Spurs endured a tough away game in Germany on Tuesday, but the one occurring question after the 0-0 against Bournemouth was the continued frustration of Eriksen’s below-par performances. The Dane used to have his ‘number 23’ song blasted out around grounds everytime he scored a worldy or gave a fantastic assist. It seems an awful long time since I remember singing that melody and maybe that is down to the poor displays.
His desire has been questioned by former professionals and frustration is creeping in when he makes a bad decision in a good area of the field. Yesterday against the Cherries, he failed to send a through ball into the feet of Dele Alli- instead, over hitting the pass and conceding possession in a vital place.
Eriksen is a good player but many believed that his pay demand was subject to his poor performances at the beginning of the season, but that has since been resolved and he simply hasn’t reached his potential. Lamela had a sticky encounter yesterday, but has relished his chances under Pochettino. It does make us wonder how long it will take before the Dane is dropped because against West Brom too,he hadn’t his best game and seemed one step behind Dele and the forward line.
It seems too easy when Eriksen gets barged and blocked off the ball as the midfielder lacks strength and looks demoted of confidence. Under Tim Sherwood, he was the star of our midfield and relished being the main man; hence having a standout season in our worst season since 2007/2008. That campaign we finished sixth behind Roberto Martinez’s Everton and were miles behind the top four. Our midfield was filled with square pegs in round holes, with players like Capoue and an aging Lennon attempting to fill in the gaps left by Gareth Bale. These partners were fairly average and any decent player would look better with them.
I am not calling Eriksen overrated but his best season for us was when we had virtually nothing to play for and only really wanted to push towards a Europa League spot. It could be that our midfield has majorly improved since Pochettino walked through the White Hart Lane doors, and Eriksen is no longer impressing as much,due to players like Alli and Dier adding extra comfort in the central areas.
When the going gets tough, he seems to lack hunger and often goes missing when we really need light at the end of the tunnel- just look at the display against Bournemouth. He seemed to lack aggression and went missing in the first half.
He has had moments of brilliance this season, but his consistency has been a problem. That issue seems to be going under the radar as our unbeaten start is still in tact,but due to Sissoko not yet fully fitting in, the Dane has been given several opportunities to start and prove himself.
Eriksen has been very important for us and for our scheduled title and Champions League push, we need him to get up to tune in time for the Christmas run-in.
#COYS
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
