Legendary Denmark midfielder Michael Laudrup has claimed that Chrisitan Eriksen’s struggles at Inter Milan are to do with his failure to adapt culturally to life in Italy rather than a case of him not tactically suiting Serie A.
Eriksen was rated as one of the best-attacking midfielders in world football two years ago and there was hardly any club in Europe that would not have wanted the 28-year-old at that point.
However, his performance levels dropped off considerably in the last year or so at Tottenham and he eventually ended up moving to Inter Milan in January of this year.
The Dane would have been hoping that a new challenge at the San Siro would have helped spark him back into life but that has not proven to be the case.
He has struggled for consistent game time under Antonio Conte, with reports now indicating that the Serie A giants are looking to get rid of him when the transfer window reopens in January (FC Inter News).
Eriksen has reportedly even been offered back to Spurs as well as other Premier League clubs (Football Insider).
Speaking about his compatriot’s struggles at Inter, Laudrup told TV3 (as relayed by Goal.com): “I don’t believe he is not suitable for Italian football.
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“He’s obviously a great player. He has two midfielders behind him and a giant like Romelu Lukaku who moves a lot and Lautaro Martinez, who is technically strong, ahead of him.
“There can be so many other things behind it. Mentally and culturally and things like that. But I can’t believe he can’t adapt tactically.
“I see that the local press, especially La Gazzetta dello Sport which is based in Milan, they have journalists who are already writing that his experience is coming to an end. They’ll get this information from somewhere, maybe also from the club.
“I think Eriksen might want to look around for something new. But it’s not easy either. It is not easy to find a club that wants to pay a lot of money for him, considering how little he played.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I thought Italian football would suit Eriksen down to a tee as he would have more space and time on the ball to show his quality. However, I always suspected that Antioni Conte and the Dane will not be a good match.
Conte has always preferred an extremely physical midfield who play with intensity and are good in both offensive and defensive transitions. That has never been Eriksen’s strong suit as does not offer much without the ball.
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