Christian Eriksen Wins His Tottenham ‘Spurs’ For March

Christian Eriksen topped the HotspurHQ poll to earn his Tottenham Hotspur ‘Spurs’ for his consistent and sometimes outstanding displays in the month of March.

We always knew that the month of March was going to be difficult for Tottenham in both the Premier League and European games, and so it proved. Two wins, an honourable draw in Lisbon and 4 defeats with a number of very disappointing performances littered with individual errors which proved costly on every occasion was a poor return. Which player came through this month with some credit to earn their ‘Spurs’ for March?

The HotspurHQ ‘Spurs’ awards take in the 7 matches played in March – 5 in the Premier League plus the 2 Europa League games. After each match the readers of our blog voted for the player who has been deserving of his ‘Spurs’. Ten players have been placed in the top three on at least one occasion – the player with the highest % votes cast in each match receives 3 points, second gets two and 3rd claims 1 point.

I am grateful to all the loyal readers of HotspurHQ who completed the poll after each game so that we can now acknowledge the endeavours of those who showed application against some tough opponents. If only the other players had shown the same effort we might be looking back at a better month.

In total, 10 players earned a mention for their contribution during the month but with very poor performances against Chelsea, in the 1st leg against Benfica and at Liverpool, the ‘no-one’ option was again used in those games. Against Chelsea it was the top choice while it was second for the Benfica and Liverpool games.

Christian Eriksen: 1st

Christian Eriksen [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]Eriksen won his ‘Spurs’ for the month of March with consistent displays in the four matches he started in March. He topped the poll on two occasions for his performances against Benfica and Southampton at White Hart Lane. His goal against Benfica gave Tottenham a glimmer of hope in the second half but it was quickly snubbed out when Benfica scored their third goal.

Eriksen was the ‘star’ against Southampton, his two goals bringing Spurs back from a two goal deficit and he laid off the pass for Sigurdsson’s winner. Eriksen’s displays against Arsenal and at Liverpool were also noted when he finished 3rd in the poll. The Danish international was also influential when coming on late in the game in Portugal when Spurs came very close to an outstanding result. In a month of few high points, Eriksen was the one player who contributed most to those memorable moments.

Nacer Chadli/Roberto Soldado = 2nd

Nacer Chadli’s free-kick [Photo: Alan Hill]Chadli and Soldado finished = 2nd, topping the poll once and finishing 2nd on another occasion.

Chadli earned praise for his contribution in the north London derby when he finished 2nd in the poll. In fact, had he scored early in the second half when a chance came to him, he would probably have finished top of the poll in that match. His two goals and all-round display in the Europa League game in Lisbon earned him top place.

Roberto Soldado [Photo: Alan Hill]Soldado scored the winner against Cardiff in the opening game of the month. He finished 2nd in the win over Southampton when he displayed some delightful first touch football in linking up with Eriksen. He also set up the second of Eriksen’s goals in that match. Soldado has come in for much criticism this season with his lack of goals and missing easy chances but he has received considerable support in recent games with everyone hoping that he can rediscover his goalscoring form.

Honourable Mentions

Cardiff (h): Michael Dawson finished 2nd in the pol while Aaron Lennon was 3rd.
Chelsea (a): Sandro was 2nd with Emmanuel Adebayor 3rd.
Benfica (h): Sandro was 3rd in the poll, the second time he was included in the top 3.
Arsenal (h): Adebayor who worked tirelessly against his former club topped the poll, ahead of Chadli and Eriksen.
Benfica (a): Nabil Bentaleb was 2nd for his all-round contribution in Lisbon while Zeki Fryers who played in the unfamiliar central defensive role was third.
Southampton (h): Gylfi Sigurdsson who was a half-time substitute helped Spurs to turn the game around and scored the late, late winner which earned him a place on the honours list in 3rd place.
Liverpool (a): As has happened on a number of games this season, while Spurs have lost heavily, Hugo Lloris was not regarded as being to blame. His total commitment at Anfield saw him come out top even though he was beaten four times. In his defence, the defenders in front of him let him down badly.

With only 6 games to play, please continue to give your feedback through the polls and the comments box so that come the end of the season, we can nominate out Player of the Season.

Thanks. COYS!