Tottenham’s Eriksen Omitted from Denmark’s Olympic Squad
Christian Eriksen will be a part of Mauricio Pochettino’s squad after the Tottenham midfielder was omitted from Denmark’s Olympic squad.
After allowing Son Heung-Min to join South Korea’s Olympic squad next month as an over-age player, Christian Eriksen who would be eligible for the same position with Denmark, was curiously omitted by Niels Frederiksen based on a report by the London Evening Standard.
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It’s quite a shock to see Denmark’s Under-23 team go into the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro without the likes of Christian Eriksen who could potentially help them win the gold medal after being grouped with Iraq, South Africa and Brazil in Group A.
But if Frederiksen doesn’t need the 24-year-old Danish international, then this will be a big boost for Tottenham who will begin their Premier League campaign against Everton on August 13. Which is three days after the final group stage fixtures take place.
Had Denmark’s Under-23 coach selected Christian Eriksen there’s a possibility that Tottenham’s season might have stuttered out of the gates like it did last season going winless in August.
The loss of Son Heung-Min hurts Mauricio Pochettino’s bench just a bit due to the South Korean’s versatility to play along all three attacking midfield positions. But being able to keep the Danish playmaker due to his omission by Frederiksen, is a fair trade-off.
Eriksen who is coming off of yet another productive season with Spurs, where he scored eight goals and had 16 assists in 47 appearances in all competitions last season, will look to provide Pochettino with some more fine play at left midfield.
Interestingly enough, while Christian Eriksen has mostly spent his entire Tottenham career sitting behind the striker at the number 10 position, he has found more freedom out wide than inside.
A part of that is due to less players crashing down onto him while he pushes through the opposition’s defense in midfield. But another good reason has been the combination of Dele Alli and Harry Kane working together.
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With Alli’s quick rise from Spurs’ bench to a starting role (due to injuries at central and attacking midfield respectively, plus his superb form), teams had to pick and choose where to defend Tottenham’s incoming attack.
And most times, they would be wise to stop Dele Alli and Harry Kane as the two players combined for 35 goals and 10 assists in the Premier League.
This has no doubt given Eriksen more space to work with out wide and from the numbers that he put up by playing half of his games at left midfield last year, it’s to be expected that he will do the same once again this August.
Playing for Denmark’s Under-23 team and getting a chance to win an Olympic gold medal would have been a good way to end Christian Eriksen’s summer after the senior national team was unable to qualify for the European Championship last month.
But to make up for the fact that he won’t be on international duty until World Cup qualifiers this September, Eriksen can look forward to helping Tottenham start fast this season where other top four hopefuls will be sporting what should be some big changes in their starting XIs and managers (Chelsea and both Manchester clubs).
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With Spurs retaining their entire starting lineup because the 24-year-old Danish midfielder won’t go to Rio, it’s imperative that Tottenham’s third season under Mauricio Pochettino starts off right and ends on a better note.