Having expectantly spent the money raised from the record sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid on a ‘magnificent seven’ featuring;Â Paulinho, Christian Eriksen, Roberto Soldado, Nacer Chadli, Etienne Capoue, Vlad Chiriches and Erik Lamela, only Christian Eriksen stands out as an undoubtedly successful purchase for the London club. Add Hugo Lloris into the mix and you probably have Tottenham’s only real world class players, although honourable mentions are reserved for the likes of generally impressive Jan Vertonghen, Aaron Lennon. Erik Lamela (at times this season at least), and young bloods Ryan Mason and Harry Kane.
With a youth footballing education coming at the illustrious Amsterdam Arena, the man nicknamed ‘The Prince of Denmark’ was soon picking up awards left, right and centre in the form of; Danish Football Player of the Year, Dutch Football Talent of the Year, Ajax Talent of the Year, and UEFA U-21’s Team of the Tournament. The flamboyant attacking midfielder was also the youngest player of the 2010 World Cup nonetheless. 3 Eredivisie titles in 3 years preceded Eriksen’s move to Spurs accompanied by the Tottenham Hotspur Player of the Year 2013/2014 award in his debut full season in the English Premier League. The Dane’s £11m reported transfer fee quickly looking like a saving-grace bargain for the boys from White Hart Lane.
Spurs solid league form unsurprisingly comes hand in hand with the ever impressive displays of the (still only) 22 year old. Quickly fashioning himself as a dead ball specialist Eriksen is the league’s top scoring midfielder with 9 goals so far this season. This could well be due to a slight change in the Spurs system allowing the versatile playmaker to roam around with fluidity in a 3 man attacking midfield unit. Recently the former Manchester United target netted twice against Sheffield United in a 2-2 draw in the League Cup semi-final second leg, sending Spurs into a glamorous London derby final against rivals Chelsea. The tie at Wembley gives Eriksen his first shot at silverware since moving to North London. The weekends fixtures proved more of the same with Eriksen bagging another set piece in a 3-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion. The game featured 2 goals from fellow impresser and fan favourite Harry Kane, the first a penalty dispatched inch-perfect and the 2nd a great team goal which will have pleased Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino. Eriksen had Spurs’ most successful attacking third passes in the game, most successful take-ons, 3rd most passes in total, and 5th most ball recoveries, a side to his game which often goes unnoticed.
A player capable at playing in any top team in world football, it wont be too long before numerous clubs come knocking. The big question is can Tottenham keep hold of him? The same question begs to be answered about sort after goalkeeper Lloris. A trophy this season will certainly help the cause so expect a proper derby cup final on March 1st- Capital One cup or not. Â If Spurs do manage to retain their top talents, and this seasons new manager Pochettino can bring in some top quality fresh faces, Spurs will have a squad capable of seriously challenging the top 4 spots year in year out and from then on, who knows? What is for sure is that Christian Eriksen is worth watching wherever he plays.
