Arsenal Vs Spurs: Christian Eriksen the inspiration of nightmares

While Harry Kane may grab all the headlines for Spurs. But the man who is the inspiration behind the nightmares is Christian Eriksen. He is the one that Arsenal must stop.

Stopping Harry Kane is no easy task. There are plenty of arguments, that have some element of credence, that claim he is the best striker in the world. He has scored 13 goals in 14 club games this season, has accounted for 40% of his team’s Premier League goals, more than any other player in the top ten goalscorers, and has, for the whole of 2017, now scored 29 goals in 27 games.

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That is the prolificacy of the striker that a notoriously vulnerable and naive Arsenal defence must at least attempt to constrain. That is not something that I am especially confident in their ability to do. In fact, if given the sufficient service, I have full confidence that Kane would carve through his North London rivals, as he has done for many years, scoring in every single of the last five match-ups, six goals in total.

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And that is where the crux of the issue lies for the Gunners. Put simply, they cannot stop him. So, how else can they look to control a vibrant and potent Spurs’ attack? Well, the nightmares that they invigorate may not, while spearheaded by Kane, actually be his creations. I submit to you that Kane is not actually the man that Arsenal have to stop. That mantle is his teammate’s.

Christian Eriksen could be one of the most underrated players in the Premier League. The Dane, who just scored a hattrick for his national side as they dispatched with the Republic of Ireland in the World Cup qualification playoffs, plays with a wonderful blend of control and creativity, both protecting the ball and probing the opposition.

His mastery of the game stems from his ability to find, and then exploit, space. Very much like Mesut Ozil, his opposite number, Eriksen has an innate skill in seeking and finding pockets of space in the inside channel, just behind the midfield, but not too far advanced to commit the centre-half.

Receiving the ball, with his head on a swivel, providing him with a wide and accurate picture of the pitch, he can then turn and begin prising open angles and opportunities for those around him. Eriksen has a rare quality, in that he can maintain a high pass completion rate, 83.2% in the Premier League, while also stretching the defence with the passes that he makes, he has made 2.2 key passes per game in the Premier League.

This is the man that Arsenal must come to terms with on Saturday, in the first North London derby of the season. That is no easy task. Many teams have tried, and failed, in the past.

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While Kane may grab the headlines for his remarkable scoring, the real puppeteer, the one who pulls all the strings, the man who runs the show with wizardry and magic is Eriksen. Stop him, stop Spurs. Simple, but difficult.