Yeah he's not there just yet but I think Eriksen can reach the level of Rafa and beyond. I think he's special enough in the current team as we don't have anyone else who can create like he does. I'd rather keep it how it is with Eriksen at the moment, in terms of giving him "freedom" so to speak rather than see him track back and defend too much. Understandable if it's in the last 10 mins and we're on the back foot but otherwise, I'd rather Eriksen be the man the team looks for to make attacks happen and I think he needs to be as far up the pitch as possible to make the desired impact. Sandro/ Paulinho/ Dembele/ Capoue and possibly Bentaleb in the future are great players to have helping out the back four when on the back foot, not forgetting Lennon's work rate too, I don't think Eriksen is needed too much defensively providing players stick to their tasks.
How often do players "reach the level" of that Player? you know where everyone says "he is the next" or "this player could be". Erksen does look to be a talent but VDV was something special and SOS i know you think highly of Eriksen but beyond VDV? well I hope so and I hope it happens in a spurs shirt!
The longer you wait the more chance its intercepted...there's always an argument against.! Trust me, I've seen plenty of instances of that with him, waiting for a ball still that was never going to reach him...if only he'd moved!...nah, much better to throw your arms up and call it a **** pass.
VDV was quality, for a maximum of 75mins a game. Don't get me wrong, great player, but he wasn't fit enough and he got injured a lot too.
I went out for a smoke and when I came back in they were talking about United-Chelsea. The game should be on On Demand so I might watch that bit at the end later.
You can argue agaisnt every situation but some players have better awareness then others. Parker would run around like a headless chicken, work hard but leave gaping holes in midfield while a player like Makelele would use his awareness and reading of the game to intercept and still keep the midfield tight. A player like Berba would see 2, 3 4, maybe more running around him, he would stand there receive the ball and either assist or score a goal and then if he was on a hat trick he may sulk or throw his arms up if Keane never played him in!! Although Notso, remember Keane, running around, usually with his hands in the air!
I'm not just saying it Boss but I can't stress enough how much I rate the kid. I don't praise a player as high as I do like Eriksen without actually having watched the player for a few years. I've tracked Eriksen since he was breaking into the Ajax side and I said to friends back then that he's a special, special talent. From my personal opinion, I think Eriksen can definitely become a better player than Rafa. My only worry with Eriksen, is that if he does continue to improve like I predict he will, I doubt he'll be a Spurs player for more than 3-4 years unless we ourselves become a major force.
Berb was one of my favourite players, don't get me wrong, i can watch what he does with a ball allday, but if he's not in any sort of form, he's the biggest liability you'll ever have.
who knows, eh? Rafa was in his late 20's when he joined us and Eriksen is still only 21. If he continues to progress like he is, he could be something special and even surpass VDV. Exciting times. But like you say, it's whether he's in a spurs shirt. I have a feeling Eriksen will be the next Modric in terms of a transfer. I reckon we've got another 2 years before he's sold for £30m+, to a bigger club.
But to do that he has to play well and work hard to make himself always available. He improved after we scored on Sunday but I still think his passing is a bit sloppy at times and I think he could do with curbing his selfishness a bit too. Against Palace he spent the majority of the first half strolling around in the middle of the pitch doing what he wanted to do and leaving Rose a lot of work to do and before the match against Swansea Sherwood was talking about Chadli and Eriksen linking up and swapping positions yet I thought, if anything Eriksen avoided being on that side of the pitch in the first half. Sherwood seems to be managing it but I think we have to be a bit careful that we're not just letting him to whatever he wants because, as I say, he's not at the level of Bale or VDV yet.
Don't forget Eriksen was being played out of position, he's not really a LM/ LW. He's a creative CAM who likes drifting into the holes behind the striker and so I think it was to be expected that Rose wouldn't have cover. For as good as Rafa was, we rarely saw him track back to help out defensively and at times, was often drifting around not doing much. It was Rafa's match-winning ability that endeared him so much to us and we've yet to find a player who can come up in the big occasions on a regular basis like he did. We also brought in Rafa in his prime years after a spell at the one of the worlds best clubs, Eriksen is still technically a boy in footballing terms and is (in my opinion) fast becoming a key player here, especially if he continues to impact games with goals or assists. I see many similarities between the two and I think we need to utilise Eriksen's best attributes to help get him to Rafa's level (and beyond) rather than make him work on areas where he isn't effective and likely never will be.
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/foot...up-loan-move-for-Brazilian-midfielder-Bernard "Tottenham lining up loan move for Brazilian midfielder Bernard TOTTENHAM have stepped up their interest in bringing former Arsenal target Bernard to White Hart Lane on loan until the end of the season. Bernard was heavily linked with a move to Arsenal over the summer before ultimately plumping for a £20m move to Ukrainian side Shaktar Donetsk. But the 21-year-old has failed to make much of an impression at his new club and his agent has been making enquiries regarding the interest in his client throughout Europe. The former Atletico Mineiro star has played ten times for Brazil, but is concerned that his lack of playing time may affect his chances of making his nation's World Cup squad this summer. Tottenham's crowded midfield may not seem like the best place for any player to gain additional playing time, but that situation could change before the end of January." smells of bullshit to me, but i thought I'd post it for Boss' benefit
When we signed him we were told he could play out on the left weren't we? I've seen him getting stuck in and tracking back for us too, particularly against United, so there's no reason he shouldn't be able to do it. The rest is pretty much what I'm trying to say. Eriksen isn't Rafa, not yet at least, so as he isn't as good we can't afford to just give him license to do whatever he wants. Even Ozil doesn't get that at Arsenal, he still has to track back and fill into different positions at times. It's in Eriksen's interest to make it work in other positions and offer more than just an attacking threat too, he came to us with a reputation for inconsistency and I think it's daft to expect the rest of the midfield to pick up the slack in defence and attack when he's having an off day. With Bale in a free role we were lucky because he was incredibly consistent, when VDV had an off day we had Bale and Modric who could dominate and win the game for us, at the moment we only have Adebayor and a striker can't do everything by himself.
The Bernard rumours sound like just that, if he really wanted playing time he'd go to Everton, Saints, or even United.
He can play on the left but he's not as effective as when he's played as a number 10. Yeah Utd he did track back well but then I think he needed too, Utd at Old Trafford being 2-1 down means they'll come at you and everyone needs to put a shift in at a ground like that if you want to come away with anything. I wouldn't expect him to track back much during a match against most other sides though when he's playing the number 10 role, unless, as I mentioned previously, we're on the back foot with a small lead with 10 or so minutes left. I can't say I've watched Ozil enough at Arsenal to say if he does or doesn't track back, I know he never used too at Bremen and whenever I watched him at Madrid he had little impact defensively. Surely if we want Eriksen to reach Rafa's level, we have to play him similarly to how we did with Rafa? Otherwise we'll be forcing him to do things he's probably not good/ interested in doing which could stump his progression in the things he is good at. I wouldn't want Sandro to work on his playmaking abilities or Lennon to work on headers, I'd rather they focus on their strengths and look to improve them, especially as we have players who specialise in other players' weaknesses. Bale became a unique specimen, you can't keep using him as an example to Eriksen because we'll likely never see a player like that at the Lane again. It's like comparing Antonio Valencia or Ashley Young with Cristiano Ronaldo. Eriksen and Adebayor are the two who are currently winning games for us (since Tim took over), if they don't perform - which at the moment hasn't happened - we have others who can have a moment of brilliance. Dembele has shown he has the ability to step up and we all know Lennon can have a say, plus the likes of Townsend, Paulinho and when he finally adapts, I'd like to think Lamela will become someone we can rely on too. Under Tim we look a completely different side with players finally flourishing because they're being played in a manner and style that suits them. I wouldn't want players playing a system/ style/ role that their not comfortable with as otherwise how can we expect to see the best of them? Eriksen as a number 10, creating and scoring is what he does best and since Sherwood took over that's exactly what he's been doing.
No chance of Bernard. Lazy journalism in my opinion. Unless Spurcat can confirm or deny, I highly doubt a wide player is on a list of targets for Tim (at least not a priority anyway).
