gery Vink was left feeling underwhelmed.
Andersen scored once from 1,385 minutes of reserve football, per Transfermarkt.
A lack of productivity at a lower level plus the rise of fellow Dane Viktor Fischer was why Andersen assumed the role of a spectator, rather than being a contributor to Ajax's 2012-13 Eredivisie title.
The following season in an Eriksen-less Ajax (he moved to Tottenham Hotspur), it was time Andersen emulated his compatriot by taking his game to the next level.
It did not happen, as Andersen was surpassed by Eredivisie players around his age.
Players such as Davy Klaassen, Jean-Paul Boetius, Jurgen Locadia, Lucas Piazon, Memphis Depay and Richairo Zivkovic.
| Eredivisie 13-14 | Goals/Games | Shots Per Goal | Assists | Key Passes Per Game | Dribbles Per Game |
| Davy Klaassen (Ajax) | 10/26 | 4.4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.7 |
| Jean-Paul Boetius (Feyenoord) | 10/29 | 5.9 | 9 | 1.3 | 1.0 |
| Jurgen Locadia (PSV Eindhoven) | 13/31 | 5.3 | 5 | 1.1 | 0.3 |
| Lucas Andersen (Ajax) | 0/9 | 0 | 0 | 1.3 | 0.3 |
| Lucas Piazon (Vitesse) | 11/29 | 5 | 8 | 2.7 | 1.2 |
| Memphis Depay (PSV Eindhoven) | 12/32 | 13.5 | 7 | 2.7 | 3.2 |
| Richairo Zivkovic (Groningen) | 11/33 | 5.3 | 0 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
"I was training the U19s and could directly say to then-manager [Martin Jol]: 'You can take Christian [Eriksen] already'," then-Ajax youth manager Frank de Boer (now manager) said, per Amy Lawrence at The Guardian. "He might have more to come physically, but he is mentally ready."
Does Andersen lack the intangibles to thrive?
A red flag to De Boer last season was Andersen failing to play with a sense of urgency when given a rare start.
In a 0-0 draw against Waalwijk, a team that was later relegated to the Eerste Divisie, Andersen attempted the same number of shots (two) as centre-back Stefano Denswil.
One glaring problem Andersen encounters is he does not consistently take the ball past opposing players.
Last season, Andersen turned over the ball 62 percent of the time he attempted a take-on, per Squawka.
Is Andersen another more-hype-than-substance prospect, a la Froylan Ledezma?
"Costa Rican [teenager] Froylan Ledezma flew into Schiphol to sign for Feyenoord, but because Ajax had better airport contacts, Feyenoord's representatives were left in arrivals, while Ajax officials met Ledezma directly from the plane.
He signed for Ajax, leaving Feyenoord furious that their foes had kidnapped the player, though they had the last laugh when Ledezma failed to shine in Dutch football.
"
With Fischer recuperating from injury, Andersen is still competing for a starting spot, given the upside Ajax duo Anwar El Ghazi and Ricardo Kishna possess.
El Ghazi has outstanding physical attributes while Kishna is looking to push on after flashing incisive play last season.
This is why Andersen's goal against Apoel was paramount if he wants to avoid being another Ledezma.
Sure, it was a routine goal on the surface.
But in the long run, it could be career-defining if Andersen escapes the shadow of Eriksen by transitioning into a star at Ajax.
Statistics via WhoScored
