3 Areas for Christian Eriksen to Improve on to Become a Tottenham Hotspur Great
Christian Eriksen is the kind of conundrum most teams wish they had. A footballing equivalent of rich people problems, if you will.
The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder is a skillful reader of the game, a player whose quicksilver style is in keeping with an overall mercurial nature. He treads the right side of that line more often than not, but aged 24, he is still working to find an even greater consistency.
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In looking at the areas Eriksen can still improve in to become a true Tottenham great, it is important to note upfront all he has already achieved.
The former Ajax man was a saving grace in a 2013-14 campaign where Andre Villas-Boas' sacking transformed it into an unanticipated transitional one. Spurs fans rewarded his enhancing of a potentially bland season by voting the successful new signing their Player of the Year.
Eriksen was crucial to the midseason upturn that eased latest boss Mauricio Pochettino into his stewardship last time out and notably fired Spurs into the Capital One Cup final with a brace against Sheffield United. This time around, his post-Christmas form has been a big boost to the team's ongoing title challenge.
That a player relatively subject to the whims of an enviable muse has already contributed so significantly to Tottenham's recent development says a lot. Even if he does not reach much higher, he has found and maintained a level in north London that deserves credit.
Perhaps with the following improvements, though, Eriksen could truly cement his place among the club's best.
Set Pieces
"Christian Eriksen: Has scored more goals from direct free-kicks (5) than any other player in the PL since the start of last season
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) October 11, 2015"
As the above statistic from last October shows, Eriksen is not too shabby when it comes to free-kicks.
A week prior, he had scored two of them in a 2-2 draw with Swansea City. Previous entries to his impressive set-play resume included the cross-goal beauty that opened the scoring in the aforementioned semi-final against Sheffield United.
Eriksen has not found the net from a dead-ball situation since Swansea.
He has gone close plenty of times. Opposition goalkeepers still have to be prepared for a usually curling effort looking to catch them out. But none have done so since.
If Eriksen's goal-minded free kicks can be described as lacking a consistent end product, his other set pieces—chiefly corner kicks—warrant the more harsh description of being erratic.
For every inch-perfect delivery, like his assist for Toby Alderweireld's near-post header in the 4-1 win over West Ham United, there are several more that fail to beat the first defender—a frustrating waste of an often-hard-earned forward advantage.
Eriksen more than makes up for deficiencies here with work elsewhere and, again, he possesses talent in this area most can only wish for.
But him finding a more regularly reliable range in these moments (especially when it comes to providing for team-mates) would make Tottenham an even more dangerous attacking outfit than they already are. He more than has the ability here to make opponents genuinely fear handing them such opportunities to punish.
Goals
Eriksen has scored 30 goals in his almost three seasons with Tottenham, eight of which coming so far this term. His late winner on Valentines Day away at fellow title hopefuls Manchester City still potentially his most important for the currently second-placed side.
With a further 10 assists (plus two in Europe)—as tallied by WhoScored.com—he has contributed significantly to his team's status as the Premier League's top scorers.
The argument that he needs to score more is lessened somewhat by his leading Spurs' creative efforts. Nevertheless, he is also a player who clearly identifies scoring as a big part of his individual game.
Speaking to Tottenham's official website at the end of last season, Eriksen expressed his pleasure at scoring double figures for the second year in a row. A similar satisfaction was found in his goal in the win over Bournemouth last month (see below)—his first in nine matches since his Man City strike.
With team-mates like Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Erik Lamela scoring plenty, Eriksen providing nearly 10 of his own every year would be more than adequate.
But as a player capable of making such a difference—via set plays and in smart, positive analyses of in-game situations—he may still feel he can score more.
Take Ownership in His Adjusted Role
Tottenham's 3-0 win over Manchester United last Sunday was arguably Eriksen's best match of the season. Even prior to his perfectly weighted assist for Alli's opener and involvement in Lamela's goal, he had been extremely influential.
Left-back Danny Rose benefited from frequent passes to run on to down the flank. When he changed direction and switched it to Kyle Walker, it led to one of Spurs' best first-half chances.
Others too were created for, while in the second-half, he was as responsible as anyone for the pressure continuing to be applied to Man United.
From an increasingly familiar nominal (inside) left-midfield position, Eriksen found ways to direct his team's efforts manipulating United.
That has not always been the case.
In preceding seasons, his selection out wide often left him operating too much on the periphery. He was still an attacking threat but not as involved as when deployed centrally (even then this writer argued still a deeper midfield role could at least sometimes be more conducive to his shaping games than the advanced one he predominantly occupied here).
But this year, the emergence of Alli in attacking midfield has been a blessing for Eriksen. The youngster's more focused, dynamic style has helped lessen the creative burden on the Dane.
What encouraged about his work against United—and what he must continue to try and do moving forward—was the ownership he took of these adjusted responsibilities. Where the previous workload was maybe a tad too much for an artistic-minded presence, this less pivotal but still potentially fruitful assignment suited him well.
Credit is due to Pochettino for finding a better fit for the playmaker's temperament. Eriksen's newer role may well be the making of him.
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