Christian Eriksen of Tottenham Hotspur and Everton’s James McCarthy could face each other for Denmark and the Republic of Ireland respectively this evening.
Eriksen is one of the best and most creative midfielders in the Premier League and is a key figure in the current Tottenham squad.
The 25-year-old attacking midfielder scored eight goals and provided 15 assists in 36 Premier League matches for Spurs during the 2016-17 campaign.
So far this season, the Denmark international has scored three goals and provided two assists in 11 league appearances for the North London outfit.
Eriksen will be a key player for Denmark this evening when they take on the Republic of Ireland at home in the first leg of their 2018 World Cup playoff on Saturday evening.
Ahead of the match, former Republic of Ireland international midfielder Giles has pointed out a flaw in the Spurs star’s game.
Giles has also suggested that Everton and Republic of Ireland international midfielder James McCarthy, 26, has a similar flaw in his game.
“Eriksen can be devastating in bursts and people are often puzzled by a player like that,” Giles wrote in The Irish Independent. “If he can do it once, why can’t he repeat it?
“A manager needs to know that all his players have the positional sense to understand where they should be and in Eriksen’s case, I think this quality is lacking.
“If you’re Mauricio Pochettino, and Eriksen is the best you have, you have to indulge the fact that he either doesn’t know how to position himself consistently in the right place to have the maximum impact or won’t be told.”
“James McCarthy is a similar case because I have seen him do the kind of work which tells me he does see the game but all too often, he takes a blinkered view,” added Giles.
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