Think NFL quarterback Tom Brady, who runs games with machine-like efficiency, and champion golfer Cameron Smith, the man with the touch around the greens the envy of players everywhere.
Put together a combination of those two, and you have Denmark’s miracle man Christian Eriksen, the Socceroos’ biggest hurdle between World Cup history and another group stage exit.
Eriksen is a biological miracle, brought back to life after suffering a heart attack on the field while playing for Denmark during the Euros last year.
He has a defibrillator the size of a matchbox inserted in his chest, but it’s his brain which makes him one of the best players in the world, and why Graham Arnold will be having cold sweats trying to limit his impact in the final Group D game in Qatar on Thursday morning (AEDT).
He hits long passes with his right foot, short balls with the outside of his left, scooped passes over a defence, low rollers through it, curling crosses, backheels – and he can score as well, including against the Socceroos in a 1-1 draw in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
So what makes Eriksen so good?
Denmark’s Christian Eriksen is a danger man for the Socceroos.Credit:AP
“He just sees things other players don’t see,” former Socceroo Matt McKay says. “He’s obviously the danger man for us. He’s at a massive club now in Manchester United and you can see the difference when he’s not on the field for them. People say, ‘they’re missing his creativity’.”
United spent $367 million on new players in the European summer transfer window a few months ago, shelling out enormous sums for the likes of Brazilian midfielders Antony and Casemiro, as well as Argentine defender Lisandro Martinez.
Arguably, their most important signing was for free.
United is a shadow of the team which was rampant under Sir Alex Ferguson, but a 30-year-old with a thinning hairline who didn’t cost them a cent in a transfer fee has helped slowly revolutionise the club.
Eriksen only returned to the professional game with Brentford in January, helping the Bees avoid relegation from the Premier League.
He was prevented from seeing out his contract with Italian giants Inter Milan because of local health regulations, which stops professional athletes from playing with a pacemaker-like device.
And despite being beaten by France in their last World Cup match, Eriksen was a shining light for the Danes, who must beat Australia to have any chance of qualifying for the round of 16 (the Socceroos only need a draw if Tunisia don’t beat France).
How does he pick apart defences?
Quite simply through vision.
“His technique is as good as any, pretty much,” says Socceroos legend Mark Bosnich, a member of SBS’s World Cup commentary team. “It’s the control of the ball. He’s not a great dribbler, but he can dribble if he has to. He can be quick over a burst over five yards, but he’s not known for his speed. He has a wonderful passing ability, pretty much with both feet, but specifically with his right foot.”
Eriksen has an innate understanding of where his teammates are, and defenders in relation to them, whether they be in close proximity or 50 metres away. It allows him to try passes other players wouldn’t dare for fear of surrendering possession.
An analysis of Eriksen’s two World Cup games so far shows a preference for passes towards the right side of the field (34.4 per cent of all attempts), but it’s his 360-degree ability which causes problems for defences.
The midfielder, in his short stint at Old Trafford, has already compiled a stunning array of defence-splitting passes, with his trademark left-to-right long ball reminiscent of David Beckham’s glory years at United.
But it’s only part of his arsenal.
“People say a lot about what he can do with the ball, but his tenacity and will to win is a major characteristic of why he’s done so well in his career,” McKay says.
McKay makes a good point. No player covered more ground than Eriksen (11.88km) in the France-Denmark game, and he’s not afraid to do the dirty work in defence as well as pulling the strings in attack.
What areas will he pop up in?
Basically anywhere and everywhere.
Like he has at United, Eriksen has dropped into a deeper-lying midfield role this season. For Denmark, he is listed on the left side of a partnership with Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, who joined Tottenham only months after Eriksen left the club.
But Bosnich has noticed a difference between club and country.
“The most important thing for your best player in our sport is to create time and space for them,” he says. “In this tournament, you look at his heat map and he’s playing a bit more centrally than he does for Manchester United, whether he’s further to the left.
“But what Denmark try to do is arrange themselves in a way to give him that time and space. They’ll make a lot of runs which are specifically for him to have time and space to play.”
Bosnich says Eriksen will drop deep and receive the ball from his defence if Denmark are struggling to find fluency in attack, opening up his body to spray long passes to the opposite sideline where Rasmus Kristensen and Jesper Lindstrom will drift towards.
It’s going to test the Socceroos’ left-side duo of Craig Goodwin and Aziz Behich, who will be particularly vulnerable if they close off their vision to runners Eriksen will detect.
But to think Eriksen will limit himself to predominantly one area of the park is naive.
Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen.Credit:AP
Højbjerg is the perfect foil for Eriksen given he prefers to lie deeper and provide a shield for Denmark’s centre halves, allowing Eriksen more freedom to push into attacking areas.
Eriksen is also Denmark’s set-piece specialist and provided the delivery for their only goal of the World Cup, an Andreas Christensen header from a corner against France.
“Australia will need, of course, in the centre of midfield with [Aron] Mooy and [Jackson] Irvine to shut down Christian Eriksen and Pierre-Emille Højbjerg, who were both outstanding against France,” says Craig Foster, Bosnich’s commentary partner.
“And to ensure Eriksen doesn’t start to control the game creatively because all Manchester United fans are very aware what it is he’s capable of. But it’s been a hugely unpredictable tournament and there’s every reason why Australia should continue that trend against Denmark.”
Says McKay: “He moves into different positions freely and probably has that free rein in the Denmark team.”
Which of the Socceroos will need to stop him?
This will depend a lot on Arnold’s team selection.
Does he keep the faith with Riley McGree in midfield, or does he go with the fit-again Ajdin Hrustic? Regardless, their role will be to ensure Eriksen doesn’t retreat into areas where he can dictate the game with his face to goal, and to help Irvine and Mooy win the midfield arm wrestle.
“For us to stop him we need to keep our composure around him,” McKay says. “When he does have the ball we need to be onto things. Whether that’s tracking runners, applying pressure on the ball and if we don’t have pressure on the ball, we’ve got to be careful to know he can hit a pass.”
Bosnich says Arnold is likely to break up the pitch into smaller zones and instruct his players to share responsibility for Eriksen when he drifts into their area. Foster expects the Socceroos to have their chances too.
“When an opponent is desperate for three points and another team can be satisfied with a point, that places the onus of risk onto Denmark,” he says.
“What that means is they’ll have to come and press Australia and they will have to take greater and greater risk and throw more players forward. The flow of the game will be very different to the first two.”
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