Christian Eriksen

[IM21]

here's todays interview from gds translated by FedeNerazzurra

https://www.fedenerazzurra.net/news...e-goes-mourinho-itll-be-good-to-see-him-again

So Eriksen, how are you doing as Italian champion?

“Before arriving at Inter, it was difficult to win. Now, I am experiencing the best moment of my career.”

Can we consider this your personal revenge?

“I have no revenge against anyone. I only play football: sometimes it is positive, others it is not. This sport changes quickly, practically every week. Six months ago I was going through a certain situation, now that we have won a trophy I can only say that I am very happy to be here at Inter.”

As soon as you arrived you said to us (Gazzetta dello Sport) that “I want to stop Juve’s domination.” That’s now done. Now do you foresee opening a new cycle?

“This Scudetto was difficult to achieve but we clinched it with four matches to play: this is a good starting point. Now we can continue and build a new cycle. Winning nine straight titles will be difficult but we will try to build something beautiful. Let’s see what happens.”

In order for Inter to do so, how important is it for Conte to stay?

“Conte is extremely important for all, also for the way that we play. We follow his instruction to the letter and it shows on the pitch. We are all happy to have won with him. But his stay is not my decision: it depends on him and the club.”

What was the real secret of success this season?

“The team itself. We all contributed in different ways but it was towards a common goal. Our defense closed down everything; Lukaku and Lautaro made the difference up front; the midfield was able to cover, build up and counter. It’s hard for everyone to play against us, this season has truly been a great team performance.”

Conte always repeats that “we understand Christian and he understands us…” Understanding what Christian?

“I came with an open mind to learn. What I didn’t understand at first was that I always had to follow Conte’s system. That I had to perform and remember all the plays that he had prepared for the team. Previously, I was more used to intuition, I was free to make my own decisions in a split second based on what I saw. With Conte, there is always a general plan that we need to follow. You have to prepare well, always know where your teammates are and where they can move to. I had to learn all of this and adapted to a different pace. Then in January, we talked to each other and I started playing more and I finally showed that I was capable of doing.”

Do you think you’re a better player now than when you arrived?

“No, I liked how I played before and I like how I play now. Not everything was changed in a few months. I just do different things and I have a trophy in my curriculum: maybe that’s why people consider me as a better player.”

Let’s go back to autumn when you only came on the pitch to play for a few minutes. Was there an explanation given to you for those substitutions?

“I talked to the coach about it and I knew then that he was making the best decisions for the team at that moments. If he played me so little then it was because he evidently thought that I could be useful to him and the team in those minutes. There was nothing personal. I would have loved to play more, it was clear then but I have always respected his decisions. I knew that the opportunity would come and that I would have to take advantage of it. And so I did.”

Was the free-kick against Milan the real turning point?

“Only from outside perception. The Milan goal may have changed the ways people looked at me, but not what from within the club. The situation changed when I was able to play more consistently and gained the trust of my teammates and coach.”

On Valentine’s Day, on your birthday, you started against Lazio and basically never left the starting lineup again… Was it good karma for you?

“I believe in karma, but on February 14th, I would have preferred to have a day off. All joking aside, every game that I played to my level can be considered a boost to my season.”

How close were you to leaving Inter? And now do you see himself at Inter for a long time?

“Six months ago I was considered out, it was true. But now everything has changed. Nobody can predict the future but I am happy to stay here and to have a Scudetto on my chest.”

Conte took a title away from you when he was at Chelsea and now gave you one in Milan. Is he really a special coach?

“Yes, look at his resume. Wherever he goes, he wins and that is very impressive. I imagined his winning grit before and when I signed with Inter and then I saw him with my own eyes, talking to him, and seeing him work every day. I am happy to have him as coach. We have a professional relationship: I know that he wants the best from me, he often repeats to me that and I give him my best.”

You will see Mourinho again in Italy. What do you think? How is he different from Conte?

“I was with Mou for a few months at Tottenham. His return is good for Serie A as it does help the whole system. I cannot make comparisons with Conte who I have known for much longer. They are two great personalities and it will be a great challenge.”

You challenged Lukaku in England. Is he a different player now?

“I had no doubt about him even in the Premier League, but in our system, I consider him the best striker there is. He is impressive but now he has become even more dominant than before. Better to have him as a teammate than an opponent…”

Why so many important players in England went against the Super League and none in Italy?

“It’s a project that no player knew anything about and that was done in two days, so it’s hard to get an idea. As a footballer you have to respect the club you are in, and the club in turn has to respect the fans and all people involved. We simply had nothing to say because it was a decision of the club and ownership. I don’t know about the future but at the moment that project is not on the table.”

How are your Italian lessons going?

“Swear words are easiest to learn but I am always learning new words. If you talk to me slowly, I can begin to slowly communicate back. Of course, I am not able to watch an Italian movie yet but watch a lot of TV shows for children and football.”

A Dane is passionate about Lego: are you making any at the moment?

“I’d like to make one in the shape of the Scudetto. When I was little, I used to make a lot of them, like all the children in my country. Then with the lockdown, I got bored at home and started again. Now I make them with my children even if it is not easy to finish them.”

What do you remember of those holidays as a child on the Jesolo coast?

“I was going camping in Cavallino, we were leaving Denmark in a camper. I must have gone 14 or 15 times and in those days Milan or Juventus always won Serie A. Now it would be nice to go back with the Scudetto.”

To close, do you know Hamlet, the Danish prince that was in search of himself?

“Yes, but no comparison here. I know who I am. I am an Inter player. I am Christian Eriksen and that’s enough for me.”

 

[.h.]

honestly, eriksen is probably one of the most creative midfielders in football. Part of the chaallenge is that we need him to work harder and more b2b because we dont hve good cover in midfield.

Imagine if we had a Cambiasso or Makelele in midfield. Someone you'd be fucking confident in idisrupting opponent play. Eriksen would be much more free of his defensive duties.

 

[Batman]

One of the best things that happened in this season’s story is Eriksen and Conte getting along with each others.

 

[rfU]

“I came with an open mind to learn. What I didn’t understand at first was that I always had to follow Conte’s system. That I had to perform and remember all the plays that he had prepared for the team. Previously, I was more used to intuition, I was free to make my own decisions in a split second based on what I saw. With Conte, there is always a general plan that we need to follow. You have to prepare well, always know where your teammates are and where they can move to.

Poch's system was rigid also, only time Eriksen had a free role was with AVB and sherwood. And with Poch, Eriksen worked his ass off, doing a lot defensively as reflected in his defensive stats (2015-17 era, took him a minute to adjust also). It's just myth that Eriksen is being revolutionized by Conte and shackled to do more defending, he just needs to put his head down and put the work in.

honestly, eriksen is probably one of the most creative midfielders in football. Part of the chaallenge is that we need him to work harder and more b2b because we dont hve good cover in midfield.

Agree with this.

 

[Hikonyán]

Expecting killer passes in the final 3rd every game and at the same time expecting the same player to be a super hard working B2B who plays careful and covers defensively is borderline ignorant, since those traits are polar opposites. To makes decisive killer passes in final 3rd, means being generally close to goal and taking risks when passing, you cant do that while at the same time be expected to be the first one back to defend.

There is no need or use for creativity in Contes system anyways, since conte himself IS the creativity factor. If the system doesnt allow the players to think for themselves, then whats the use of a creative mind? Zero. Every play is designed and calculated by Conte himself, the players only job is to execute them properly and at the right time.

Eriksen himself explained it well in the interview.

“I came with an open mind to learn. What I didn’t understand at first was that I always had to follow Conte’s system. That I had to perform and remember all the plays that he had prepared for the team. Previously, I was more used to intuition, I was free to make my own decisions in a split second based on what I saw. With Conte, there is always a general plan that we need to follow. You have to prepare well, always know where your teammates are and where they can move to. I had to learn all of this and adapted to a different pace. Then in January, we talked to each other and I started playing more and I finally showed that I was capable of doing.”

Contes approach is pretty good if the team consists mainly of low IQ players like Gagliardini and Ranocchia, but its waste if you have a great deal of players with high football IQ. One great mind alone will never be as good as several great minds together, not to mention that free thinking promote unpredictability which is especially important in the CL to avoid team figuring you out too easily, this is yet another reason why Conte fails dramatically in europe and probably will keep doing so.

Poch's system was rigid also, only time Eriksen had a free role was with AVB and sherwood. And with Poch, Eriksen worked his ass off, doing a lot defensively as reflected in his defensive stats (2015-17 era, took him a minute to adjust also). It's just myth that Eriksen is being revolutionized by Conte and shackled to do more defending, he just needs to put his head down and put the work in..

There are obviously degrees of rigidness, Poch's system was never anywhere near as rigid as Contes, who basically takes all free thinking away from the players and treats them like pre-instructed robots.

But im sure you know better than Eriksen himself how rigid the systems he played in before Contes was .

 

[Sqnalkel]

Good discussion above.

The thing that our midfield is lacking today is someone who can take on players and add that extra bit of flair. Sensi could do if he is able to play consistently. That's what someone like De Paul and SMS can do, although they have very different characteristics.

But getting them poses another problem for the midfield. Barella is going to our first choice starter. And that is justified, he very well rounded and adds so much that you cannot leave him behind. Kind of like Seedorf was a well rounded midfielder for Ancelotti, who fit in with the highly specialised and narrow skills that each of Pirlo, Gattuso, Rui Costa or Kaka got.

- Now SMS/De Paul - Barella - Eriksen midfield does not provide enough cover.
- Put Brozovic instead of Eriksen, and it works great. But does that mean Eriksen gets benched again? That's too expensive an option if he isn't playing regularly.
- If we get a great DM (Kante is impossible), then we can play Barella - DM - Eriksen. But that still misses the extra flair we need.
- But getting a DM as well as SMS/De Paul is not what our budget allows. Unless both Eriksen and Brozovic are sold. And that is a mini rebuilding in itself.

The best option is change our formation and accommodate 4 midfielders there. With Barella - Brozovic - Eriksen/Sensi - De Paul, we get everything. What we lose out is width. That's something the coach can work on. There are enough examples of coaches doing different things like playing without a striker, or Simeone's flat 4 midfield that doesn't have 2 wingers, to playing Pogba (or Eriksen at Spurs) as a winger, etc. With more options, we can be more flexible.

This is a non-issue, to compete in all competitions we absolutely need 4 good midfielders, now we have 3 plus Sensi, all our other midfielders are useless and at best should be 6th choice.

 

[rockball]

This is a non-issue, to compete in all competitions we absolutely need 4 good midfielders, now we have 3 plus Sensi, all our other midfielders are useless and at best should be 6th choice.

But having 4 isn't fine if 2 of them are essentials and the only rotation is between Eriksen/Sensi/De Paul.

 

[Alex de Large]

For give a little example. Atletico Simeone success taking Atletico 2 times to CL final. He was very similar to Conte, with a team of work-horses with not much super quality creative players like Eriksen. But it had 2 or 3 like those (Griezzman, for instance), without those 2 or 3 free-minds, Atletico would have never make it to those finals, it would be just a Porto-level team with a great coach.
Talents like Lautaro, Eriksen and 2 o 3 more, are the players who can make the difference for us. We need them.

To win CL you need everything.

 

[rfU]

Contes approach is pretty good if the team consists mainly of low IQ players like Gagliardini and Ranocchia, but its waste if you have a great deal of players with high football IQ.

Are Alonso, Pedro/Willian, Hazard, D Luiz, Fabregas the low IQ/non-fantasy players you're talking about? Giovinco, Tevez, Pogba, Pirlo? were all shackled by Conte's rigidity and guarded tactics?

There are obviously degrees of rigidness, Poch's system was never anywhere near as rigid as Contes, who basically takes all free thinking away from the players and treats them like pre-instructed robots.

Hakimi? Sensi? Even Bastoni with his attacking runs into the final 3rd. Are these the robots you speak of?

But im sure you know better than Eriksen himself how rigid the systems he played in before Contes was .

It's hard to gauge the level from the outside looking in but Poch is a disciple of super-authoritarian Biesla and his ideology, not as rigid positionally but very strict with instructions to aggressively press/tackling, although, there is a level of freedom Biesla affords players in the attacking phase but Conte would do the same with Hazard for example and even Fabregas, Pogba.

Anyway good game today, wish he got all 90 minutes. In fact, i see no reason why he didn't.

 

[wera]

Because we have Roma midweek and then Juve. Gotta get ready for some extreme fuckery.

 

[Hikonyán]

Are Alonso, Pedro/Willian, Hazard, D Luiz, Fabregas the low IQ/non-fantasy players you're talking about? Giovinco, Tevez, Pogba, Pirlo? were all shackled by Conte's rigidity and guarded tactics?

Hakimi? Sensi? Even Bastoni with his attacking runs into the final 3rd. Are these the robots you speak of?

You dont seem to understand the point here, they arent robots because they are have low football iq. They are robots because they are denied their own natural intuition and decision making and purely doing instructed plays made by Conte. So mentioning a bunch of players who doesnt not have low football IQ on their own as some kinda counter evidence is way off the target here. In example, you are deluding yourself if you dont think that its 100% Contes instructions when Bastoni makes attacking runs in certain situations.

Obviously taking away the free thinking, intuition and decision making of a low football iq players like Gagliardini obviously hurts his overall quality far less than taking the same away from Maradona.

This is how Conte treats the players like Robots, he does all the real thinking for them, their own primary mental focus goes towards knowing in what situation to excute x,y and z attacking play or defensive play. Obviously having higher football IQ and other aspects will make players do these plays better, but its a limiting factor to many intelligent players and fairly arrogant of Conte to think he is smarter himself than the entire team collectively. This is why i wrote that Contes approach is pretty good if you are fielding 11 Ranocchias, since such a team would not be limited by having their brains taken away, rather they would be better by having a superior brain in Conte control them.

 

[Ethor]

Nonexistent today, for the most part, but the whole team was still celebrating....

 

[Batman]

He was much better in the second half, like everyone else... Which means it was all on Conte’s tactics.

 

[I'mNewHere]

awful like always when we don't face Crotone

 

[IM21]

first Serie A free kick goal since Cancelo in 2018 and that free kick was also a pretty lucky one, as Cancelo wasnt even shooting on the goal.

 

[Ethor]

When he came on for the injured Sensi, the match really turned around and it was essentially over for the junior Juve.

 

[William]

We need to keep this guy. His long balls alone separate the way we play with and without him which gives us another edge.

 

[cuba gooding]

We need to keep this guy. His long balls alone separate the way we play with and without him which gives us another edge.

Agree. he is also very good in putting those long balls in counter attack. I think I saw many times in several games where he directly put long ball just second after he steal the ball from opponent.

Also, I think the more he play, his teammates know more his ability for long ball and therefore Lula or Hakimi already know they need to go for run when Eriksen got the ball.

 

[Alex de Large]

This guy will be much better in the 4-3-1-2.

 

[crzdcolombian]

We need to keep this guy. His long balls alone separate the way we play with and without him which gives us another edge.

His salary isnt something this team can handle any more…. Still mind blown how we let someone go for half his wages…… to just give someone else