How Tottenham Get More Goals from Eriksen

By Ryan Wrenn | Dec 2, 2016

Christian Eriksen of Tottenham Hotspur FCduring the Champions League group E match between Bayer Leverkusen and Tottenham Hotspur on October 18, 2016 at the Bay Arena in Leverkusen, Germany(Photo by VI Images via Getty Images) /

Exciting as Christian Eriksen’s first Premier League goal of the season might have been, it needs to be the start of robust contributions to Tottenham’s campaign.

It wasn’t too long ago that Eriksen looked to be evolving into a goal and assists machine. He scored seven times and set up eight other goals in his debut season for Tottenham only to become one of the club’s top scorers with ten goals in his sophomore year with the club.

While he’s renown for his set piece goals, Eriksen’s potency comes much more from open play situations. When given the freedom to do so, he has a way of finding space on the edge of the opposition area. His excellent passing vision lends itself well to that kind of situation, allowing him to thread shots past goalkeepers.

Something began to shift last season however. Eriksen’s goal tally plummeted — he only scored three times in 2015/16 — while his assists shot up to 13 in 35 league appearances.

Eriksen’s struggles were hardly noticeable thanks in large part to the goals scored by newcomer Dele Alli. The 19-year-old scored ten goals and set up nine others last season, making him the second most prolific Tottenham player after Harry Kane.

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Perhaps unsurprisingly, Eriksen’s woes might be a direct consequence of the young England international’s rise to prominence. It’s all a matter of space.

When it became clear that Alli was a genuine goalscoring threat, Mauricio Pochettino wanted to make sure that he was put into the best place to score those goals. Unfortunately for Eriksen, that place happened to be the number 10 spot right behind Kane. It allowed Alli the space to drop deep and push up as needed, either in support of Kane or simply on his own.

Eriksen was shifted to the left in what felt like a natural move. Even when he starts at the center of the attack, the Dane tends to slide in that direction anyhow. Pochettino hoped he could get the best of all three worlds with minimal impact.

It was a plan that worked in fits. The problem, essentially, is that Eriksen isn’t a wide player. He tends to play narrow, filling the void left by Alli as he moved forward to pair with Kane. While he was able to rack up a decent haul of assists playing mostly on the left, his goals all but dried up.

The trend seemed set to continue this season, but it’s hit some unexpected bumps. Alli’s struggled to reclaim some of that spark from his debut season, while Heung-min Son has made some claim to the left side of attacking midfield and Érik Lamela’s succumbed to a hip injury.

A domino effect resulted that ended with Eriksen operating mostly from a deeper attacking midfield role on the right. It was an attempt by Pochettino to help retain possession while also recreating some of the creativity lost with Lamela sidelined.

Which means that over two successive seasons one of Tottenham’s most propulsive goalscorers had drifted farther and farther away from goal.

The Chelsea goal last Saturday suggests that either Pochettino or the player himself is on a mission to make up for lost time. Though he was deployed in Lamela’s liminal position between midfield and attack, he pushed up — oftentimes finding himself as one of Tottenham’s most advanced players.

It’s in that role that Eriksen managed to be the first player to score on Chelsea in six Premier League matches. He continued to be a threat to Chelsea’s back three throughout the match, and by the final whistle he had the most shots of any Tottenham player.

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Pochettino must know he has a chance to build on that goal. With Lamela still out and Alli still finding his feet, Eriksen needs to be given the freedom to press forward. Perhaps that means re-deploying him in the number 10 spot. Or maybe he can line up as one third of a front three.

Wherever he ends up Saturday, the team as a whole need to understand and facilitate Eriksen’s potential to be the top scorer in any given match. Kane and Alli and Son all have their parts to play, but Pochettino needs to unshackle Eriksen if Tottenham are going to reach their full attacking potential.