Eriksen will be our best signing of the summer, hope it happens. A versatile creative player? Yeah, we have no need for one of those
Actually I do think we have a need for a number 10 or a wide creative player but I'm just not sure Eriksen is up to it. Mind you, I thought Ibrahimovich was **** for a long time so what do I know.
:ross:Agree.
Eriksen is not even the best left-sided Danish attacker at Ajax (Fischer is).
The thing is GB, you're basing your opinion on two or three games at Euro 2012 and have been repeating it ever since, so me arguing your point seems a bit futile.
Is Eriksen at all pacey enough to play that cutting in from the left role that Willian would have played? Not that you need to be pacey to go on the outside, but you do need to be a bit nimble as well as possessing the goal threat to make an impact from one of those positions. We simply don't need him for the number 8 role with Sig and Paulinho.
And if not Eriksen for that role, then who?
He was shockingly bad at the Euros, and always is on the international stage.
I have seen a couple of Ajax CL games since, and while he's tidy, games just pass him by/he doesn't stamp any authority on matches.
I wouldn't call him slow, but one-paced. He's nothing like Willian at all, he'd be similar to on the left to what we've seen of Siggy (decent, but not really ideal).
Proper alternatives to Willian for that role were discussed in the old Willian thread, but included:
- Griezmann
- Muniain
- Draxler
- Fischer
- Dzagoev
- Turan
Chief footballer writer at the Daily Mail:
Rob Draper @draper_rob 1m
My info is that Eriksen to Spurs is now very close. As said on Sun, he is the Willian alternative/Bale replacement
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Banega and Hernanes both play better in the cm role so i don't see either of them happening.
I have some major concerns about Eriksen.
First, he was 21 in February. So he's getting on a bit.
Second, he has played 112 times for Ajax, scoring 25 goals, and has 37 senior caps for Denmark. Those stats say just one thing to me: he must have bunked off school a hell of a lot. Sounds like a disciplinary nightmare in the making.
Third, Ajax has a long tradition of allowing second-grade hoofers onto their first team. Basically any jackass who shows up and runs around a bit can get a game with them (their scouting and coaching are well known to be embarrassingly sub-par).
Fourth, at 21 years of age Gareth Bale was the finished article. His decline only happened between the ages of 21 and 24. As they say, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.
So there are troubling signs there for sure.