milo
Jack L. Jones
To get the best out of them we need to integrate them properly, that doesn't necessarily mean checking them in at the deep end. AVB did a good job of integrating the new players last season, so I trust his judgement on this.
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Christian Eriksen
- Thread starter spurspinter1
- Start date
To get the best out of them we need to integrate them properly, that doesn't necessarily mean checking them in at the deep end. AVB did a good job of integrating the new players last season, so I trust his judgement on this.
this. Whilst I am very keen and eager to see both in the team as soon as possible, it is important that they are integrated properly! I personally would give holtby a start in the Norwich game, I think he has earned it, and then bring eriksen on at around the 60-70 minute mark.
spurs' magna carter
Ronnie Rosenthal
http://www1.skysports.com/football/...iksen-says-tottenham-were-only-choice-for-him
Transfer news: Christian Eriksen says Tottenham were only choice for him
By Ejder Akbal | Last Updated: September 4, 2013 3:18pm
Christian Eriksen says Tottenham were the only club to show the required level of interest to secure his services during the summer transfer window.
After endless rounds of speculation and rumours linking him with clubs across Europe, Eriksen has finally taken the plunge and headed through the exits at Ajax.
Tottenham dug deep to acquire his undoubted potential and have added him a squad brimming with creativity and forward-thinking talent.
Still only 21 years of age, Eriksen accepts that he may have to be patient at White Hart Lane and wait for a regular first team role to become available.
He is, however, looking forward to taking on a Premier League challenge and is convinced that he made the right choice in joining Spurs.
Eriksen told Danish newspaper BT: "There were not that many clubs to choose from in the end and no-one were closer than Tottenham.
"There were a lot of rumours, but I only felt right about the approach from Tottenham. The club followed me for a long time and really showed intent.
"It was the whole package that attracted me. I spoke briefly with the manager and my impression is that he is a very good manager. The goal is to challenge for the title. That is what the club wants and that is what I want."
On swapping life in Holland for that in England, Eriksen added: "I understand this will be a different experience - how much it is still too early to say.
"I might need to acclimatise, so I am not expecting to play all the games. But then I don't know what the manager has planned for me.
"From the conversations I have had, they have indicated that they see me as an attacking midfielder, a creative player.
"They have also told me that you are expected to fight for a spot on the team because there are a lot of good players here. But, of course, I hope things will fall to my advantage."
Not going to get too excited but it really is becoming more and more obvious what the club's main goal is now.
Transfer news: Christian Eriksen says Tottenham were only choice for him
By Ejder Akbal | Last Updated: September 4, 2013 3:18pm
Christian Eriksen says Tottenham were the only club to show the required level of interest to secure his services during the summer transfer window.
After endless rounds of speculation and rumours linking him with clubs across Europe, Eriksen has finally taken the plunge and headed through the exits at Ajax.
Tottenham dug deep to acquire his undoubted potential and have added him a squad brimming with creativity and forward-thinking talent.
Still only 21 years of age, Eriksen accepts that he may have to be patient at White Hart Lane and wait for a regular first team role to become available.
He is, however, looking forward to taking on a Premier League challenge and is convinced that he made the right choice in joining Spurs.
Eriksen told Danish newspaper BT: "There were not that many clubs to choose from in the end and no-one were closer than Tottenham.
"There were a lot of rumours, but I only felt right about the approach from Tottenham. The club followed me for a long time and really showed intent.
"It was the whole package that attracted me. I spoke briefly with the manager and my impression is that he is a very good manager. The goal is to challenge for the title. That is what the club wants and that is what I want."
On swapping life in Holland for that in England, Eriksen added: "I understand this will be a different experience - how much it is still too early to say.
"I might need to acclimatise, so I am not expecting to play all the games. But then I don't know what the manager has planned for me.
"From the conversations I have had, they have indicated that they see me as an attacking midfielder, a creative player.
"They have also told me that you are expected to fight for a spot on the team because there are a lot of good players here. But, of course, I hope things will fall to my advantage."
Not going to get too excited but it really is becoming more and more obvious what the club's main goal is now.
glorygloryeze
Jack Jull
Has nobody noticed this post?? Lot's of interesting points to debate in this post...
AberYid
Steven Caulker
I'm going to answer it properly when I've had some sleep, until then I know Rossi is familiar with Eriksen, maybe he can help.
braineclipse
Steve Sedgley
Wouldn't Eriksen help alleviate a lot of the problems you highlight if he's played as part of a midfield 3 in a 4-3-3 (4-1-2-2-1) formation alongside say Paulinho with Sandro behind them?
Eriksen can then take part in our buildup play and mix it up when to slip forward into space when it's there.
If Eriksen is going to play a traditional number 10 role far up the pitch and wait for the right pass, somewhat similar to what Sig has done at times and a similar role to what Sig has played on the left, then I can see a lot of the problems you highlight being more of an issue.
AberYid
Steven Caulker
I think you do Dembele and Eriksen a bit of accidental disservice here. Sure, Mousa can hold on to the ball too long - but he too often has no-one competent to pass to. Eriksen will be that man, I hope (Holtby could too) - he is majestic at picking up space, he is very intelligent. All those times a player is between a DM and CB, or a CB and FB, and the defenders never know which one is going to the man? Eriksen will love those spaces. As for players running off him, I think it does happen, and certainly will happen more and more under Eriksen's influence in midfield. Walker, Rose, Chadli and Townsend are willing run makers - though not always intelligent ones. Soldado will play on the shoulder, Eriksen can and will find him hundreds of times.
As for AVB making us a scary team - Affy, I have two words for you.
Just. Watch.
africanspurs
Justin Edinburgh
okay so eriksen is in the middle. what difference does that actually make to how we play? granted there is a factor that footballers tend to move more if they play with someone that they know can get the ball to them......its a trust and team work factor....chemistry and understanding.... but you still need people to move and in over a year AVB's team has not been that kind of fluid dynamic team
if you have a creative and technical player that plays in a rigid and structured team ...what effect does he have?
if eriksen is in the middle with two guys behind him....who is he releasing? and does he have the room to even release someone? if he is bouncing around midfield ala modric....or capoue according to you (have to say ..aside from physical space occupied and good defensive positioning i am still curious why you think he is similar to modric or carrick in a playmaker role. certainly didnt see it against arsenal...except for some crisp and composed passing from the back to other people that ran the team).....what's actually happening ...who is he getting the ball to? are we moving? the guys that he is feeding are they quick of mind and technical enough to make eriksen's efforts count?
play it out for me.
what people are trying to sell me is that one guy is going to solve ALL our attacking deficiencies that we have had since AVB took over...and thats even with bALE who ****s on eriksen. am just wondering how this is so
full backs will be pushing forward - Dembele/Paulhino (depending which starts) should get forward as well. plus the 3 forwards already in front - sounds like plenty of people for Eriksen to feed/play off of to me. Lamela seems more team orientated than Bale of last season from what i have heard so i imagine we'll be seeing some good inter play between the two.
nattenskonge
Drama queen
I think we are going to start him on the left side, to get to know game... and move him in after a time or against euro teams
africanspurs
Justin Edinburgh
when have we ever played like that regularly withing 90 mins under AVB?...overlapping fullbacks on both flanks.....marauding Cms from deep trying to support the front man...wingers on the last line of the defense...people moving all over the place
when? what game was that exactly where this clear trait was evident that it was screaming out for one last ingredient which is an eriksen type player?
we will have to change how we play and how bold we are going forward for a creative man to be of any use
Pirate55
The Last Man Standing 17/18
This. A completely different mindset is required, particularly at home if we are to beat the lesser sides who park the bus.
Mulletperm
Mauricio Taricco
The thing is, it’s not one player, it’s a couple of players (Hotly and Eriksen) who can bring out the best in the other quality signings we’ve only just made, along with time for them to gell together and start playing fast intricate football between each other, with plenty of incisive movement, rather than laboured and confused attacks which break down because of a lack of understanding or practice. You’re right that AVB’s teams aren’t full on attacking, they’re patient and build up, but they do get lots of goals through sustained pressure and possession along good, smart bursts of passing between players. We don’t have that this season but we saw the seeds of it last season.
For example, last season we had the second most shots per game (http://www.whoscored.com/Regions/25...amStatistics/England-Premier-League-2012-2013) and yet we scored almost nothing. What did we change to improve that? We bought in someone who can turn those innacurate shots, or pokes straight at the keeper, into goals in Soldado. The issue? We’re not getting as many shots now. Why? Because we’ve lost our main creative fulcrum in Bale and replaced him with Dembele or Sigg, who just aren’t showing the same threat. That lack of threat is more than just about bales masses of goals, it lets the opposition approach us in a whole different way.
A big difference for me is with a player like Eriksen (as with bale) hovering around the oppositions box, their centrebacks will want to actually take the ball off of him sooner as he can do some damage with time on the ball, as opposed to dembele who they will know they just need to pressurise to force him to pass backwards. Dembele can go round opposition midfielders for fun in his own half but once he gets to their box he stops, and teams will be well versed in that. He draws the player, then doesn’t have the confidence to pass round them (or does and it is intercepted, which happened a few times against ****) or he panics and passes back. Sigg seems to be similar in the he can pick out a shot but he doesn’t have the confidence to play a challenging ball, and he certainly never takes their defence on for us. He’s just not threatening, that could change with a run of form but in his appearances he’s offered the same sort of play as Dembele.
With Eriksen he has a lot less strength on the ball but if you watch the games he played against Emirates Marketing Project, it was clear that if you just pressure him he will enjoy drawing the player and using that space to either move into himself, win a foul, or play a ball to whoever moves into it. Who would have been moving into it? It could be any one of our striker, widemen, fullbacks or even the box to box midfielder depending on the state of transition we’re in and the area of the pitch.
You know it’s not as simple as highlighting individual scenarios –it’s not chess- but for the sake of argument lets take the arsenal game.
You have Capoue on the ball in our own half with paulinho and dembele 10 foot in front of him either way, the fullbacks sitting deep having just got back into position following an attack and the forward 3 in advanced positions with one winger out wide and another sitting further in. Capoues first move is to pass to either paulinho or dembele who will carry the ball until they’re pressured and they will then release the other one. In theory the fullbacks should now be pushing up, with the wingers stretching the play so that the fullbacks have plenty of space to move into and receive the ball.
But the problem is by this point dembele, as the advanced midfielder, is usually either under pressure by a defensive midfielder with a back 4 fairly close so he tends to pass back. If that isn’t enough to make him pass back straight away (it usually is at that point on the pitch, but lets say it isn’t) , they close off the angles and he’s put under pressure by a centre back (who isn’t afraid of leaving his position to pressure dembele at this point as there’s no way he’ll get through himself or pass through, and even if he did his final product is poor he’s unlikely to play in the marked Soldado regardless of the position he takes up).
So rather than play a one two with Soldado or a winger, pass into the fullback to combine with a winger, he turns and passes back to paulinho, who is then put under pressure and we’ve lost an momentum. That’s the key, if you pressure Dembele (or paulinho/capoue/sandro) effectively in the final third you’ve not only taken away his ability to shoot but you’ve also taken our other 3 offensive players out of the game, regardless of their movement, because he doesn’t have the ability to pick out a pass while under pressure like that. He might do it a few times a season but 99 times out of a hundred, nope.
With Eriksen (or holtby) the centerback can’t have the same confidence; he’s much more skilful than dembele but crucially he is a lot more aware of the state of play and has the ability to pick out a pass from far, far more situations. That’s dangerous for the defense because suddenly they have to actually worry about our marked offensive players, as well his own ability to score.
If you don’t pressure him from a couple of angles he will have time on the ball in front of their box, and he will pick out a pass (you’ve got 2 fast wingers dragging fullbacks all over the place, you can’t be giving him angles for through balls) or shoot, and given enough opportunities to do that we’ll score. So naturally the centreback will move up to support the midfielder, close off his forward passes and Soldado takes that space.
The centreback continues marking Soldado but the wingers at this point are also making runs (tracked by the fullbacks of course, you have one on one marking), then paulinho and fullbacks are also coming in from deep. Either their defensive midfielder moves up to occupy paulino (leaving Eriksen 1v1 with their cb – do they really want to do that?) or they bring someone in from their flanks (leaving their flanks overloaded). If they fail to do that the onrushing paulinho is unmarked for a layoff while all their defence is occupied. The beauty of a proper 433 is that there are so many opportunities to overload their defense.
This is assuming, of course that the opposition isn’t playing an ultra defensive formation; it’s hard to overload teams with 11 men behind the ball. But stick 11 men behind the ball and what unlocks them? Drawing fouls to get free kicks on the edge of the box, long range strikes after moving the ball around to get space, lofted, incisive passing; on all these things a proper AM is more effective than Dembele, who for all his ability is just not that dangerous a player. He’ll keep you possession all day and he breaks up opposition moves in advanced positions well, but he won’t lead to goals; Eriksen and his ilk will – it’s exactly what Bale did for us so many times last season and why he scored so many goals, it’s also why Hulk scored so many for Porto. Sustained pressure with 3 or 4 players who can score if you give them a moment of space means sitting in your own box is a risky business, it's exhausting to hold out like that for 90 minutes and we'll start to open teams up. Then obviously once you’ve scored the opposition has to come out and you get back to the earlier situation.
The thing is, i've had enough conversations with you about similar things to think you must know this, so i'm surprised you're not more optimistic about having more attacking options. You also know that’s just minor examples to prove a point, so you'll probably be able to pick holes in any number of points up there because they’re very, very rough examples to make a fairly simple point - that having a dangerous player in your team will force the opponents to react and think differently to having another offensively limited player; making the opposition react and think is how you create mistakes to capitalise on, how you manipulate their own formation is how you create opportunities and not least of all how you actually get enough skill on the pitch to create and score.
To put it another way if **** had been playing a defensive midfielder (if they had one…) instead of Carzola would we have pushed up our defence to pressure him and left space for Walcott to run into so often? Would he have actually been able to pick out their runners if we did leave space? If Walcott was injured and they’d played someone slower would we have worried about playing a highline, or would verts have pushed right up, matching their 4 (carzola moved infield) and overloading their flanks and defense?
Players attributes are what cause defences to come out of position, and they’re also what give you the quality to score. Eriksen has the right attributes for that compared to dembele, just like when we’re playing away at City I’m pretty sure we’ll need Dembele’s attributes over eriksens.
The last thing you need as well as the attributes of the players is for them to learn where their team mates will be, that’s something no amount of signings can fix and something we need patience for. I’ve made this comparison so many times now but look at Liverpool in the first and second halves of last season, that’s the difference that time can give you and I fully expect us to see the same over the next 6, 12 and 18 months.
Right, that was far, far too long to say ‘attacking players make you more dangerous when you’re attacking than defensive ones do’…
That's kind of what I thought too. Sandro, Paulinho, Eriksen in midfield, Lamela Lennon, Soldado up front. Then Eriksen kind of performs a combination of the roles played by Modric and Van Der Vaart when they were here. Paulinho can definitely get forward and support the attack too. If Soldado became isolated we could always switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation and move Eriksen into the #10 position. But I think AVB sees 4-3-3 as the way forward.
AberYid
Steven Caulker
This year is when we see AVB's real team, affy, let's be real. He's got all his signings, or the at least, the right ingredients for what he wants. I can't wait.
thfcsteff
George Hunt
Hate to get into 'what-ifs' but the truth is that AVB tried to get Willian two or three times and was 'that' close this time before dirty deeds and a filthy lucre agent moved the goalposts. I absolutely feel he would've ben the EXACT man to pick locks...I think Affy's point about pace/Ericsson is interesting and will be key...as will the ability of Sandro and Paulinho to move the ball quickly and accurately...