The English media would have you believe that Denmark and England’s friendly meeting on Wednesday night was meant to be the Jack Wilshere cotillion. The night that the Arsenal midfielder announced himself to European high society as a potential international starter and a key cog in England’s short, medium and long-term future.
This may well remain the case, however the diminutive midfielder was overshadowed by an even younger prospect on Wednesday night, one that may well interest a few Premier League managers come the summer. Christian Eriksen, the Ajax playmaker was the star in a losing performance for the Danes, and is, remarkably only a month younger than England’s great white hope.
The baby faced Eriksen had a far greater impact on the fixture than his much hyped opponent, providing the cross for Daniel Agger’s opener, and striking the post with a drive from outside the box. Wilshere, whilst appearing comfortable on the ball, was a little ineffectual, and was removed at half-time, presumably as a result of a pact with Arsene Wenger. Eriksen was allowed the full 90 minutes to showcase his talent and remained a constant threat to Fabio Capello’s men.
Despite the acclaim, Eriksen at 18 is very much in the early stages of his development at Ajax. Despite being considered good enough to make the Danish World Cup squad, he is embarking on only his first full season in the Dutch league and a bidding war between the big guns in the Premier League may be considered unrealistic for a player as unproven as Eriksen.
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However, there is precedent. At 18 John Obi Mikel was subject to a 15 million pound settlement fee between current club Chelsea and Manchester United back in 2006. Far more recently of course, Andy Carroll’s scarcely believable 35 million pound transfer to Liverpool came off the back of less than one full season spell at Newcastle.
There remains a fine line between pouncing on a young talent before the acquisition of such becomes a major transfer and one that will be scrutinised as a major signing. Eriksen himself has voiced an interest in playing for Barcelona, but has left the door open to Premier League suitors.
Indeed, in the wake of the Denmark game, several of England’s big sides are already said to be eyeing up the youngster, with the Daily Mail suggesting that Liverpool are considering tabling a bid of over 11 million pounds in the summer.
Making snap judgements on the basis of a friendly is the sort of frustrating overreaction that fans feel the media are often guilty of.
If clubs made signings purely on the basis of a performance in a meaningless friendly David Nugent and Lee Bowyer would probably have been snapped up by one of the top four after impressing on their England debuts. It certainly pays to take such displays with a pinch of salt.
Yet, with English talent costing more and more the temptation to take a risk on a young foreign star at a slightly lower premium remains. If Eriksen is able to maintain his level of performance across the final months of the season, bids from English suitors would seem a formality.
The article was written by Cameron Sharpe for FootballFancast.com. Make sure to check out the latest news, blogs and podcasts at FFC – ed.
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He’s 18 and average, want young talent then look no further than Lukaku, shear class, very much like Drogba but doesn’t roll round like a mardarse
This is all well and good, but you’re ignoring that Wilshere was stuck at the arse end of midfield where he is not used to playing and where his impact is minimal.
If you watched him against Wolves, you’ll have realised that he is probably better than Eriksen, as is Ryo Miyaichi, another Arsenal youngster on loan to Feyenoord. Take a look at his performance against Heracles at the weekend.
I agree to some extent that the hype around Eriksen has been a bit over the top but the fact is it was a very impressive performance and only more impressive when you consider how young he is. However I disagree that Jack Wilshere’s performance was ineffectual. He was very publicly called upon to play a defensive midfielder role. If you have watched Jack come through the reserves at Arsenal and into the full squad you will know that he is naturally a creative player. He has been asked to play a holding position in my opinion so as to improve his all round game. He has shown great discipline this season in trying to do what he has been asked. He is comfortable on the ball, keeps possession, plays great short passes, always looks for the forward pass rather the easy sideways/backwards pass and can pick out long balls when the chance arises. Eriksen’s good game should not be used to denegrate Wilshere’s performance. However, I hope the English press do not overhype Jack and then turn on him when he has an off game. He is still learning. In my opinion Wilshere and Eriksen will both be superstars if they continue to learn and don’t get sucked in by the press hype
So Eriksen is overrated and Wilshere isn’t? You english people make me laugh! Eriksen is a far better player than Jack-the-lad on any given sunday just accept it. Jack is good but not as good as the english are making him out to be, he’s even being labeled “the future face of english football”, ROFL, what a piss take or desperation to have a player that you can actually call ‘good’!
GET A GRIP!!!
Forget about this guy if it’s going to cost 10+ mil. One good performance last week and people are going crazy about him. He’s not playing at a top level on a regular basis and he’s way too unproven. If Liverpool are going to gamble 10 mil on him then why not give Dani Pacheco a chance cause he is class. I mean he was by far the best player in the U19 European Championships so what else does he have to do to get into the first team?
Prove it in training to the manager! he obviously hasn’t done it so far because Rafa didn’t play him, Woy didn’t play him and now Kenny’s not playing it although Kenny is showing more faith in youngsters. it’s almost like the Joe Cole problem where no manager, including Woy, has ever had faith in him to be a starter in their teams. Hopefully the boy will step it up soon because the talent is there for all to see.
I personally would love see to a 3 pronged attack of Suarez + Carroll + Pacheco/Suso playing ahead of a 3 man midfield of Lucas + Meireles + Shelvey and a backline with Kelly/Flannigan + Ayala + Agger + Coentrao with Pepe in goal. That’s all in the future of course but hopefully not too distant! YNWA!!!
i’m back on this site to say this – i hope you all believed me when i harped on and on about our youngsters – well a 16 year old boy scored 5 fabulous goals tonight for the youth team against mainly older lads, he is raheem stirling, a cross between john barnes and robbie fowler NO EXAGERATION HE HAS AS MUCH POTENTIAL AS CARROLL ! but there are at least 4 of these boys who will make the first team maybe even 5 or 6. STIRLING, SUSO, SILVA,FLANNAGAN,ROBINSON, COADY – AT LEAST 3 OF THESE ARE CERTAIN FIRST TEAMERS.