Crowded Middle

Article by Brent Weber

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Since the West Brom match, I have seen many comments on Twitter about benching Christian Eriksen because he isn’t playing well. Personally, I think Eriksen is our best attacking player. We have no other player that is good off the dribble or creative as him. I don’t think the problem is his play, I don’t think he is being utilised effectively. I have coached many sports teams through the years, some at very competitive levels and some at recreational levels. Regardless of the level or the sport, I always tried to give my best players the best opportunity the impact the game. Essentially, the more involved the best player, the better chance the team had to win.

Christian Eriksen needs to be used correctly and be given every opportunity possible to impact matches. Right now, our system is failing to give him those opportunities. While Chadli and Lamela are starting to show improvement, both are playing as inverted wingers. As a result, the middle of the pitch is extremely crowded which limits Eriksen’s ability to find space and make plays with the ball.

Lamela is left-footed and has been starting on the right. Chadli is right-footed and has been starting on the left. Eriksen has been starting in the #10 spot behind Adebayor. Both of these players are weak on their opposite foot and therefore always drift to the inside of the pitch which happens to be the same space where Eriksen is trying to work. Adebayor also contributes to the congestion because he tends to drop deeper into the midfield when he is not getting service instead of occupying the CB’s around the box. With Lamela and Chadli drifting inside and Adebayor dropping into the mid-field, we have no width in attack, space has been limited for creativity and attacking runs off the ball.

Chadli and Lamela deserve the opportunity to start based on their current form. But why can’t they start on their natural side with Lamela on the left and Chadli on the right? This simple change will create more width, more attack on the flanks, and open up the middle for Eriksen to operate. I know Townsend’s form has dropped off, but maybe Pochetinno should start him on the left side with Lamela on the right. Townsend plays better on the left side in my opinion and he definitely adds attacking pace to the match.

A change at striker could possibly help our attack as well. Adebayor’s form has dropped over the last two matches and his work rate has dropped off as well. He had a few good chances to score in the Sunderland and West Brom matches, but failed to convert. Soldado has been nothing but a disappointment since coming to Spurs last season, but he is great at link up play, and he tends to stay in the box and occupy the CB’s. He got on the score sheet this week and looked more active in the second half. He is a very skillful passer and he tends to play well with Eriksen. Pochetinno might need to give him a start against the Gunners!

Another option is to play Eriksen on a wing or even in a deeper midfield role. He is not incredibly pacey, but he is crafty enough to play on a wing. He played on the left last season and also played wing for Ajax. Moving him deeper would possibly allow him more space to create also as long as he is paired with a tough tackler like Capoue. He is not best tackler, but he is great on the dribble, a great passer, and has the vision to create from a deeper position. This change could allow Lamela or Chadli to play in the #10 spot with Lennon or Townsend assuming the wing position.

Obviously I am not a top quality manager like Pochetinno, but I am smart enough to know you can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results (definition of insanity). When Eriksen plays well, we typically play well. He is essentially the engine of our attack. I’m convinced that our season will be determined by how well he plays. Pochetinno needs to make changes to give him as much freedom, space, and opportunity as possible to create scoring chances for himself and his teammates. This could mean putting him in different positions, using different formations, or starting different personnel around him.

We have a tough stretch of matches coming with Arsenal, Soton, and City over the next 3 weeks. To be successful, we put our best player in a position to make plays!

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