Tottenham Hotspur have become predictable and one-dimensional under the stewardship of under-fire Antonio Conte but the north London outfit have long suffered from negative and dull defensive football.
The tactical approach at the club went from a progressive and exciting style under Mauricio Pochettino to more dogmatic systems under the likes of Nuno Espirito Santo, Jose Mourinho and now Conte.
Spurs look for counter-attacks at every opportunity under the Italian, yet it’s not paying off as they rank among the bottom three for counter-attacks per 90 in the whole of the Premier League.
One major problem, aside from their predictability in the transition, is the lack of creativity in midfield, where there is no presence of a no.10 with players like Dele Alli and Tanguy Ndombele things of the past.
Meanwhile, you could only dream of having a player like Christian Eriksen among the squad right now – someone that chairman Daniel Levy let go far too easily, and cheaply.
What is Christian Eriksen worth?
The Denmark maestro was sold to Conte’s Inter Milan for £17m in January 2020, just six months away from his contract expiring and initially, it had looked to be a decent bit of business, given his desire for a new challenge.
However, several years later it certainly seems as if Spurs gave up one of their most gifted talents for a little pittance. The truth is, Eriksen’s time at the club was always ‘on the clock’ given he knew how the club operated behind the scenes and their lack of financial backing in the transfer market.
At one time, Transfermarkt valued the former Ajax star at a whopping €100m (£90m) and just two months before his departure, this still stood at €90m (£80m), meaning the Lilywhites may well have missed out on £63m, which is some 370% more than what they actually received.
Of course, Eriksen had shoehorned Levy into making such a decision but it was the Spurs supremo’s past dealings in and around the club that clearly put the playmaker – who was once hailed as a “magician” by analyst Statman Dave – from tying his long-term future to north London.
Even today, now plying his trade for Premier League rivals Manchester United, the 31-year-old remains more valuable than that £17m fee, with Transfermarkt estimating his worth to be €25m (£22m) – that’s with a substantial lack of game time since leaving Spurs and considering his age too.
It only compounds the mistakes that Levy has made in recent times, especially because the side could really do with a player of his creative quality.
The 120-cap Danish “wizard” – as once lauded by Matchroom’s Josh Wright – scored 69 goals and laid on 90 assists across 305 appearances for the Lilywhites, having also averaged at least 2.1 key passes per top-flight outing too.
No Spurs player has bettered that since his exit.
Conte’s side are struggling to convert their counter-attacks into any sort of success, so you could only imagine what a player of Eriksen’s calibre could do for this team; hitting teams on the break with the Dane feeding in the likes of Harry Kane and Heung-min Son.
Alas, it’s evident that both Levy and Spurs were robbed by Inter back in early 2020.
AND in other news, A mix of Pep and Klopp: Spurs could forget Poch by hiring 52 y/o who’s loved by Messi…
