If that's true, you have to wonder how the fudge Levy does it.
I have to say, I felt the CL final was the end of the line for this group of players sadly. They should have won a trophy and we can point fingers at whoever we want for that but sadly for them, Poch and for us, it didn't happen. But it did feel that for that amazing core, it really was the end of an era. And so it is beginning to prove.
Eriksen leaving, Rose looking likely to follow. Verts probably not going to be here beyond May. Toby will probably be phased out in the next 18-24 months. Dembele gone, Wanyama broken, Dier potentially so too.
Let's see where the new phase, new group of players will take us. Hopefully over the finishing line.
Also wonder whether Inter will regret approaching this deal Levy style. They're involved in a tight title race against Juve and have really dropped some very important points in the last few games. Perhaps if they'd just paid up at the beginning of the window, Eriksen may have made a difference in some of those games. Coulda, woulda, shoulda....
He was supposedly our "virtuoso" though. How may times have you heard "when Eriksen plays well, Spurs play well", and (unfortunately) more to the point, "when he disappoints, Spurs disappoint".
Re: Christian Eriksen - Confirmed
Funny to look back at page 1. From fresh-faced and eager....to haggard and spent! Laterz.
Liverpool did play very poorly on the night. They constantly turned over possession and looked jittery until that late Origi goal.
We created about 3 opportunities where we were 2v2 or 3v3 against their backline and between them the players were unable to work the opening. Effectively we'd done the hard work to undo Liverpool's press and defensive structure but when it came to the crunch Son, Eriksen, Dele were unable to come up with the goods. I exclude Kane because the openings arrived because he'd drawn VVd out and created the space for the others to run into.
We actually controlled possession and tempo in the game but for me the front players were a huge let down on the night.
They shoulda told Levy they would pay 20m on the 1st Jan, 19.5m on the 2nd Jan, 19m on the 3rd Jan etc...Also wonder whether Inter will regret approaching this deal Levy style. Perhaps if they'd just paid up at the beginning of the window...
I agree with virtually all you say, except that in the biggest of games, he failed to turn up. To be a truly world class player, one should have the capability as well as the mental fortitude to grab the key games by the scruff of the neck and turn them to our advantage. Sadly, he wasn't able to -and, for me, that will be his enduring legacy unfortunately.
And, I suspect, that is the reason why he never got his dream move to Real Madrid or Barca.
Fair enough mate, but I wouldn't restrict that failing to just him - half the team fell at the final hurdle on a regular basis, unfortunately. Something about the meteorology of the group he was part of.
Dele even admitted it after we threw away the FA Cup semi-final in 2018 - 'we can't keep doing this'. It was just part of the group meteorology, and I think Eriksen wasn't alone in being unable to truly dominate the biggest stages.
Sorry have to say, I don't think he's better than Silva.
No disgrace in that of course and I echo every thing else you say but can't agree on that one.
When your teams play relies on one mans creativity then you could say his ability to perform on the big stage would be key above all others - he was the man who supposedly made us tick afterall...
Running harder doesn't make him better and Silva was quite dynamic. I saw Silva for both Valencia and City. Silva is a better player than Eriksen - mentally as well.No worries, mate. I personally think he was - Silva has the advantage of six years' worth of experience over Eriksen, but Eriksen ran far harder than Silva ever did, while maintaining a comparable attacking output.
Maybe he is a big part of that malaise due to his mental issues. I mean this is a guy who cannot get the job I’ve the line and perform in his biggest games. He can do everything up to that point. In the biggest game of his career and he won’t get bigger he was out played by Danny Ross, Harry Winks and Sissoko... players who are not as good as him but know how to turn up when it mattersHe wasn't that central to our play, though. It's hard to explain given that he almost never missed a game, but I think we only grew overly reliant on him to deliver a bit of magic from about the second half of 2017/2018 onwards. Before that, the team could comfortably decimate anyone we came up against, with or without an on-form Eriksen. After about January 2018, we became almost purely focused on individual moments of brilliance to carry us over the line - the 'air raid' strategy of high-volume, low-probability attacks to make up for our utter lack of a midfield.
But we weren't always as reliant on Eriksen as we were towards the end - he was just what made an already impressive team damn-near perfect. Didn't stop us choking on the biggest stages, though - right from the Carling Cup final in 2015. Something about the team just wasn't conducive to taking that final step, and I maintain that Eriksen wasn't alone in suffering from that malaise.
I don't think you can blame one player when the whole team don't perform, after all we wouldn't singularly praise Eriksen when the whole team did perform. I think the main reason we lost semi finals and finals under Poch was because we typically had a tiny squad with little decent cover and by the end of the season we would have a mixture of injuries and fatigue and come up against teams who had spent more on having bigger, deeper squads and could come into those games fitter and fresher.When your teams play relies on one mans creativity then you could say his ability to perform on the big stage would be key above all others - he was the man who supposedly made us tick afterall...